SLO Process Server Gets New Felony Charge

Lyza Johnsen, a process server with the San Luis Obispo-based Johnsen & Johnsen Legal Support Services, was taken into custody on Oct. 20 during an appearance at SLO County Superior Court.

Facing three felony charges and one misdemeanor ranging from writing bad checks to grand theft, Johnsen was originally scheduled for an arraignment. But on Oct. 19, the District Attorney’s Office filed another felony charge claiming that Johnsen wrote another bad check just days before her court appearance.

Deputy District Attorney Matt Kerrigan asked Judge Michael Duffy to sign an arrest warrant for the latest case before Johnsen was arraigned on her other felony charges. According to Kerrigan, Johnsen wrote a check for about $1,500, using an account that was closed after she allegedly wrote about $50,000 in bad checks, for which she is now facing felony charges.

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Charges dog a SLO process server

At first, Brian Stacy believed everything Lyza Johnsen told him. He originally hired her as a process server in his lawsuit against French Hospital Medical Center. Soon, though, Johnsen was providing him advice and putting him in contact with experts who would help his case—or so he thought.

When Johnsen first told Stacy she would put him in touch with a clever Santa Monica-based paralegal named Hope O’Connell, he didn’t think much of it—he just wrote a check. When he saw that O’Connell’s e-mail was a Gmail account, he didn’t think much of it—and he wrote some more checks. After writing about $24,000 worth of checks to Johnsen, a woman who was recommended to him, he started to get suspicious.

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