Your California Criminal Defense Attorney and Alternative Sentencing
Your California Criminal Defense Attorney and Alternative Sentencing
Some of the clients that retain our law firm have in fact committed the crimes for which they are accused. These clients hire our services because they know that our Los Angeles criminal defense law firm has over thirty years of experience in knowing how to get the best possible result in their case, even when both our clients and our law firm realize that they have committed a criminal…
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San Diego Jails
Afraid of going to jail in San Diego? These are alternatives. Many misdemeanor cases are settled for community service. Picking up papers and raking leaves in a Probation Department program may be a choice. Did you know that "jail" doesn't always mean bars and an orange jumpsuit? Competent, San Diego lawyers know about work furlough. It counts as jail, but you go to work and return. They have an electronic…
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Divorces Through Default
Are you currently separated from your husband or wife and want to file for divorce in California, but your spouse is not cooperating? If this is the case, you are not alone! Several times when spouses separate, one spouse could "care less" if they are ever officially divorced. Believe it or not, there are several of these spouses out there that figure that once they are separated and have moved…
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Still Registering as a Sex Offender? Looking to Stop? This Three Part Series Will Discuss The Different Ways We Can Help You Get Off The Registration Rolls (Part 3)
Part III - Governor's Pardon In the event that you are registering as a sex offender in California, and your offense does not come within the Hofsheier decision, and a certificate of rehabilitation will not be enough to get you off of the registration rolls, there is still hope for you yet in the form of a governor's pardon. There are two ways to go about seeking a governor's pardon:…
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Still Registering as a Sex Offender? Looking to Stop? This Three Part Series Will Discuss The Different Ways We Can Help You Get Off The Registration Rolls (Part 2)
Part II - Certificate of Rehabilitation Did you know that, if you are registering as a sex offender in California pursuant to Penal Code section 290, that you might be able to go back to court and get a judge to relieve you of your obligation to register without having to seek and obtain a full pardon from the governor? Our office has found that many judges, district attorneys, and…
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Still Registering as a Sex Offender? Looking to Stop? This Three Part Series Will Discuss The Different Ways We Can Help You Get Off The Registration Rolls (Part 1)
Part I - People v. Hofsheier If you or a loved one is subject to California's mandatory sex offender registration law (Penal Code section 290, also known as "Megan's Law") because of a sex crime conviction in California, we may be able to help you get your name off the registration rolls. The California Supreme Court ruled in People v. Hofsheier (2006) 37 Cal.4th 1185 that, as applied to certain…
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Man Freed From Prison After Faulty Conviction – Real Perpetrators Will Not Face Justice
If you want to know just how shaky and unreliable eyewitness identifications can be, just ask Patrick Waller, who was recently ordered released from prison by a judge in Dallas, Texas after DNA testing showed that police and prosecutors had locked up the wrong man. According to a recent story on , Waller's ordeal began in 1992 when two men kidnapped a couple and stole several hundred dollars. The men…
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Conviction Reversed When Trial Court Fails to Properly Explain The Elements of The Crime of Assault to The Jury
The case in issue is People v. Miller, a recent case from the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District. In Miller, the Defendant was charged with assault with a deadly weapon among other felonies charges. Facts On February 2, 2006, Glenn Fong was making a left turn onto First Street from Alamitos Avenue in Long Beach. His car was struck on the passenger side by a car being driven…
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Federal Sentencing Guidelines no Longer Dictate What a Federal Judge Can do at Sentencing in a Federal Criminal Case
The United States Supreme Court in Gall vs. United States held that the federal sentencing "guidelines" are no longer binding on what sentence a federal judge decides to hand down in any particular case. The US Supreme Court recently held that the federal judge now has broad discretion to sentence a criminal defendant to a higher or lower sentence than the guidelines provide. The judges' decision will only be reversed…
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California Prison Inmates to Get Early Release Under New Program
As we all have heard, California state prisons are far too overcrowded. As a result, many times, convicted criminals get released early. Well, a new plan calls for some prisoners to do their time at a "community-based" rehabilitation program instead of getting released early! This includes home confinement, electronic monitoring, or doing time a county jail. In a way, this can be seen as a positive as some of the…
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