Clearing Your Criminal Record
Clearing Your Criminal Record in California: Are You Eligible?
California law has several ways in which a person may clean up their criminal record. Depending on the time since your conviction and the circumstances surrounding the charge, it may be possible to have the conviction expunged from your record. When a criminal record is expunged you may legally answer "no" when asked by private employers if you have ever been convicted of a crime. If you have been convicted…
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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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Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney Obtained a Mistrial for Teacher Accused of Defrauding LAUSD
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, a mistrial was declared in the California fraud trial of Matthias Vheru, 53, who was accused by prosecutors of conning the district into placing a $3.7 million order to buy math textbooks that he had written. The math teacher who was the interim director of mathematics in 2004, allegedly persuaded the district to purchase about 45,000 copies of an algebra book…
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Rapper Coolio Charged With Cocaine Possession and Will Likely Seek Representation by an Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney
An article in the Los Angeles Times describes the arrest and charging of rapper and actor 'Coolio' with battery and possession of cocaine after a run-in at the Los Angeles International Airport. The well known entertainer allegedly grabbed a screener's arm to prevent the search of his luggage, which allegedly uncovered rock cocaine. Coolio's real name, Artis Leon Ivey, 45, was charged with one felony count of possession of cocaine,…
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California Preliminary Hearings Deny Use Of Officer History
Defense Hands are Further Tied By New Court Holding, Requiring More Experienced Criminal Defense Attorneys to Handle Cases Properly The court has found more ways to limit a defendant's ability to fight his or her California felony case at the Preliminary Hearing. A Preliminary Hearing is a hearing where the prosecutor needs to show the court that there is probable cause to hold the defendant to answer for the crimes…
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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 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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Grand Theft Auto Conviction in California May Cost You Your License
Under New California Law, A Person Convicted Of Theft Of A Motor Vehicle May Have Their Driving Privileges Suspended Or Revoked. Under New California law, the court may impose a license suspension or revocation for a person convicted of theft of a motor vehicle. A conviction allows the court to impose an open-ended license suspension or revocation, with no specified ending date. California Vehicle Code Section 10851, states that "any…
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Gang Members Charged in Canoga Park Murder
Why you need an experienced criminal defense attorney. Three Canoga Park men believed to be members of a Latin street gang have been hit with various California murder charges stemming from a December 22, 2008 shooting outside Canoga Park Bowl, a neighborhood bowling alley. Richard Bordelon, 21, Martin Sotelo, 23, and a third 15-year-old suspect are being prosecuted for the shooting and killing of James Shamp, a 48-year-old worker at…
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Attempted Lewd Act in California Does Not Require Physical Proximity
To Be Convicted of Attempted Lewd Act Does Not Require You to Have Actually Entered the Room with a Minor Jeffrey MacKanin, a California Department of Justice special agent supervisor who oversaw a Federal and State task force investigating child exploitation crimes, posed online as a 13-year-old runaway girl named "Hope". On December 7, 2004 Arthur Crabtree, an attorney who sometimes acted as a "Pro Tem Judge" and was once…
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