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Criminal Law

Southern California Criminal Defense Blog

Information about California Defense Law as well as up-to-date news from the legal sector.
By Walin & Klarich

Post Frequency: 9.1/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 15:11:30

26 YEAR SECRET KEEPS INNOCENT MAN IN PRISON

Posted on April 16, 2008
A recent report on the program ?60 Minutes,? detailing the case of Alton Logan revealed what can happen when concepts of law and morality collide. Mr. Logan was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the murder of a security guard at a McDonald?s restaurant in Chicago in 1982...

MOUTH ALCOHOL SENSORS IN BREATH TESTS DETERMINED TO BE UNRELIABLE

Posted on April 15, 2008
BREATH MACHINES USED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO DETERMINE A DRIVER'S BLOOD ALCOHOL CONTENT HAVE A SLOPE DETECTOR TO DETERMINE IF MOUTH ALCOHOL IS PRESENT DURING THE SAMPLE. TITLE 17 OF THE CALIFORNIA CODE OR REGULATIONS REQUIRES OFFICERS TO PERSONALLY OBSERVE AN INDIVIDUAL FOR AT LEAST 15 MINUTES BEFORE ADMINISTERING THE BREATH TEST TO MAKE SURE THEY DO NOT REGURGITATE, VOMIT, OR BURP TO AVOID THE MOUTH ALCOHOL READING...

SEAL YOUR JUVENILE RECORD

Posted on April 14, 2008
IT IS EXREMELY IMPORTANT TO SEAL YOUR JUVENILE RECORD IN THE UNFORTUNATE EVENT YOU ARE ARRESTED ON ANOTHER CHARGE AS AN ADULT. IF YOU ARE CONVICTED OF A CRIME, PROBATION OFFICERS FILE A REPORT WITH THE COURT AND MAKE CERTAIN RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING YOUR SENTENCE...

SOCIAL SECURITY STOPPED BECAUSE OF AN ARREST WARRANT IN SAN DIEGO

Posted on April 11, 2008
Wallin & Klarich gets calls from across the country on arrest warrants. One situation that comes up is Social Security checks a person for warrants. They may find a warrant that is decades old. They will threaten to cut off Social Security because of the warrant...

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UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

Posted on April 10, 2008
Newsweek reported recently on the case of Eliot Spitzer, the disgraced former governor of the State of New York who resigned after his alleged dalliance with a prostitute in a Washington, DC hotel became public. So who brought the governor down? It would seem Osama bin Laden...

US SUPREME COURT HEARS SECOND AMENDMENT CASE

Posted on April 09, 2008
The United States Supreme Court heard arguments recently in a case involving a challenge to Washington, DC?s ban on the possession of handguns. The law had been challenged by a resident of Washington, DC on the ground that the law runs contrary to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution...

A Miscalculation That Will Cost You Time In Prison

Posted on April 08, 2008
Imagine doing your time in prison, thinking you are going to be released on a certain date, and then that day comes and goes and you are still in prison. This cannot happen, right? Well, believe it or not, it is happening in California! A recent study found that as many as 33,000 state inmates served longer sentences than they should have...

ON PROBATION FOR A DUI?

Posted on April 08, 2008
Under a new law scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2009, if you are detained by a peace officer on suspicion that you have been drinking and driving, you would be required to submit to breath testing if requested by the officer, and, if your blood alcohol level is a 0...

To waive, or not to waive time, that is the question!

Posted on April 07, 2008
In criminal proceedings, a person charged with a crime has a right to a speedy trial. For those charged with California misdemeanors, that means you have a right to a speedy trial within 45 days, if you are not in jail, or 30 days if you are in custody...

THE DEATH OF VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER

Posted on April 04, 2008
A law signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger requires, after July 1, 2008, that all people applying for a driver?s license, or renewal of a driver?s license, sign a declaration with the following language: ?I am hereby advised that being under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or both, impairs the ability to safely operate a motor vehicle...

WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Posted on April 03, 2008
With the recent "law and order" attitude that seems to prevail in our society it is fueling our state legislators to continue to pass laws increase prison sentences for those convicted of crimes. A direct result of this hysteria is to bring our jail system to the brink of disaster...

Smoking weed with your kid brother or sister could land you 3 years in jail!!!!

Posted on April 02, 2008
Usually if someone over 18 is caught smoking weed with someone under 18, they will be charged with the misdemeanor crime of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. However lately the District Attorney?s office has been choosing to punish the exact same act with felony consequences...

PUT OUT THAT CIGARETTE AND DRIVE

Posted on April 01, 2008
At least if there is a person under age 18 in the vehicle. Effective January 1, 2008, it is unlawful in California for any person in a motor vehicle (whether a driver or passenger) to have in his or her possession, a lighted pipe, cigar, or cigarette, if there is a minor in the vehicle...

POLICE OFFICERS BARRED FROM SEARCHING THE RESIDENCE OF A PERSON THAT THEY SEE SMOKING MARIJUANA

Posted on March 31, 2008
A recent opinion by the California Court of Appeals has ruled that it is an UNLAWFUL SEARCH AND SEIZURE when law enforcement sees a person smoking marijuana in their apartment and then enters the apartment and finds evidence of other drug crimes. The ?evidence? that the officers seized during the search was held to be illegal...

People v. Merlen, CA 3rd district, Case No. C051678, unpublished opinion has very good material regarding expert testimony re use of ambient and DUI.

Posted on March 28, 2008
Facts: The defendant was involved in a traffic collision and was injured in the collision. The other party involved in the collision was killed and defendant was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter and convicted at trial. He appealed the conviction on the grounds that the police officer that testified at trial was not qualified to rely on the toxicology report in rendering his opinion that he was under the influence of drugs while operating a motor vehicle and there was insufficient evidence that he was under the influence of a drug for purposes of gross vehicular manslaughter...

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU HIRE AS YOUR LAWYER - HE MAY NOT BE A LAWYER AT ALL

Posted on March 27, 2008
When you or a loved one are facing a criminal charge you are in a vulnerable position. There are many people who will take advantage of that vulnerability. There are even those who will pretend to be a lawyer and make promises that they could never keep in order to get your trust and more importantly for them, your money...

NO MORE AUTOMATIC EXPUNGEMENTS FOR DUI AND OTHER DRIVING CASES

Posted on March 26, 2008
Under current law, a person who is convicted of most crimes, and who is placed on probation, and who completes his or her probation successfully, has a right to have his or her conviction dismissed or ?expunged? from his or her record. (Pen. Code, � 1203...

NEW LAW PROHIBITS SALE OF INFORMATION

Posted on March 24, 2008
In an attempt to make life just a little harder for tabloid publications and scandal sheets, the legislature has enacted a law that makes it a misdemeanor crime for a peace officer, court employee, or attorney employed by a public agency, to ?[d]isclose[] for financial gain, information obtained in the course of a criminal investigation, the disclosure of which is prohibited by law? or who ?[s]olicits, for financial gain, the exchange of information obtained in the course of a criminal investigation, the disclosure of which is prohibited by law...

INVOLUNTARY PSYCHIATRIC HOLDS IN CALIFORNIA

Posted on March 21, 2008
A recent incident involving pop singer Brittany Spears brought to the public?s attention section 5150 of the Welfare and Institutions Code ? the statutory procedure for involuntarily committing an individual to a mental health facility. Under the law, if a certain designated professional, such as a law enforcement officer, or mental health professional, believes that a person is, as a result of a mental disorder, either, a danger to him or herself, a danger to other people, or suffering from a ?grave disability? the person can be transported to a hospital for an evaluation...

HANG UP AND DRIVE ? PART II

Posted on March 18, 2008
Effective July 1, 2008, minors (i.e., persons under age 18) in California will not be permitted to use any cellular telephone or other ?mobile service device? such as a laptop computer, or text messaging device while driving a motor vehicle. Under the law, a minor may not use a cellular telephone while driving, even if the telephone is equipped with a ?hands-free? device...

HANG UP AND DRIVE

Posted on March 15, 2008
At least that will be the law in California starting July 1, 2008. From that date, it will be illegal for anyone to drive a motor vehicle and use a cellular telephone unless the phone is equipped with a hands-free device, and the hands-free device is used by the driver...

KEVIN FEDERLINE USES POLICE INTERVENTION TO ENFORCE THE COURT ORDERED CUSTODY ARRANGEMENT:

Posted on March 12, 2008
It is important to have a court order with a set visitation schedule so you can enforce your child custody visitation rights. If a parent does not have a court order specifying a visitation schedule they are not entitled by law to a set visitation schedule and the police will not intervene...

Keep out of Jail in Orange County: DUI Court

Posted on March 10, 2008
Whether it is your first DUI or your third, California State law imposes jail. In cases of a second or third misdemeanor DUI?s the jail time one potentially faces in Orange County DUI cases is very significant, at times up to a YEAR. A skilled attorney, however, can assist in getting you NO county jail time by working with you, the Court and the Probation Department...

CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY DISBARRED FOR FAILURE TO PROPERLY REPRESENT DEFENDANT IN HIS ROBBERY TRIAL RESULTING IN HIS CONVICTION

Posted on March 06, 2008
An attorney was recently disbarred from the practice of law by the California State Bar for his failure to properly defend a client in a robbery trial. At the defendants first trial the lawyer called an expert witness who testified as to the unreliability of eyewitness testimony...

Cops Aren?t Always Right

Posted on March 03, 2008
Do you assume that a cop must be telling the truth or must be abiding by all of the laws just because they are a cop? This is certainly not the case! Time and time again we see cops who do not follow the laws that they took an oath to uphold and in turn violate the constitutional rights that every single American has! They do it for a variety of reasons including: to get a conviction, because they are corrupt, etc...

I Want to Own a Handgun

Posted on March 01, 2008
Does the Second Amendment to the United States (US) Constitution allow American citizens to keep handguns at home? This is the question now before the US Supreme Court, at it decided at the end of last year to rule on the issue. The US Supreme Court will hear arguments on the issue shortly and render its decision by summer 2008...

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU KICK OR YOU MAY FIND YOURSELF GUILTY OF FELONY BURGLARY

Posted on February 27, 2008
It has always been believed that for someone to be guilty of burglary they would have to actually enter the victim?s home or a business to commit a crime. However, a recent case has been decided by the court of appeals that expands the definition of burglary...

AM I ELIGIBLE FOR PC 1000?

Posted on February 25, 2008
So you got caught with drugs. You?re already anxious about your court date. Am I going to get jail time? What am I going to do about work? Will they fire me? Well, rather than overwhelming yourself with all sorts of hypothetical scenarios, consult with an attorney and find out what you?re actually facing...

Did you know your license was suspended?

Posted on February 21, 2008
It is illegal to operate a motor vehicle while your driving privileges are suspended. However, the Department of Motor Vehicles MUST inform you that your license is suspended. Knowledge is key. If you were never properly given notice of a driver's license suspension on your privileges by either the Court or the DMV, then you should not be found guilty of the violation of driving on suspended license...

THINK ?SCIENTIFIC? EVIDENCE IS ROCK SOLID AND UNIMPEACHABLE?

Posted on February 18, 2008
Ask John Jerome White. He might have a somewhat different view on the matter. According to a recent press release from the Georgia Innocence Project, Mr. White was convicted of brutally raping an elderly woman in Georgia in 1980 when he was just 20 years of age...

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