hat tip to the Leucadia Blog for sending over Suzy’s story, plus they mentioned the Encinitas Extreme Home Makeover house in foreclosure too:
http://www.theleucadiablog.com/2009/12/encinitas-monster-house-and-extreme.html
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We’ve been waiting patiently for the lender to list Suzy Brown’s old house for sale – remember the 16,330 square footer in Olivenhain?
She had purchased it from Barry Axelrod for $850,000 in 2003, and took out a loan for $4.55 million in 2006. You know the story, the bank foreclosed and found that ‘somebody’ had stripped the house.
She was in court yesterday, here’s the story from the nctimes.com:
The former owner of an Olivenhain mansion who is accused of stealing $1 million worth of fixtures from the bank-foreclosed home repeatedly refused to identify herself at her arraignment Tuesday, prompting a Vista judge to handcuff her in the middle of the proceedings and finally order her to jail.
Suzy Brown, 45, eventually pleaded not guilty to one count of grand theft and one count of felony vandalism, but not until the hearing had been postponed several times because of the unusual actions of the short-haired woman in a pantsuit who, to the amusement of many in the courtroom, wouldn’t admit she was the defendant.
It is not clear why Brown would not acknowledge her identity —- which Judge Marshall Hockett eventually confirmed through a copy of her Department of Motor Vehicles photo that the court requested —- but Brown apparently contested the legality of the complaint against her issued by the district attorney’s office, according to her attorney.
“Ms. Brown claims she has not seen what she calls a ‘genuine charging document,'” said public defender William Matthews, who stepped in to represent Brown after Hockett declined Brown’s request to represent herself.
From the start of the afternoon hearing, Brown would not say who she was.
She said she had no identification with her.
“Are you or are you not Suzanne Meredith Brown?” Hockett asked, getting fed up. “… You’re playing games with the court.”
“I’m genuinely not playing games,” Brown said with a deferential, somewhat pleading tone.
The judge rebuffed her requests to approach him. Brown had no attorney, so Hockett asked her if she wanted to represent herself.
Apparently loath to agree she was Brown, she hesitated to accept a form required for self-representation. A few snickers rose from the public gallery.
Brown eventually took the form and sat cross-legged on the floor at the back of the courtroom, filling it out while the court addressed other cases.
Later, Hockett again called Brown, and a court employee took her form.
This time, the judge asked her to approach, but she refused. She requested repeatedly to see the charging documents against her.
“You’re not running this court,” Hockett told her.
“If it pleases the court, I’d prefer to stand here if I’m not allowed to inspect the charging instrument against me,” Brown said.
At that point, sheriff’s deputies handcuffed Brown and led her to the glass-enclosed area for defendants in custody. Hockett appointed a public defender, denying Brown’s request for self-representation after noting her form was incomplete.
After a long conference with her public defender, Brown pleaded not guilty to the charges, reserving the right to contest the legal document’s validity.
Matthews declined to detail specific faults Brown found in the district attorney’s office’s complaint, but he said she had inspected it.
Brown was charged in November after a seven-month investigation into a $1 million theft from the 16,000-square-foot home at 3225 Fortuna Ranch Road. The theft occurred days after Brown moved out of the house and a bank took possession of it in March.
While she at first said she had no idea who took imported doors, opulent fixtures and electronics, Brown recently admitted removing most of the property, saying she wanted to protect it from vandals until the bank could hire a security guard.
Encinitas sheriff’s detectives said Brown has since handed over many of the stolen items.
Using her own money and money from investors, the retired electrical engineer built the mansion with plans to run it as a luxury recovery center. Neighbors in the posh, semirural community who dubbed the project the “Monster House” complained, and the city ruled the plans were illegal.
Unable to pay her mortgage, Brown lost the home in February.
Brown had not been arrested or ordered to jail until Tuesday. Deputy District Attorney Robert Eacret said he had informed her of the charges in a letter and had intended to request she be allowed to remain free. But instead, he told Hockett that because of “some of her unwillingness to comply with court orders, the people do have some doubts as to whether she should be.”
Hockett agreed, calling Brown a “danger to the community,” and ordered her booked into jail on $30,000 bail.
Honestly, I do not believe it is fair to “selectively” enforce laws and make an example out of this woman. Yes, this is an extreme case but this type of activity is obviously widespread. Now some would argue that ripping out your kitchen is not illegal because you “own” the house. My response to that is change the laws then. I’m personally getting damn tired of these homeowners thinking that the “system” owes them something and they can help themselves to whatever they think they are “entitled” to and can continue living in a house or collecting rent on a house that they quit making payments on years ago. I can see having some lenience in a hardship case but the vast majority of these cases are elective default. They are not milking the banks they are milking the taxpayer and I think people are getting fed up with it no pun intended.
pemeliza-She stole the doors and fixtures AFTER the house was already foreclosed. If she took them BEFORE the house was foreclosed, you might have a point. But the house was already bank owned when she trashed the place.
Thanks for that clarification Geotpf. Doesn’t really change my opinion much but I can see how it makes a difference legally.
Only in California…what a nut job. That second “extreme home” story on theleucadiablog is worth a read. Tip of the iceberg…how many other folks were extended credit far in excess of their ability to repay?
“A danger to the community” That about sums up Angelo the Orange Man as well. Where is he now?
This won’t look good on her resume….
Want to talk about a nut job consider the prior occupant of this house:
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-090062862-4333_Santa_Cruz_Ave_San_Diego_CA_92107
Did they inflict this damage before or after they moved out? Who cares. The point is they are wackos with no regard for the consequences of their actions.
pemelia, how is this selective enforcement? *Anyone* who does this and gets caught would be sent to jail. What you’re confusing is the fact that many people get away with it. That’s not selective enforcement, that’s somebody not ratting them out to the cops.
She voluntarily gave videographic documentation corroborating her crimes to a reality TV show. The same way that someone who smokes pot on a TV show is going to get the cops knocking on their door. Wise up man.
Sorry JTR for my original post. Please delete it and subsequent posts from me on this thread. I used your forum as a place to vent my anger and frustration over how some folks choose to live their lives. I didn’t mean to take away from your excellent reporting. Obviously, I should have read the details of the case before going on my rant.
How did Suzy ever get a building permit for this in O’Hain to start with?
She must have paid somebody off? Quick check the freezer.
pemeliza – It was my fault. I was fumbling around with the ‘read more’ button, and you commented before I had the whole story posted.
“At that point, sheriff’s deputies handcuffed Brown and led her to the glass-enclosed area for defendants in custody.”
LOL – that is hysterical. A glass enclosure for those in comtempt of court. I wish they had that in my jurisdiction. I would love to see the judge say “do you want to answer or do you want to join the others in the fishtank”! Awesome!
doughboy-It sounds like it is perfectly legal to build a single family residence the size of a motel, but it’s not legal to use it as a drug treament center or whatever she planned on using it as. So, without the planned income from that, she couldn’t pay for the place.
Dear commentators and curiosity seekers, I appreciate all your entertaining comments. I can laugh now, but it really is a serious matter when a private citizen can be arrested and held in jail for 3 days for merely requesting and defending their right to see genuine charges against them. My insistence was not for fun or just to make a point. Both the bank and the police involved KNOW that I removed all the valuables to protect them (when they would not), not steal them. All were promptly returned carefully wrapped and labeled with spreadsheets and photographs documenting how to put everything back together. My intent was very clear to all involved. Hence why the charges are ‘not genuine’. So why would I go out of my way to protect something that was no longer mine? Watch my video to appreciate the magic and love that went into this creation and ask yourself would you sit back and watch it get destroyed by vandals?
http://www.go-beyond-vision.com/vivienda.html
-Suzy
Imagine all of the deception that went into wasting other people’s money to build something that is useless because it is not financially sustainable. Suzy built a commercial business, knowing that the residential zoning laws did not permit a business to be operated there. It didn’t even sell as a $2.9 million spec home. Imagine how far the 13 million dollar investent could go to feed and shelter poor hungry people who are homeless. That would have been love and magic.
Suzy,
I just watched the video. Holy smokes. Many facts are clear.
1. Find reality and reattach yourself to it. Before you do even more damage to yourself and cost us beleaguered taxpayers even more goddamn money.
2. Do some homework immediately after your next bright idea, *before* you act on it. For example: Check zoning laws?
3. The house belongs to the bank. It is not yours because **you did not pay as agreed** Any excuses why YOU DID NOT PAY are immaterial. End. Of.Story.
4. You are one wacky girl.
Fck the “magic and love”, nobody gives a rats ass what-up in your fantasy world. There’s is “no crying” when you FAIL. Accept it, get over it, STFU and MOVE ON!
Cheers-
Yikes!
suzy brown is now suzy tesla. google her new name.
suzy brown is now adam lambert and no longer suzy tesla. google him.
Yesterday, Suzy Brown failed to appear at a preliminary hearing. The judge called for “Suzy Brown”. Suzy’s council said that she failed to appear, and was planning on pleading guilty. The judge ordered her O.R. revoked and asked for $50,000 bond. He also said to issue a warrant for Brown’s arrest starting early August.
She is mentally unstable, a fraud and a scammer. She lines up investors with empty promises and takes their money. Her latest scam is pretending to own land in Mexico (which she doesn’t) under the guise of building a “retirement/health care facility”. She was evicted from her (recently deceased) Mother’s rental after several legal issues & is off to try to scam someone else.