Criminal Defense
New Court Ruling Results in Murder Reversal: The Criminally Accused Have a Right to Confront the Witnesses Against Them – Part II
The California Third District Court of Appeal reversed a 2006 second-degree murder conviction. People v. Dungo, 2009 DJDAR 12630. In Dungo, the defendant was convicted and sentenced to 15-years-to-life for choking his girlfriend to death. This reversal came after Melendez, discussed in the previous blog. In the California case, the criminal defense attorney successfully argued that the defendant's rights were violated when the defendant's counsel was not able to cross…
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Crime Down in Los Angeles
The Los Angles County Sheriff's department announced this week that the overall crime rate in Los Angeles County has dropped in 2009! According to its statistics, property crimes dropped 11% compared to 2008. Moreover, homicides in Los Angeles County dropped 23.5% compared to 2008, the biggest drop in any category. All this comes amidst an extremely high unemployment rate throughout Los Angeles County, of which was at 12.3% in August…
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Defendant Convicted of First Degree Murder Has Sentence Overturned Based on Insufficient Evidence
Why You Need an Experienced Criminal Defense Lawyer on Your Side The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently overturned a first degree murder conviction in US v. Begay (2009 DJDAR 7955). Begay was convicted of two counts of first degree murder and two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence. The District Court imposed mandatory concurrent life sentences for each murder conviction as well as 35 years…
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Under California’s Felony Murder Rule, an Unarmed, First-Time Offender Served 29 Years in Prison for Waiting in a Getaway Car During a Robbery
Connie Keel was charged with first-degree murder for participating as an aider and abettor in the robbery of a liquor store that resulted in the death of the store clerk. Keel was convicted of murder in California at her 1981 trial, even though she was never accused of killing anyone with her own hands. To this day, Keel claims that she had no idea that her husband and cousin intended…
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A Father Who Faces Murder Charges Also Faces a Prejudiced Jury
An Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney Will Negate Any Prejudicial Effect and Fight for Your Right to a Fair Trial There are two sides to every story. A trial was held when a man pled not guilty to allegedly throwing his daughter off a 120-foot cliff to avoid paying child support. The media has sensationalized the case and prosecutors have "played up" the most lurid details in an effort to obtain…
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LA Man Found Guilty of Second Degree Murder instead of First Degree Murder for the Killing of a USC Film Student
A Skilled Defense Attorney Can Prevent a Defendant from Facing the Death Penalty or Life without Parole The man who invoked fear and uneasiness throughout the USC campus and surrounding community has been found guilty of second degree murder by a Los Angeles court, according to the website. The convicted man is 25 years old, and lived down the street from the USC campus, sometimes working as an usher during…
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Ineffective Assistance of Counsel is Cause to Withdraw a Plea When Counsel Failed to Have Defendant’s Statements Excluded
An ineffective assistance of counsel claim is one reason to withdraw a plea agreement. In order to prevail on an effective assistance of counsel claim, defendant must demonstrate that his counsel's representation was "deficient" and that deficiency caused a result that would not have happened but for the inadequate representation."Deficient" means that the counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness; meaning, the attorney did not handle the case…
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Double Jeopardy and Vehicular Homicide
The California Supreme court determined in People v. Traylor, that a defendant could be tried under a second complaint for negligent vehicular manslaughter when the first complaint, vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, had been dismissed. In California, even though the original charge had been dismissed, a second charge could be filed based on the exact same conduct. The first charge was "vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence" while the second charge…
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Irvine Criminal Defense and DUI Attorneys
Located in Orange County, Irvine has an estimated population of 207,500. Irvine is home to many Universities and is located closely to popular beach sites such as Laguna and Newport. In 2008, Irvine was chosen by as the fourth best place to live in the entire United States due to its good housing, jobs, and schools. It was reported by the FBI in June 2009 that Irvine had the lowest…
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9th District Federal Court of Appeals Reverses Murder Conviction After all State Courts Reject Appeal
Why You Need a Highly Skilled Criminal Appeals Law Firm to Help You In a case decided on July 7, 2009, the 9th District Federal Court of Appeals reversed the murder conviction of Mohammend Ali due to the courts finding that the prosecutor had committed prejudicial error when he excused the only two black prospective jurors from the jury pool. At the trial, the defendant's attorney had objected to the…
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