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Criminal Law

California Criminal Defense Blog

Focuses on drug crimes, criminal defense, white-collar crimes, drunken driving and sex crimes.
By Neil Shous, Esq.

Post Frequency: 1.9/day

Last Entry: March 30, 2011 at 16:57:15

Guarding the Guardians Requires Information

Posted on May 14, 2010
Lack of transparency regarding law enforcement use of force continues in Southern California despite years of struggles waged in the courts and media. Recent articles and reports addressed this problem as it relates to the Los Angeles Police Commission and...

California's MANY Gun Laws...

Posted on May 13, 2010
California gun laws prohibit you from carrying a variety of illegal weapons. But instead of simply saying that you can?t carry a concealed weapon without a permit, or that you can?t possess an illegal gun, the California Legislature came up...

Open Carry vs. Concealed Carry

Posted on May 13, 2010
This is a big debate among gun enthusiasts. California?s open carry laws allow an individual to ?openly carry? his/her unloaded firearms in plain view. Concealed carry refers to the practice of carrying concealed firearms on your person. Both are legal...

Legal Racial Profiling

Posted on May 07, 2010
Racial profiling is once again in the headlines. Not like it?s really ever gone away, but Arizona?s new legislation certainly catapults it back into the limelight. In the broadest and strictest illegal immigration law this nation has ever seen, the...

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Sincerity Is Not A Crime

Posted on May 06, 2010
California has a number of criminal bribery charges. Some involve bribing public officials, some involve private businesses, some involve jurors, and some involve witnesses. But no matter who the ?players? are that are involved in the alleged bribe, there is...

Pepper Spray - A Legal Weapon Frequently Used In An Illegal Manner

Posted on May 05, 2010
Three fifteen-year-old girls were arrested over the weekend on felony charges when they attacked another teen with pepper spray and then slammed her head into the ground. Pepper spray is a legal self-defense weapon in California. However, it is also....

Gun Lobbyists Making More Headway (Just Not in California)

Posted on May 04, 2010
On July 29, 2010, Arizona will become the third state to allow its residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit to do so. Although there will be some restrictions for ?sensitive? areas such as bars and school grounds, the...

Common "Kickbacks" May Actually Be Illegal Bribery

Posted on May 03, 2010
?Kickbacks? are common in many industries. They are regarded as a type of ?perk? and many people graciously offer and accept them without giving them much thought...or at least turn a blind-eye to the practice. Simply put, kickbacks are payment,...

Corrupt Witness Testimony

Posted on April 29, 2010
?I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?? This is the oath that witnesses take before testifying in California criminal trials. We?ve all heard it, either live in a courtroom setting, in TV, or...

The Confusion behind California's Gun Laws

Posted on April 29, 2010
California has so many gun laws on its books that it?s sometimes hard to differentiate between crimes. Carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a loaded firearm, unlawfully carrying a firearm, personally using a firearm?these are just a few of California?s gun...

Plea Bargains

Posted on April 28, 2010
Plea bargaining is a useful tool that is beneficial to both the prosecution and the defense. The parties typically enter into these negotiations when neither side is confident that the case will ultimately resolve in their favor. When the defendant...

Jesse James Finally Catches a Break...

Posted on April 27, 2010
As if a sex scandal and publicized marital problems with wife Sandra Bullock weren?t enough, West Coast Choppers? owner Jesse James got himself into some more trouble late last month when he was cited for violating Penal Code 594 PC,...

Vermont Woman Charged with Doctor Shopping

Posted on April 26, 2010
Late last week, a Vermont woman was charged with what police and prosecutors call ?doctor shopping?. This phenomenon?actually referred to as prescription fraud?is on the rise across the country. In fact, California has its fair share of cases, especially since...

Who is Affected by California's Bribery Laws?

Posted on April 22, 2010
Pretty much everyone who is involved with (or who attempts to get involved with) a bribe. This is because California?s bribery laws apply not only to the person who offers a bribe but also to a person who asks for...

The Connection between Drugs and Weapons

Posted on April 21, 2010
Both the California Legislature and California courts believe that people who suffer from drug addiction are so dangerous that they cannot be trusted to own or possess firearms. Penal Code 12021 PC, California?s ?felon with a firearm? law, specifically revokes...

The Connection between Brandishing a Weapon, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, and Criminal Threats

Posted on April 20, 2010
Although these are three completely separate charges, they are often very closely related. This is because any one of these offenses is typically (though not necessarily) carried out simultaneously with the others. Let?s take an example. Suppose that Rich points...

Be Careful of What You Ask For...

Posted on April 19, 2010
It?s human nature to try to talk our way out of trouble. But be careful of how you try to do so. If, for example, you?re stopped for DUI, speeding, or any other traffic violation?and ask the officer if there?s...

DUI with a Child - Sentencing Enhancement or a Felony?

Posted on April 12, 2010
California criminal law provides that if you are DUI with a child passenger who is under 14, you will automatically face a sentencing enhancement. The additional amount of jail time you face for this enhancement depends on whether it?s your...

The Consequences of Staged Accidents

Posted on April 07, 2010
Staged accidents are just that -- ?accidents? that are staged. Often times orchestrated by sophisticated crime rings, these intentional collisions are planned to make it look like an insured driver is at fault when, in reality, the insured driver was...

Bribery Comes at a High Cost?

Posted on April 06, 2010
While many people may not think of bribery as a major crime, it can subject an offender to substantial criminal penalties. Take, for example, the most recent publicized case against Daimler AG (a powerhouse German automaker). Daimler AG is paying...

When "Consensual" Sodomy Isn't...

Posted on April 01, 2010
Earlier this week, prosecutors charged a 20-year-old Alabama man with 12 counts of sodomy. The charges were based on acts that were committed over a nine-month period with a 14-year-old girl. The police chief acknowledged that there was no force...

Calabasas Nursing Home Employee Stands Trial for Elder Abuse and Torture

Posted on March 31, 2010
Cesar Ulloa, a former employee at the upscale Calabasas Silverado Senior Living Center, is in trial this week. The Los Angeles District Attorney?s office charged Ulloa with seven counts of elder abuse and one count of torture for abusing and...

California Woman Who Set Fire to Stripper Convicted of Aggravated Mayhem

Posted on March 26, 2010
Earlier this month, a California woman was convicted of aggravated mayhem and torture for throwing a gasoline-filled beer can at a stripper and then setting the woman on fire. She was sentenced to life in prison. The incident took place...

California's No Drop Policy

Posted on March 24, 2010
Contrary to popular belief, it is the prosecutor, not the victim who determines whether to file or drop California domestic violence charges. Many California prosecuting agencies go so far as to subscribe to a ?no drop? policy. This means that...

Not All Negligent Acts are Treated the Same

Posted on March 19, 2010
In fact, under California law, they are treated quite differently. Civil negligence (sometimes referred to as ?ordinary? negligence) involves simple carelessness. California criminal negligence, on the other hand, involves extreme recklessness. If you are guilty of ordinary negligence, it means...

Brandon Hein - Life in Prison under California's Felony-Murder Rule

Posted on March 18, 2010
Perhaps the most relatively recent controversial product of the often criticized California felony-murder rule is Brandon Hein. Brandon Hein, then 17, was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the 1995 stabbing of another teenager. The case received...

California's So-Called "Mandatory" Parole Law

Posted on March 12, 2010
California essentially subscribes to a mandatory parole program. In theory, this means that all eligible inmates who come up for parole will be granted parole. In reality, this means something completely different. You see, before a ?lifer? is placed on...

California's New Non-revocable Parole Program

Posted on March 12, 2010
In an effort to improve parole supervision, relieve California?s over-crowded prisons, and reduce recidivism (that is, the number of people who are released from prison and go on to commit new crimes), the California Department of Corrections recently launched a...

Understanding the Difference Between California Probation and Parole

Posted on March 11, 2010
Even though the terms probation and parole are frequently used interchangeably, they are actually quite different. Take, for example, yesterday?s reports about rapper DMX. About half of the media websites reported that the rapper violated his probation, while the other...

Former R&B Artist D'Angelo Arrested for Soliciting a Cop

Posted on March 09, 2010
R&B singer D?Angelo, whose real name is Michael Archer, was arrested in Manhattan over the weekend for allegedly offering an undercover cop posing as a prostitute $40 for oral sex. D?Angelo is maintaining his innocence and has plead not guilty...

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