Criminal Defense
California Parole Violators Right to Legal Counsel Restored by Federal Judge
The voters in California in November, 2008 approved a new "victims rights" initiative that stated that only in rare cases would a person facing a parole violation be entitled to a skilled criminal defense lawyer in Los Angeles or another city in California to defend him or her from the allegations. What this meant is that in the vast majority of cases, parolees were facing being returned to prison without…
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Juvenile Criminal Convictions Reversed
Hundreds of Juvenile Court Criminal Convictions Reversed Due to Alleged Actions of Judge who Took Millions of Dollars in Kickbacks It was reported in the Los Angeles Times on March 27, 2009 that a state Supreme Court has reversed convictions in hundreds of juvenile crime cases due to the corrupt actions of a former judge. It was reported that this judge was being prosecuted for allegedly taking over 2.6 million…
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California Police Informant Tips can be Unreliable
What If The Police Used An Informant In My Case? What Can My Criminal Defense Attorney Do? Before a police officer can stop a person, they must have reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is occurring. One way in which police can get reasonable suspicion is through informants' tips. Sometimes, people will inform the police about suspected criminal activity. These tips must be sufficiently reliable in order for the police to…
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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 Deportation for Drunk Driving On a Suspended License
Drunk Driving On A Suspended License Is a Deportable Crime Requiring the Assistance of a Criminal Defense Attorney A recent ruling by the United States Appeals Court for the 9th District underscores the necessity of hiring an aggressive and skilled California criminal defense attorney. Circuit Judge O'Scannlain, writing the opinion for the six member majority, found drunk driving "offenses committed with the knowledge that one's driver's license has been suspended…
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Riverside County Criminal Case Dismissal Rate Highest in California
According to a Los Angeles Daily Journal report, "Riverside County courts dismiss more criminal cases than any other in the state for missing trial deadlines." Since Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco was voted into office in January 2007, Riverside County criminal crimes in court have dismissed more felony and misdemeanor trials than any other county in the State. In the 2006-2007 fiscal year, Riverside County had 583 felony jury…
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California Sex Offender Laws Influenced by Emotion, Not Facts
Sex Offender Laws are Based on Emotion Rather Than Facts, And That Is Why You Need A Criminal Defense Attorney In 2008, the State of California spent $22 million to house sex offenders on parole who must abide by Jessica's Law or Proposition 83. The proposition, which passed a little over two years ago, requires those convicted of sex crimes in California from living within 2,000 feet of schools, parks,…
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Immigrant’s Options when Facing Deportation Narrowed
The California Supreme Court ruled this month that immigrants who are facing deportation may no longer rely on two common post-conviction challenges. The court ruled in two separate cases that a writ of habeas corpus, or writ of error coram nobis, would no longer be available to a defendant once they had served a sentence and were no longer on parole or probation. The court's ruling means that once the…
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Equal California Protection Rights of Criminal Defendants
Criminal Defense Attorney Proves the Sex Offender Registration Imposed 20 Years Ago Violated Equal Protection Rights of Criminal Defendants Twenty years after a sex offender was convicted by a jury of oral copulation with a minor and was required to register as a sex offender, the offender moved to lift the lifetime registration requirement. The Superior Court denied the motion. In Lewis v. Superior Court, 169 .4th 70, the California…
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