On March 15, 2016, the Sixth District court of appeal decided People v. Appleton. In that case, defendant met the minor victim through “Grindr,” a social media application for smartphones. After having engaged in a consensual relationship with defendant for awhile, the minor reported to police that defendant and two other men forced him to […]
This is an important case out of the Sixth Appellate district, which arose out of the Monterey Superior Court. There, a defendant brought a petition for resentencing under Proposition 47 to have her felony conviction for methamphetamine possession reduced to a misdemeanor. The court originally had suspended the imposition of sentence, placed her on felony probation for […]
On March 7, 2016, the Ninth Circuit upheld the denaturalization of a United States Citizen 20 years after he was granted citizenship. I cannot state strongly enough how important it is to have counsel when applying for naturalization. The U.S. government routinely deports people who apply for naturalization when they discover a fact that they […]
The California Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that would remove mandatory minimum jail sentences for repeat prostitution offenses. Under current state law, a second conviction guarantees at least 45 days in jail, which increases to a minimum 90-day sentence for a third offense and beyond. Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article75226367.html#storylink=cpy
Well, you don’t see this every day. A DA investigator pummeled a defense attorney, in court, fracturing a facial bone. The investigator was a former police officer who made $206,000 the prior year. Not surprisingly, he was not arrested. There is however, a petition to the Attorney General to have him arrested. You can read […]
On February 26, 2016, the Sixth District decided an appeal that originated in Santa Clara County. Defendant drove away from a gathering at which he and his passengers had been drinking. A passenger testified that after visiting a liquor store, defendant began to “drive crazy,” ultimately causing the vehicle to flip. Three passengers fled the […]
On March 3, 2016, a Ninth Circuit panel reversed a district court’s denial of a motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of warrantless, suspicionless searches of the defendant’s cell phone, and remanded for further proceedings. The panel noted that a probationer’s acceptance of a search term in a probation agreement does not by […]
On March 2, 2016, the California Court of Appeal for the Second District decided People v. Gutierrez. It held that where a defendnat is on PRCS, and the nature of an alleged violation is non violent drug possession, Penal Code section 1210.1 applies and the person should be referred to drug treatment rather than jail. […]
On March 1, 2016, the first district court of appeal held in People v. Foy that the 6th Amendment’s confrontation clause was violated when a videotaped conditional examination was admitted at trial without a sufficient showing that the witness was available. The conditional examination testimony was admitted in a first trial without objection, as the […]
If you’re interested in learning more about the intersection of criminal and immigration law, I highly recommend starting by attending this seminar. http://www.ilrc.org/trainings-webinars/seminars/crimes-immigration-san-francisco