Afraid to Face the Music? Shelley Lubben Calls In Sick to Court, Offers No Doctor's Note

Bakersfield, Calif. -- Disgraced anti-porn crusader Shelley Lubben, who has apparently been in hiding since New Year's Eve, no-showed at her court date in Kern County Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon, after informing hr ex-husband's attorney that she had the flu but no doctor's note to prove it.

The ongoing case centers on Ms. Lubben's 2017 attempt to re-open her divorce case and get her hands on the Mexican timeshare property she ceded to him in their 2016 divorce.

In other words, Shelley Lubben no-showed at her own proceeding.

Today's hearing was scheduled months ago after a series of continuances in the case.

No one I spoke to in the Springville and Visalia areas (where Lubben resides) believes for a second that she is actually suffering from a cold or flu -- that is to say unless she caught one while prowling around and trespassing the property of her ex-housemates on New Years Eve.

That trespass resulted in a report being taken by Deputy E. Lemoine of the Tulare County Sheriffs on Dec. 31 -- the third report taken by the sheriffs while investigating claims that Mrs. Lubben has trespassed, robbed and vandalized the home and/or grounds, as well as harassed and threatened the residents.

The prevailing theory is that Lubben is afraid to show up in court, either because she will face a difficult cross examination, or because she fears being served with more legal papers.

Multiple witnesses confirm that Lubben -- an all-day drinker who soils herself when she doesn't get her alcohol in time -- is seriously on the skids. A few days ago she arrived extremely intoxicated at a Springville cafe -- so intoxicated in fact that they refused to serve her the alcohol she requested.

A history of harassment

In 2011, former adult performer Michelle Avanti filed for an order of protection against Shelley Lubben in Tulare County Superior Court in Visalia, and provided evidence that Lubben had begun threatening and harassing her when she fled Lubben's sham nonprofit Pink Cross Foundation and appeared in a video exposing Lubben as a manipulative, abusive addict. Official records indicate that Lubben had Pink Cross file two false complaints with Child Welfare Services, in an attempt to make Avanti lose custody of her young daughter.

Cases in three counties

Last year, Lubben was sued for wrongful death by the family of cyclist Octavio Munguia, who was killed in a DUI hit-and-run collision with Shelley Lubben's car while her boyfriend Joe Valley was behind the wheel. The next hearing date in Tulare County Superior Court for that case is January 23.

She has also been served by her ex-husband in a harassment case in San Diego County, in which her ex and his new wife seek protection from Lubben's ongoing threats and harassment. The next court date in that case is February 5, and this author has been called to testify.

Today's hearing in Kern County was continued until June 20. The judge ordered that if Mrs. Lubben cannot provide a doctor's note, the case will be dismissed.

As one can see, Shelley Lubben has quite a busy court calendar in 2019, and it's getting fuller by the day. An additional report will be filed shortly.

Shelley Lubben and Joe Valley Sued for Wrongful Death by the Munguia Family

Munguia v. Lubben is the kind of case that can net a multi-million dollar judgement in California.

Visalia, Calif. -- The family of cyclist Octavio Munguia, who was killed in a DUI hit-and-run collision with Shelley Lubben's car while her boyfriend Joe Valley was behind the wheel, has sued the couple for wrongful death in Tulare County Superior Court.

Shelley Lubben and Joe Valley on the road

A death on the highway

On November 7, 2017, Joe Valley left the home he shared with disgraced anti-porn crusader Shelley Lubben in a PT Cruiser she had purchased, and insured through USAA. Official reports and local sources say Valley was out running errands for Lubben, and was supposed to attend his court-ordered Domestic Violence class.

What he accomplished that day is not known, but what we do know is that he drank at a local bar, The Antlers Roadhouse, and witnesses state Valley was already intoxicated when he arrived in his car.

The Antlers

It was after he left that his car ran down Munguia on Balch Park Road south of Battle Mountain Road.

Valley told Highway Patrol investigators he had been drinking at a Lake Success earlier that day, but made no specific mention of visiting The Antlers (which stands near the lake's northeastern edge).

Following the fatal collision, Valley drove the 2005 PT Cruiser straight home to the property on Balch Park Road where he resided with Lubben. Shortly after his wrecked vehicle returned to the Lubben Ranch, Shelley Lubben got behind the wheel of her Jeep and drove off the property alone.

Lubben then flagged down a neighbor, and told the woman that she was her "witness" that Lubben was leaving home at that time, and then drove off.

This struck the neighbor as odd, and she told an investigator for the victim's family that Shelley Lubben was intoxicated and looked like she hadn't showered in days at the time she flagged her down.

Highway Patrol officers arrested Valley on Lubben's ranch property, and took him to jail. But because she had already left, they were unable to interview Lubben, who had driven to a friend's house.

It wasn't until the following morning that Highway Patrol got a statement from Shelley Lubben -- under circumstances that were objectively suspicious.

It turned out that one of Mrs. Lubben's iPhones was in the car that killed Octavio Munguia.

The presence of Lubben's cell phone in the vehicle was discovered after the wrecked PT Cruiser had been brought to Wallace Towing on Orange Belt Drive in Porterville.

It was there that Shelley Lubben was interviewed by the California Highway Patrol, when she came to retrieve her iPhone on November 8.

On October 12, 2018, Joe Valley was sentenced to 11 years in a California state prison for Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated and Leaving the Scene of an Accident in the criminal case of the DUI hit-and-run killing of Mr. Munguia.

The following screenshots come from the Tulare County Superior Court website.

The following file copy of the Summons and Complaint is dated February 2018, so perhaps the family re-filed in September.

It asserts (accurately) that Shelley Lubben entrusted her vehicle to Valley. In this instance, Valley was running errands for Lubben. He also had a history of driving while intoxicated, of which Lubben was well aware.

The Munguias' suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

USAA is representing the indigent, incarcerated Valley.

Joe Valley in his November 2017 mugshot

Shelley Lubben lover Joe Valley gets 11-year Sentence in fatal DUI Hit-and-Run case

Porterville, Calif -- Joe Valley arrived at Tulare County Superior Court Friday morning, October 12, 2018, to learn his fate in the case of the DUI hit-and-run killing of cyclist Octavio Munguia.

Joseph Michael Valley, the boyfriend of disgraced anti-porn crusader Shelley Lubben, was given a state prison sentence of 11 years for Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated and Leaving the Scene of an Accident.

Joe Valley

Shelley Lubben, who stormed out of Valley's Sept 28 court hearing as soon as her "toxic relationship" with him -- which had been marked by substance abuse and domestic violence -- was raised, did not bother to attend her lover's sentencing, Friday.

Eyewitnesses confirm that after leaving the courthouse on Sept 28, where Valley stood condemned due to a devastating death caused by drinking, Shelley Lubben, her local gal pal, and their friend Taz Graves retired to The Antlers Roadhouse for drinks.

The Antlers being the same spot where Joe Valley drank before his car plowed into Mr. Munguia an the way home to the house he shared with Lubben.

Valley's mother did attend court today -- as well as other individuals believed to be Joe Valley's family members who cursed at Munguia's family in the courthouse parking lot after the hearing.

“Whenever a life is lost to the selfish choices of a drunk driver, the community as a whole feels both anger and fear that they could become the next innocent victim on their way to work, school, or while enjoying a quiet bike ride,” said Assistant District Attorney David Alavezos. “The sentence handed down by the court will not bring back the life lost, and the defendant will continue his own existence, but for now that existence will be behind prison walls.”

Case closed

Valley recently changed his plea from Not Guilty in the hit-and-run drunk driving death of Mr. Munguia, to a plea of No Contest. His new plea accepted by the court, he stood convicted of Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated and Leaving the Scene of an Accident, but awaiting sentence.

At the time Valley's new plea was accepted,  Judge Michael B. Sheltzer indicated that a nine-year prison sentence would be in order, subject to modification by the presence of any mitigating or aggravating factors in the case.

Judge Sheltzer is the same judge who dismissed Shelley Lubben's trumped up charges against her ex-husband, Garrett, in February 2017.

Valley's Sept 28 court appearance had been slated as a sentencing hearing, so the family of the victim were in attendance with written Impact Statements to be read into the record. However, Joe Valley's Public Defender asked the court if Valley could read a short statement first, and the judge permitted it.

Looking pale but composed, Valley apologized for his actions, and claimed that the day he ran down Mr. Munguia was a "blur" to him. 

Valley's apology was not accepted by the members of Munguia's family, including his wife of 30 years and his younger brother. Their heartbreaking statements moved many in the courtroom to tears, but it was something the victim's brother said that generated a most unusual reaction in the room.

Addressing Valley directly, the moment the victim's brother mentioned Valley's "toxic relationship" with Shelley Lubben which had been marked by substance abuse and domestic violence, Lubben stood up and dragged her two companions out of the courtroom, never to return.

Having ostensibly come to learn her boyfriend's fate, Lubben instead fled when her name came up in a negative light -- without learning Valley's fate.

Aggravating factors

Following the family's statements on Sept 28, which were added into the court record, Judge Sheltzer announced that he would need time to consider the fact that there had been no mitigating factors in the case but several aggravating ones: Valley was on probation at the time of the crash; his probation performance "had been unsatisfactory"; and Valley had failed to stop and render aid to Mr. Munguia or even call 911 to seek help for the man who lay dying on the side of the road because of him.

Judge Sheltzer re-scheduled sentencing in the case for 8:30 am on Oct. 12, and assured the victim's family that under no circumstances would the sentence be any less than nine years, but possibly more after his research on sentencing in similar cases had been completed.

Today we learned that a prison sentence of 11 years was more appropriate for the crime.

On May 18, 2018, Shelley Lubben (seen here with Joe Valley in 2016) turned 50 years old. Hers was one of the most turbulent and corrosive half-centuries in the life of any modern-day public figure.

Questions still remain

Joe Valley's No Contest plea obviated the need for a criminal trial, and with no testimony to be heard by the court, we may never know the full story of exactly what happened on Nov. 7, 2017.

What we do know is that Joe Valley drank at a local bar, The Antlers Roadhouse, some time before the fatal collision with Mr. Munguia, and that witnesses state Valley was already intoxicated when he arrived in his car. It was after he left that his car ran down Munguia.

A blood draw revealed Valley’s blood alcohol content at .26 percent, the District Attorney’s Office said. That was more than three times the legal limit of .08 percent.

But Valley told Highway Patrol investigators he had been drinking at a nearby lake earlier that day, and made no mention of visiting The Antlers.

Could there be anything else Valley left out?

Following the fatal collision, Valley's 2005 PT Cruiser was driven straight home to the property on Balch Park Road where he resided with Lubben. Shortly after his wrecked vehicle returned to the Lubben Ranch, Shelley Lubben got behind the wheel of her Jeep and drove off the property alone.

Lubben then flagged down a neighbor, and told the woman that she was her "witness" that Lubben was leaving home at that time, and then drove off.

This struck the neighbor as odd, and she told an investigator for the victim's family that Shelley Lubben was intoxicated and looked like she hadn't showered in days at the time she flagged her down.

A United Parcel Service driver discovered Mr. Muguia in the road. After witnesses reported seeing a PT Cruiser with a broken windshield and significant front end damage, the UPS driver directed law enforcement to a nearby house where a PT Cruiser was normally parked: the Lubben Ranch.

Highway Patrol officers arrested Valley on the ranch property, and took him to jail. But because Lubben had already left, they were initially unable to interview her.

It wasn't until the following morning that Highway Patrol got a statement from Shelley Lubben -- under circumstances that were objectively suspicious.

It turned out that Mrs. Lubben's iPhone was in the car that killed Octavio Munguia. 

The presence of Lubben's cell phone in the vehicle was discovered after the wrecked PT Cruiser had been brought to Wallace Towing on Orange Belt Drive in Porterville.

It was there that Shelley Lubben was interviewed by the California Highway Patrol, when she came to retrieve her iPhone on November 8.

If Shelley Lubben -- who a witness stated was intoxicated at the time of Mr. Munguia's death -- hadn't been in the vehicle, then what was her cell phone doing in the car that killed Mr. Munguia?

Now that Joe Valley has been convicted and sentenced to prison for Gross Vehicular Manslaughter, we may never know the answer.

UPDATE: Joseph Michael Valley was transferred to Avenal State Prison on October 23, 2018. He is not eligible for parole until May 2023.

Shelley Lubben Gave Wine and Xanax to Boyfriend Charged in DUI, Says His Mom

Joe Valley's mother thinks Shelley Lubben is complicit in the tragedy, and even suspects that Joe might be taking the fall for Shelley!

Porterville, Calif. -- Defendant Joseph Valley was led into Tulare County Superior Court December 7, at a preliminary hearing in the case of the hit and run death of cyclist Octavio Munguia. Valley is charged with Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated, a felony, in the fatal Nov. 7 collision.

Valley was on probation at the time of the deadly collision, so at Thursday's hearing, the court also considered three probation violations that were triggered by Valley's arrest last month.

Readers may recall that disgraced anti-porn crusader Shelley Lubben called 911 and accused Valley, then her boyfriend, of rape and domestic violence on his 26th birthday (Christmas eve) in 2015.  Valley was arrested and later was able to plead to one count, while the others were dismissed. 

His charge of domestic battery lowered to misdemeanor-level, Valley was sentenced to 90 days in jail, with credit for time served, given probation, and released on March 22, 2016.

However, in court, Thursday, discussion of Valley's probation violations brought to light two additional convictions of Valley's in 2016, during his relationship with Shelley Lubben.

On June 26, 2016, Joe Valley was arrested for the crime of Possession of a Controlled Substance after being found to have a quantity of Alprazolam, a drug marketed under the name Xanax, without a prescription.

Xanax is a potent, short-acting benzodiazepine anxiolytic—a tranquilizer.

Where would Joe Valley obtain Xanax without a prescription? According to Joe's mother, Christina Valley, he got the pills from Shelley Lubben.

This narrative corresponds with Garrett Lubben's recollection as well: in August 2015, when Garrett visited the ranch property in Springville that he then co-owned, he personally saw bottles of Xanax at Shelley's residence that she had purchased in Mexico. He has never known Shelley to hold a valid prescription for Xanax.

These drugs were alluded to in Garrett's affidavit in support of a restraining order he sought in July 2016 to protect himself and his daughters from Shelley.

A fatal collision

"He's a young man that just wanted to be loved and to love back," Valley said of her son's volatile relationship with Shelley Lubben. "She fed him wine and pills!"

"My son never really went to jail before her, some drunk in public, panhandling that sort of stuff," she added. And indeed it is true that, like others before him, Joe Valley's life took an unfortunate turn after hooking up with this pill-popping narcissist.

The deadly hit-and-run crash occurred on Balch Park Road near Battle Mountain Road in Springville at around 4:40 p.m., November 7.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Valley hit the 51-year old cyclist while driving a silver 2005 Chrysler PT Cruiser with a convertible top. A witness at the scene saw Valley take off "up Balch Park Road to his house" after the collision. The cyclist died at the scene.

A blood draw revealed Valley’s blood alcohol content at .26 percent, the District Attorney’s Office said. That was more than three times the legal limit of .08 percent.

The mystery surrounding the provenance of the vehicle, and how Valley, whose license had been suspended for failure to make child support payments, had gotten back on the road, was settled by Mrs. Valley.

"[Shelley] paid the the the money to get my son's license back," Mrs. Valley said. "She paid everything: insurance, bought [the car], in her name. She paid for the insurance, also.

"I remember she said something about insurance only covers up to $1000.00, [the victim's family] won't be able to get anything else [from the insurer]." If that coverage limit is accurate, this suggests Shelley Lubben will personally be on the hook for a substantial sum of money.

"I honestly think she was driving, always drinking and driving," Mrs. Valley said. She believes that Joe may be taking the fall out of some sense of duty to the woman he believes loves him.

Lubben and Valley met when her husband hired him to work at the Springville property in the spring of 2015. Shelley soon began an affair with Valley, and her husband later filed for divorce.

Christina Valley views Lubben as a manipulative predator: "When I first heard about her and how they came to be, I cried. She found a man with emotions and needs of a lonely boy, desperate to belong somewhere, to someone he can say it's real. . . . I see the text[s] that were sent between her and Garrett; as seems to me, [it] went just the way she wanted it to."

The other conviction

On April 13, 2017, Shelley Lubben got Joe arrested again. 

Even though he had moved back in with Shelley following his release from jail in March 2016, and she regularly posted photos of the couple out and about, taking road trips to Las Vegas, and even at a polling place on Election Day 2016, there was a criminal protective order -- a stay away order -- in place that legally prevented him from being around her. At risk to Joe's freedom, the couple ignored the order.

Something Joe said or did must have provoked Shelley's ire on April 13, and Joe was again taken into custody.

Joe Valley's next court date is scheduled for 8:30 am on January 18, 2018. We will be providing continuing coverage of the case as it unfolds.

GoFundMe Campaign for Family of Cyclist Police Say Was Killed By Shelley Lubben's Boyfriend

Visalia, CA -- A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help the family of Octavio Munguia, 51, the cyclist who authorities say was run down by drunk driver Joe Valley on November 7, 2017.

The fatal hit-and-run collision occurred down the road from where Valley, 27, resides with his girlfriend, disgraced anti-porn crusader Shelley Lubben, 49.

Munguia is survived by his beloved wife, Maria Elena, his daughter Jessica, his son Alexander, his brother Juan Pablo, and three grandchildren.

Maria and Octavio Munguia

According to the , Maria Munguia was tracking her husband's ride through a smartphone application when she noticed something was wrong. Immediately, she reached out to her two children. 

“When my cousins showed up on scene, the first responders were already there," said Laura Cuadros, Munguia's niece.  

Ten days later, Octavio Munguia's friends and loved ones are still in shock after receiving news of his sudden death.  

Munguia's son, Alex Munguia, said two years ago his father began exercising. His favorite way to stay fit was cycling. 

"He really loved it," Alex Munguia said. "It became a passion for him." 

Ben Blankenship, a member of Southern Sierra Cyclist Club, said that in the past two months, Munguia had accomplished great feats in his cycling career.  

In October, Octavio cycled 345 miles, which included the San Luis Obispo Lighthouse Century, riding 100 miles between Morro Bay, Atascadero, and San Simeon — he climbed more than 7,300 in elevation.

It was his biggest cycling endeavor and accomplishment.

"Octavio was riding more and more, and picking up new cycling friends with every ride," Blankenship said. "In total, Octavio had ridden over 3,500 miles and climbed more than 77,000 in elevation this year."

The monies collected by the GoFundMe fundraiser will go directly to Octavio Munguia’s wife and children to help them transition to life without him. Please help them make every effort to not lose the home they shared with their beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend.

Donations may be made here: gf.me/u/d5apxu