It is a common misperception that if one receives stolen property, such as a credit card, one can use it without incurring criminal liability if he or she has a good faith belief that the credit card was a gift. After all, the recipient of the card did not steal it from anyone. This is […]
At about 7:40 p.m. on September 22, 2009, a tipster called the Pomona Police Department to report that Scott Shetler was manufacturing and using methamphetamine in his home in Pomona, California. About twenty minutes later, police arrived at Shetler’s house. The garage door was open and officers could smell a chemical associated with making methamphetamine. […]
On January 10, 2012, the United States Supreme Court reversed a murder conviction in Smith v. Cain (2012 DJDAR 296). The opinion held that a Louisiana district attorney violated his duty to produce material favorable to the defense and material to defendant’s guilty or punishment, as set out in Brady v. Maryland (1963) 373 U.S. […]
Kelvin Harrison was convicted in San Bernardino County of battery with serious bodily injury. He was sentenced to prison for two years. When the crime occurred in 2008, both he and the victim were homeless. Harrison attacked another man with a steel pipe because he found a bag of grapes left by the victim where […]
Our office receives about one call per week about traffic violations involving the use of cell phones. The caller usually received a ticket for using the cell phone and simply wants to know if there is any defense. There is a defense of using the phone to call 911 or being called on an emergency, […]
Jesse Gonzalez was convicted of first degree murder with special circumstances for killing a police officer on duty. The conviction arose after he used a shotgun when Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Deputies kicked down his front door while serving a search warrant. Gonzalez’s defense was self-defense. He further testified at trial that he never heard […]
Under California law, a person involved in a crime is either a principal or an accessory. Cases decided by our Supreme Court have included conspirators as principals, as conspirators fall within the “all persons concerned” language of Penal Code
Our clients frequently tell us that when they were arrested, police never “read them their rights.” This is a reference to one’s Miranda rights, which movies and television frequently show being read to a suspect at the earliest stages of an arrest. In other words, the client is telling us that his or her arrest […]
If you or a loved one face charges for possession of an illegal drug, a common response is, “prison will not solve the problem; treatment and education would be better.” Our legislature in Sacramento has recognized this, too, and has passed provisions that offer a drug offender a chance to “divert” from the criminal court […]
To retain a decent life one needs to spend most of his time in an office. God forbid if you were to live in a location that is prone to likely dangers and in an injury prone working conditions. Your company holds a legal commitment to guarantee to have a safety and health policy prescribed […]
