Criminal Appeals
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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Statutory Right for Juveniles to Petition to Seal Records
If You Have a Juvenile Record, You Have a Statutory Right to Hire a Juvenile Defense Attorney to Petition the California Juvenile Court to Seal Your Record You would be hard pressed to find anyone who has not made a mistake as a youth. Youthful indiscretions, no matter how common, may greatly affect an individual's life thereafter. Often times a juvenile record in California can come back to haunt a…
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Ninth Circuit Court Ruling Permits Use of Statements Made before Miranda Rights are Advised
Ninth Circuit Court Ruling Holds a Person is not in Custody Even After Being Questioned by Officers for Over Two Hours Few things are more intimidating than law enforcement interrogating you about your possible involvement in a crime. Often, it is this intimidation that causes people to confess to criminal charges. The Courts have held that before interrogating a person, police officers generally must explain to that person that they…
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California Traffic Violations and Senate Bill 1407
California's Budget Problem Leads to More Expensive Traffic Tickets, Requiring the Defense of an Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney With the economy hurting and the California budget billions of dollars in the red, lawmakers have recently tapped a new source of income that will hit motorists in the wallet, and hard. Senate Bill 1407, which went into effect on January 1, 2009, increases the cost of every traffic violation, in some…
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Prosecutors Face Criminal Investigation over Withholding Evidence in Prosecution of United States Senator
A federal judge has ordered that several United States Attorneys be criminally investigated for their conduct in the recent prosecution of United States Senator Ted Stevens. The judge in the case stated, "In nearly 25 years on the bench, I've never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I've seen in this case". This is an amazing statement coming from a federal judge when talking about federal prosecutors who…
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California Certificate of Rehabilitation
How Do I Apply for a Certificate of Rehabilitation? Do I Need to Hire a Criminal Defense Attorney? If you've ever been convicted of a crime in California, you know that the feeling of regret soon follows. You try your best to live the rest of your life as a different person, a better person than the person you were at the time of your arrest, but the shadow of…
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LA Clipper Arrested for Alleged DUI
Arrest of LA Clipper Randolph for DUI Highlights the Need for a Person Accused of DUI to Retain an Experienced DUI Attorney It was reported that recently, Los Angeles Clipper forward Zach Randoph was arrested by the CHP for an alleged violation of driving under the influence. There was no report of whether he had submitted to a blood alcohol test. Zach Randolph was quoted as saying that he hopes…
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California Criminal Charges and Guilty Pleas
Criminal Charges and Their Civil Consequences: Why you Need an Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney Many people who face criminal charges are often deluded into thinking that a quick plea agreement will essentially bring their case to a close. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Many criminal cases where victims are involved often are followed by lawsuits in civil court, and these almost always result in the defendant having to…
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California Prison Population Reduction
California must Reduce Prison Population by 57,000 People, Raising the Question of Whether There Will be an Increased Need for Criminal Defense Attorneys Three federal judges have ruled that California must reduce its prison population by 57,000 people over the next two or three years, which could have quite an influence on the demand for skilled criminal defense attorneys in California. The judges indicated that California state prisons are…
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Phil Spector Found Guilty of Second Degree Murder
Eccentric music producer Phil Spector was convicted on Monday April 13, 2009 of second degree murder, for the 2003 death of actress of Lana Clarkson, and will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. In his second trial, held after a jury deadlocked in 2007, Spector was found guilty of second degree murder in Los Angeles and will be facing 18 years to life in prison when he…
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