CRIMINAL LAW BLOG

Another relevant search and seizure case was recently decided by the California Court of Appeal. As discussed in other portions of this Law Blog, a criminal defense attorney brings a motion in court pursuant to Penal Code Section 1538.5 contesting the validity of police conduct. If the defense pr...

People on the street ask criminal defense lawyers - how can you represent a murderer? The Law Blog's frequent response is that a client is just accused of murder, and may actually be innocent. The next question may be - How is this possible? Hasn't the police done its job and gone after the right...

A successful Pitchess Motion may at times be a powerful tool for defense counsel. Defendants are entitled to relevant "discovery," ie. police reports and witness interviews, contained in the personnel files of an arresting officer. Typically, Los Angeles criminal attorneys file this motion befor...

In most instances when the police decide to search a home, the Constitution requires law enforcement to have a preapproved search warrant. A search warrant provides a justification, prescreened by a judge, explaining why the police can invade the privacy of someone's house. When the justification...

Federal criminal authorities continue to enforce marijuana laws in Southern California, serving search warrants on dispensaries, seizing medicinal products and monies, and arresting employees, buyers, and store owners. These federal criminal laws are in direct conflict with the California Compass...

A recent study focuses on how the state of California deals with those people who were sent to prison, and were later exonerated.A reviewing commission concluded that California does a poor job of compensating people wrongfully convicted in its courts. Men and women imprisoned for years, even dec...

Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorneys hear many stories from clients about officers being too aggressive, coercing consents to search, forcing Miranda statements, and even planting evidence. LAPD Internal Affairs is supposed to investigate all complaints of police misconduct. Some say that how c...

California criminal law requires a unanimous verdict - which means all 12 jurors must agree that the defendant on trial is either guilty or not guilty. If the jurors cannot reach a unanimous decision, the judge declares a mistrial and the DA must decide whether to reprosecute the case or not. In ...

Who says there is no corruption in the police? Prosecutors frequently argue in drug possession cases that the officers finding the drugs are honest and reliable, such that their testimony should be believed. L.A. Criminal Defense Lawyers retort that we live in an imperfect world and that there ar...

Car stops are a frequent means of police investigation, which lead to arrests for the possession of narcotics, firearms, and other contraband. If the traffic stop is unlawful, the Constitution states that what the police found in the car is not admissible in court, and thus typically the criminal...

Los Angeles Criminal Lawyers frequently encounter cases where the possession of marjinuana is legally justified under California's Medical Marijuana initiative. The reason these cases are criminally filed is that the investigating police officers either ignore or do not understand the law justify...

Fake rolexes? Gucci sunglasses? Fendi purses? Pirated DVDS? The manufacturers of these high-end items lose millions of dollars in sales, and aggressively pursue counterfeiting by hiring undercover investigators nationally. The investigators in turn chronicle what they observe in a gray-market sto...

When an officer approaches you on the street, or knocks on your door at home, does that mean you are not free to leave, and/or that your must allow admission into your home? There are no clear answers and Southern California Criminal Attorneys litigate, almost daily, difficult search and seizure ...

What is a Grand Jury? A grand jury investigates civil and criminal matters in proceedings closed to the public. A civil grand jury investigates the operation, management, and fiscal affairs of the county and the cities in the county. A criminal grand jury has constitutional authority to indict a ...

California law makes it illegal for anyone to have consentual sex with anyone under the age of 18. The criminal offense is also known as the California Statutory Rape law, Penal Code Section 261.5. The greater the age difference in the intimate relationship, the more serious the consequences in a...

In Georgia, a defendant is charged with committing a heinous crime, first rape, then escaping from the courthouse killing a judge and three others. He is facing the death penaly. But because he is indigent, the state is paying for his defense lawyers fees, as is the case in all other parts of the...

Soutern Callifornia criminal attorneys have noticed that police at the local, state, and federal levels has been investing more and more resources into the investigation of internet crimes. In California, frequently committed internet crimes include: internet fraud, phishing, credit card fraud, i...

California Criminal Law requires that the state prove every element of a criminal offense beyond a reasonable doubt. This rule applies whether a defendant is accused of a DUI misdemeanor, or a serious felony such as Manslaughter or Murder. "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" is defined as proof that is s...

The U.S. Supreme Court in Brendlin v. California (2007) 127 S.Ct. 2400 addressed many legal issues related to what constitutional rights passengers have after a traffic stop.Assume that the police stop a car for an alleged traffic violation. Obviously, the driver is detained. But what about the p...

Consumer Fraud is organized into several areas under the misdemeanor prosecution powers of the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office for fraud practices - Immigration, Contractor, Auto Insurance, Solicitation, Loan Scams, and Credit Repair Fraud. The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office prosecutes...

The criminal court system in Los Angeles, California deals with hundreds and hudreds of cases daily. How do criminal defense lawyers humanize a client to busy criminal courts? While this is not the easiest task to accomplish in the Southern California justice system, an L.A. criminal attorney mus...

A new Ninth Circuit decision will assist Criminal Defense Lawyers in Los Angeles, and Attorneys specializing in Search and Seizure Criminal Law throoughout Southern California.In United States v. Grigg, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeas ruled last week that police officers may not detain and sear...

To be found guilty of the crime of murder requires that the accused have an intent to kill the deceased. The intent may be express (Defendant stating "I am going to kill her" and then pointing the gun at the victim's face), or implied (as in high-risk conduct by a Defendant in a police pursuit ca...

Members of the L.A. City Council have expressed dissatisfaction with the LAPD about its participation in federal drug raids, in cases where the target dispensary is in compliance with California Medicinal Marijuana laws. Ther Los Angeles Police Department has reinterated that it will continue to ...

It is logical to believe that jurors, acting as fact finders, can visit the scene of an alleged crime as part of trying to figure out what happened, and whether the accused should be criminally responsible (and thus ultimately be punished with time in custody).As part of trial preparation, most e...