Criminal Appeals
Protection Under the Fifth Amendment Right against Self-Incrimination is Applicable to Defendant’s Pre-Arrest Silence
In the case of People v. Waldie, harmless error was established where the prosecutor was allowed to comment on the defendant's failure to return numerous calls by police prior to arrest. A jury had convicted defendant Waldie of sex crimes that amounted to two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct against a child under the age of 14 years. On appeal, defendant claimed the court erred by permitting comment on…
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Juvenile Sex Crime Appealed
Cursory Investigation of Potentially Exculpatory Evidence Amounts to Inadequate Assistance of Counsel for Minor – Why You Need an Experienced Juvenile Defense Attorney When hiring a criminal defense attorney in California to represent your child, be sure he/she is competent, aggressive and thorough. In the case of In re Edward S. 2009 DJDAR 6066, the Court of Appeal ruled that a minor's trial had to be reversed and remanded back…
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California Sex Crime Conviction Reversed
California Court of Appeal Reverses Conviction of Defendant Found Guilty of Sex Crime for Showing Harmful Matter to a Minor A jury in California found a defendant guilty of California Penal Code Section 288.2(a) for showing a 16-year-old girl pornographic images on the television. The defendant appealed that decision, and the California Court of Appeal reversed the conviction holding that there was insufficient evidence for the sex crime in California.…
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California Appeal Reverses Sex Offense Conviction
Often a defendant is accused in one criminal complaint of many different crimes. A very powerful weapon in many cases is for your experienced California criminal defense attorney to bring a motion to sever the cases so you can receive separate trials. Jurors often will tend to want to convict a defendant just because of the number of criminal charges. Also in many cases, the prosecutor will attempt to have…
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San Diego Drug Diversion Program Granted By Judge
Judge Reverses 19-Year Sentence and Gives Criminal Defendant Drug Diversion Program On Appeal by Criminal Defense Attorney Chauncey Lee Harris was convicted in San Diego Superior Court of transportation of a controlled substance and possession of narcotics paraphernalia in San Diego. The jury in the case specifically made a finding that the transportation of the controlled substance was for personal use. The court also made a finding that Harris had…
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California Legal Right to Bail
If You Are Convicted of a Misdemeanor After a Trial, You Have the Legal Right to Bail as a Matter of Right Recently a person called our office after he had been found guilty by a jury of a misdemeanor offense. The judge sentenced him to six months in county jail. His trial lawyer failed to inform the accused that he had absolute right to "reasonable bail" pending appeal. The…
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California Dismissed Appeals Can Be Re-Examined
There is Good News for Criminal Defendants Who Lose an Appeal Because Their Attorney Negligently Handled the Matter A recent ruling by the California Court of Appeals gives defendants the opportunity to have their appeal heard by the court if the dismissal of the appeal must result due to the neglect or misconduct of the appellate attorney. This is true even if the appeal was dismissed years ago, but the…
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New Evidence May Allow Second Suppression Hearing
Criminal Defense Attorneys May Have More Than One Attempt At Suppressing Damaging Evidence You may be able to get a second bite at the apple for suppression hearings, but there must be new evidence that justifies the second bite, or your request will be denied. Late last year, a California Appellate Court ruled that a Defendant was not entitled to a new hearing on a suppression motion at the retrial,…
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California Appellate Attorney Proves Self Defense in Homicide Appeals Case
Accidentally firing a weapon is a defense to murder - why hiring an experienced criminal defense firm can save you from prison A recent California appeals case, People v. Villanueva, held that the trial court was mistaken when the trial court failed to instruct the jury that they could find the defendant not guilty based on self-defense. 2008 D.A.R. 18235 (2nd Dist. 2008) Dec. 12 2008 (B202418). Defendant testified that…
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California Prison Sentence Reduction Possible, Based on Recent Decision
Under New California Supreme Court Decision, Hundreds Of California State Prison Inmates Have A Shot At A Shorter Sentence. The recent California Supreme Court's decision in the matter of In re Gomez, opens the door for sentence modification in California for hundreds of Inmates incarcerated in the State Prison system. The court's unanimous decision, deals with people convicted of crimes between two United States Supreme Court announcements on how to…
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