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Criminal Law

LA Criminal Defense Blog

Commentary, News, and Tips About Criminal Law
By Steven Rodriguez

Post Frequency: 1.5/day

Last Entry: October 05, 2009 at 07:26:31

Kayne West Arrested in Wrestling Match with Paparazzi

Posted on September 15, 2008
In an altercation with a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport, Kayne West was arrested on a charge of vandalism late last week. According to news reports, West and his manager, Don Crowley, smashed a paparazzo’s camera into the airport floor...

Red Light Districts Could Go Legit Under San Fran’s Prop K

Posted on September 12, 2008
In November, San Francisco residents could give Red Light districts the green light if they approve Proposition K. Being heralded as the legalization of prostitution, Prop K would decriminalize prostitution and change the way the city enforces prostitution laws...

OJ Simpson, Robbery and You

Posted on September 10, 2008
O.J. Simpson, who is famous as an athlete, commentator, actor and criminal defendant found himself in court again recently as a defendant in a robbery case. The judge in O.J. Simpson’s armed robbery trial rejected a request from his attorneys to ask potential jurors if they consider the football great a murderer and asked potential [...

Los Angeles Considers Anti-Graffiti Law

Posted on September 10, 2008
Some youths consider graffiti a rite of passage. They’re enticed by the thrill of sneaking around in the middle of the night to leave their mark where all can see. Victims of their vandalism, however, are more than annoyed by the time and expense required to remove these questionable “works of art” which often convey [...

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Asset Forfeiture and Seizure, How It Works

Posted on September 08, 2008
Asset forfeiture is a term used to describe the confiscation of assets, by the State, which are either (a) the proceeds of crime or (b) the instrumentalities of crime. Instrumentalities of crime are property that was used to facilitate crime, for example cars used to transport illegal narcotics...

Singer R. Kelly Acquitted of Sex Crimes

Posted on June 13, 2008
Jurors weren’t 100% sure that the man in the child pornography video was R&B superstar R. Kelly. Kelly was acquitted of child pornography charges today in a case that dragged slowly through the court system, repeatedly snaring headlines. Kelly and his alleged under-aged partner both steadfastly denied that they were the people depicted in the explicit pornographic [...

Hon. Alex Kozinski and the Challenge for Judges

Posted on June 12, 2008
Hon. Alex Kozinski, the 9th Circuit Court Chief Judge, has recently found himself in some serious trouble. He posted some sexual content on the Internet, photos and videos, which were discovered by the prosecuting attorney. The case was an obscenity trial in Los Angeles federal court and seeing as how the judge had many images and [...

Child Abuse and California Law

Posted on June 12, 2008
In 2006, according to a report by the California Department of Social Services, 140 children died in the state as a result of abuse or neglect. In fact, there were over 450,000 reported cases of abuse in California that year. In 2005, 3.3 million cases of abuse were reported to Child Protective Services throughout the [...

Internet Providers Fight Child Porn

Posted on June 11, 2008
The nation’s biggest internet providers have agreed to fight online child pornography by shutting down websites and limiting access to internet bulletin boards. The agreement follows an 8-month investigation of internet pornography by the New York attorney general...

Police Corruption, Muddying the Legal Waters

Posted on June 10, 2008
The State of California, as well as the City of Los Angeles, have a number of laws in place governing everything from DUI standards to weapons charges. However, there’s a major problem that arises from time to time that ruins not only the system, but the public’s trust in that system...

Broadcom Founder Indicted on Drug Charge

Posted on June 09, 2008
The co-founder of Broadcom, one of Southern California’s largest technology firms, has been indicted for using and distributing illegal drugs in his home. Henry Nicholas and Broadcom’s former CFO William Ruehle were also indicted in an alleged stock option back-dating scheme...

AG’s Plan Aims to Curb Prescription Drug Abuse

Posted on June 06, 2008
This week California Attorney General Edmund Brown announced a plan to curb prescription drug abuse. Prescription drugs are the most abused drugs in America, particularly among teens, young adults, women and seniors. Brown’s plan would make patients’ prescription drug histories available to doctors and pharmacies on an internet data base...

Hit and Run: A Crime in LA and the NFL

Posted on June 04, 2008
Former UC Berkeley star and current Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch was involved in a hit-and-run early Saturday morning, May 31st. A vehicle registered to Lynch struck a woman at 3:30 am in Buffalo, NY, however it is unclear whether or not Lynch was driving the automobile...

Oldest Parental Kidnapping Case Finally Resolved

Posted on June 04, 2008
The oldest parental kidnapping case in the country was finally resolved a year ago. In 1993, Mary Jane Byrd fled with her 4-year-old daughter shortly after a Washington D.C. judge ordered that the girl’s father be allowed visitation rights. The father, Charles Dodd, was subsequently awarded full custody of his daughter, but it took U...

Marijuana: A Growing Problem in California

Posted on June 02, 2008
California has an odd drug culture, as the state government and the federal government have slightly different attitudes towards drug law and enforcement of the law. One major area of concern for both the state and the federal governments is the growing of Marijuana, since it poses not only a problem in terms of distribution, [...

Domestic Violence Carries Stiff Penalties

Posted on June 02, 2008
It wasn’t that long ago that our country looked the other way in matters of spousal abuse and domestic violence. Today, numerous laws have been enacted to protect the rights of wives and husbands from being abused by their spouses. Domestic violence is considered a unique crime in California that carries severe consequences for those [...

Murder Cases: A Difficult Situation

Posted on May 30, 2008
Murder is, obviously, a serious issue; and the search for a suspect and/or suspects, is a major issue during a murder investigation. If a crime scene is left for too long, the case becomes increasingly difficult to investigate and it becomes quit difficult to prove guilt of the accused...

What Is the Difference Between Burglary and Robbery?

Posted on May 30, 2008
Burglary and robbery are often confused. While both involve theft, under the law they are quite different and carry different penalties. Burglary is the act of entering a building with the intent to steal property or commit another felony. The actual theft or felony does not have to actually be committed; entry with intent to commit a theft or [...

Vehicular Manslaughter: A Serious Crime in Los Angeles

Posted on May 29, 2008
Vehicular manslaughter is a difficult case to prove, in Los Angeles and the rest of the country. The major factor in proving such a case, is proving gross misconduct or negligence. For example, there was a terrible tragedy near Beverly Hills where a man was killed during a crash...

New Parking Ticket Law Protects Drivers

Posted on May 28, 2008
In the grand scheme of things, parking tickets would seem to be a fairly minor annoyance. But in parking-challenged Los Angeles and other California cities, tickets can mount up and quickly move from the realm of little problem to big trouble. The parking ticket issue has gotten more than a bit murky in California...

Gay Marriage Ruling: How Will It Impact Criminal Law

Posted on May 27, 2008
Recently, the California Supreme Court ruled that denying marriage to same-sex couples was against the constitution of the State of California, thus legalizing gay marriage throughout the state (at least for now). While this will have great repercussions on the law in general, especially civil law, there are a great many areas in criminal law [...

Memorial Day Brings Increase in DUI Arrests

Posted on May 27, 2008
The police were out in force this Memorial Day watching for drunk drivers. In what has become a modern-day tradition, state police and local law enforcement beef up their forces for the annual Memorial Day onslaught. As millions of Americans hit the highways for the Memorial Day weekend and the traditional beginning of the summer [...

How Prison Overcrowding Could Help You

Posted on May 23, 2008
The state of California has a massive prison overcrowding problem, due in part to the nation’s “war on drugs” and the state’s Three Strike laws. Laws and policies such as these can often put non-violent offenders in jail for long periods of time, even as their crimes would barely warrant parole in other states...

Is Paparazzi Case a Fraud?

Posted on May 23, 2008
In our May 2 blog post we talked about paparazzi Glen Gurniak who filed a hit and run suit against rocker Benji Madden and passenger Paris Hilton for allegedly driving over his foot before speeding away. The incident was widely reported in national and LA entertainment news and blog sites...

Warrants: What They Are and What They Mean

Posted on May 21, 2008
In California, both arrest warrants and bench warrants are orders from a court or judge. Arrest warrants and bench warrants can be Federal or State issued and are executed by a law enforcement officer. A warrant refers to a specific type of authorization...

Timeliness Counts When Filing Legal Appeal

Posted on May 21, 2008
Time is definitely not on your side when filing a legal appeal. The filing deadlines for appeals are jurisdictional and set in stone. They cannot be extended by consent of the parties involved, nor can they be extended by the court. In California, if your appeals attorney misses an appeal deadline, you pay the consequences...

California Puts Brakes on Expungement

Posted on May 20, 2008
In a law that went into effect on January 1, 2008, California put the brakes on expungement in cases involving hit and run, reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The new law no longer guarantees those convicted of such vehicle violations the right to expungement following successful completion of probation...

Tips on Staying Out of Harm’s Way

Posted on May 19, 2008
There have been a number of reports of late detailing how police officers have shot and killed, or otherwise harmed people who were not necessarily intending on harming anyone. In Long Beach, the community is furious at the killing of a man who suffered from schizophrenia, but who neighbors claimed was otherwise harmless...

New Law Will Help Rape Victims

Posted on May 16, 2008
Rape victims are finally catching a break. A new federal mandate that goes into effect in 2009 will allow rape victims to undergo a forensic rape exam in a local emergency room without going to the police. The evidence will be sealed and kept on file in case they decide to press charges...

Burglary, How the Global Economy Drives It

Posted on May 16, 2008
It’s no secret that America’s economy is in a recession. What is odd is how the global economy is affecting local criminal activity. For example, one American dollar used to be worth two British pounds (UK currency) which meant your dollar was twice as strong as their was; however that has changed and our current [...

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