Right to Privacy and Cell Phone Evidence
Right to Privacy and Cell Phone Evidence
Today's so-called Smart Phones hold a great deal of information that has little relevance to phone calls. As such, some argue that police should be required to obtain a search warrant before inspecting the contents of a cell phone. They submit that obtaining evidence from cell phones without a warrant amounts to a violation of the Fourth Amendment protection against illegal search and seizure. Our forefathers lived in a time…
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California Law on Expungement
Let's face it – if you have been convicted of a crime in California, your prospects for employment are significantly diminished. That pair of shoes you shoplifted twenty years ago could haunt you every day. Until recent years, however, prospective employers and others were unlikely to obtain this information unless it was offered. Unexplained gaps in verifiable employment would likely have been the only tell-tale sign. The Information Age has…
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Who Most Benefits from Plea Bargains?
About 90% of all criminal cases in the U.S. are settled by plea bargain. Given the number of cases being heard in courts these days it would be difficult to imagine our legal system bearing the burden of full jury trials in every case. But is justice really served when a prosecutor and defendant enter into such an agreement? Are courts allowing financial and logistical difficulties to dictate how the…
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The Most Important Role of a Juror
Quite often these days jury trials are broadcasted. Indeed, viewers are even privy to issues over which jurors are removed from the courtroom, such as evidentiary matters which might otherwise bias those who ultimately will determine the defendant's fate. And when the verdict is read, often viewers are baffled by the jury's decision. It is fine to make independent judgments about trial evidence from home, but as a juror you…
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Filing an Appeal In California
Let's face it. Courts make mistakes. Sometimes sentences that are handed down are too harsh. Prosecutors, and even jurors, may engage in misconduct. Evidence can be admitted wrongfully, and laws are occasionally applied incorrectly. And any of these reasons can be grounds for filing an appeal in California. Unfortunately, however, the appeals process can be complex and slow, given to tight time constraints followed by months of waiting. If you…
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Man Sentenced to Death is Granted New Hearing by Federal Court of Appeals
Even after an accused is found guilty, his criminal defense lawyer must competently represent him at his sentencing hearing. In many cases a judge has great discretion at the sentencing hearing of an accused found guilty of a serious felony. In some cases the court has the power to sentence a defendant to decades in prison or can decide to place the accused on probation. In the case before…
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Illinois Police Officer Violates Man’s Constitutional Rights
Know your rights in case of an infraction. This case that we debated on Fox News is a great example of an officer abusing the constitutional rights we all have when it comes to traffic stops. In order to make a traffic stop an officer must have probable cause to believe that a violation of some sort took place---whether an infraction, misdemeanor of a felony. In this case, the officer…
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Court Throws Out Convictions When Police Entered Hotel Room without a Warrant because They Smelled Marijuana
The question the court faced was whether the police needed to obtain a search warrant when they smell a strong odor of marijuana coming from a hotel room. In a decision that will be very good news for all persons who smoke marijuana in the privacy of their home or in a hotel they may visit, the court of appeals threw our the defendants convictions and ordered that all of…
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Ballot Measure to Reform California’s 3 Strike Law Makes November Election
With California facing a budget crisis and our jails so horribly overcrowded that judges openly mock the "power" of sentencing people to jail time, there are currently people sitting in California jails serving 50 year sentences for shoplifting. While that may seem like some extreme propaganda used by criminal defense attorneys or the far left, the simple fact is, California's "three strikes" law is horribly flawed. It is so flawed,…
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TSA Agents at LAX Facing Federal Drug Charges
The Transportation Security Agency has had more than its fair share of black eyes in the past few years. Now, two of their current employees and two former employees are in need of a Los Angeles federal crimes attorney after being arrested on federal drug crimes. In a shocking story, the TSA agents reportedly allowed drug smugglers to pass through Los Angeles International Airport x-ray machines with large quantities of…
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