Assault & Battery
What You Need to Know if You Are Facing a Domestic Violence Charge
The language in recent case decisions indicates that courts recognize the danger inherent in domestic violence situations. The volatility of situations involving domestic violence make them particularly well suited for an application of the emergency circumstances doctrine, where law enforcement can enter your home without a warrant given that an emergency is taking place. When officers respond to a 911 domestic abuse call, a judgment call may be required when…
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If You Were Arrested and Spoke to Police, Your Statement May Be Suppressed
Why You Should Retain an Experienced Criminal Defense Law Firm to Help You Confessions must be the product of a voluntary statement. Whether a confession is voluntary becomes very relevant in the context of a law enforcement interrogation. If a defendant challenges the voluntariness of a confession or admission, the prosecution has the ultimate burden of showing the statement was voluntary. This burden is entirely separate from the question of…
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Possession of Certain Chemicals Could Land You in Jail
Why You Need a Good Drug Defense Attorney The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has a list of chemicals that it has placed on a watch list. The Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act of 1988 imposed legal impediments to obtaining the chemicals necessary to manufacture drugs of abuse. The DEA, with the help of the State Department, monitors the flow of these chemicals over state and international borders. Currently, there are…
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Police Entry into Residence Without a Warrant – What is the “Emergency Exception” to the Warrant Requirement? (Part 2)
In general, police must have a warrant before entering a residence. Of course, certain exceptions apply to the general rule which requires a warrant before entry. One such exception is known as the, "emergency exception." The emergency exception is often used by police and prosecutors to justify a warrantless entry. Hiring a Riverside criminal defense attorney who can identify all constitutional violations by the police may mean the difference between…
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You Have Legal Rights When You Share a Residence and Refuse Police Officers Request to Search Your Home or Apartment (Part 1)
Several recent Court rulings have addressed the issue of consent entry into one's residence. The issue of lawful consent becomes more complex when dealing with a residence shared by two occupants. In Georgia v. Randolph (2006) 164 L Ed.2d 208, the court held that if two occupants are at the door and one says officers may enter and the other refuses consent to enter, then officers cannot enter unless there…
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Domestic Violence – Officer’s Entry Into Suspect’s Home Found To Be Lawful Based Upon Express or Implied Consent (Part 3)
Two leading domestic violence cases, People v. Frye (1998) 18 .4th 894 and People v. Wilkins (1993) 14 .4th 761, have held that law enforcement entries into a suspect's home were lawful as consent entries. The court in People v. Frye stated as follows; it may be inferred from the fact the victim and defendant resided together in the apartment that the victim possessed authority to consent to the officer's…
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Domestic Violence – Exigent Circumstances May Justify An Officer’s Warrantless Entry Into Your Residence (Part 2)
In the context of an officer's warrantless entry into your residence, the most important issue is objective reasonableness. Whether, under the circumstances of your case, the officer's warrantless entry into your residence was objectively reasonable. If so, the "exigent circumstances" expection to the general warrant requirement may apply to justify the entry. A common issue in domestic violence cases is whether the officer responding to the scene should have secured…
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Riverside County Man Sentenced to 100 Years for Operating Ponzi Scheme
In September, a Federal Judge in Riverside County sentenced Richard Monroe Harkless to 100 years in prison for operating a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of about $35 million. Federal prosecutors boast that the sentence is the longest ever imposed for a financial crime in Southern California. Harkless ran the scheme form 2000-2003 through a company he called MX Factors and dozens of the company's estimated 700 investors wrote the…
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Death Penalty Conviction Overturned Due to an Attorney’s Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently overturned a defendant's death penalty finding that his lawyer did not provide effective assistance of counsel. In 1982, in an Arizona state court, Laurence Libberton was convicted of the murder of Juan Maya. The key witness at the trial, Martin Norton, a juvenile also charged in connection with the crime, testified that the Libberton shot Maya. During the penalty phase of the trial,…
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Ventura County CHP Officer Convicted of Hate Crime
If any of you were arrested by the CHP in the Ventura area, it might be worth your while to ask your lawyer to give you a copy of the police report and check out the police report. This is especially true if you think that the cop was lying in your report about some of the facts in your case. Recently, a local Ventura County CHP officer was convicted…
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