Criminal Appeals
Criminal Appeals Lawyers Reduce Probation Terms
The actions of a California criminal appeals lawyer recently compelled a California Court of Appeals to strike down as unconstitutionally overbroad a term of probation that stated that the defendant was not permitted to "associate, socially, nor be present at any time, at any place, public or private, with any person, as designated by his probation officer." In People vs. O'Neil, the First District Court of Appeals decided on August…
Read MoreCalifornia Appeals Court Reverses Death Sentence
For the second time last month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a death sentence, citing inadequate assistance of counsel. 2008 DJDAR 9426. In March of 1986, appellant Henry Earl Duncan was convicted of robbery and first-degree murder. After finding the special circumstance allegation of his case to be true, Duncan was sentenced to death for murder by the jury. Id. The victim in the case, Josephine Eileen DeBaun,…
Read MoreCalifornia Appeals Attorneys Reverse Firearm Conviction
An accused parked his car a short distance from his home and walked toward his front door. A police officer stopped him and told him that he had failed to signal before changing lanes. The accused became upset and threatened the officer. The accused was on parole. The officer arrested him for making a threat against the police officer. The officer then proceeded to search the defendant's vehicle and found…
Read MoreMan 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…
Read MoreConviction 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…
Read MoreJUDGE GRANTS DEFENDANT NEW TRIAL WHEN PROSECUTION VIOLATES DEFENDANTS RIGHT BY FAILING TO TURN OVER DISCOVERY
When you are accused of a crime the prosecution must turn over discovery to your California criminal defense lawyer so that he can assist you to prepare your defense. In a recent federal criminal prosecution the defendants conviction was reversed when a federal judge found that the prosecution had "persistently and recklessly violated its constitutional responsibilities to discovery and disclose crucial information" to the defense. The court was extremely upset…
Read More26 YEAR SECRET KEEPS INNOCENT MAN IN PRISON
A recent report on the program "60 Minutes," detailing the case of Alton Logan revealed what can happen when concepts of law and morality collide. Mr. Logan was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the murder of a security guard at a McDonald's restaurant in Chicago in 1982. Police arrested him after receiving a tip, and got three eyewitnesses to identify him as the killer. Mr. Logan, as well…
Read MoreCRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY DISBARRED FOR FAILURE TO PROPERLY REPRESENT DEFENDANT IN HIS ROBBERY TRIAL RESULTING IN HIS CONVICTION
An attorney was recently disbarred from the practice of law by the California State Bar for his failure to properly defend a client in a robbery trial. At the defendants first trial the lawyer called an expert witness who testified as to the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. In addition during the first trial the lawyer called several witnesses to support the defendants alibi as well as to the lack of…
Read MoreSHOULD I APPEAL?
If you or a loved one has been convicted of a criminal offense, you should consider appealing the case. The law on criminal appeals in California is specific and deadlines are important to understand. On felony cases, the Notice of Appeal needs to be filed within 60 calendar days of sentence. On misdemeanors, the time to file the Notice of Appeal is 30 days from the day of sentencing. Failure…
Read MoreThere must be an adequate factual basis in the record to accept a plea
The California Court of Appeal recently reversed a plea agreement because there was not an adequate factual basis for the defendant's plea. The issue in The People v. Bobby Lee Willard was whether a general stipulation, without reference to a document in the record which contains factual allegations, satisfies the proper procedure when a negotiated plea is taken. When a negotiated plea is taken and the trial court asks defense…
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