Playing with firecrackers can get you burned in California. After a juvenile court commissioner found that two teens didn’t intend to set a forest fire, he sent them home on probation. Apparently the Los Angeles County District Attorney was not happy with the result and appealed the conviction or the sentence. The California Supreme Court found that willful and malicious conduct in throwing a cherry bomb on a brush covered hill is sufficient for a finding of arson. This is very significant in the California criminal justice scheme. Arson is not only a strike offense for purposes of California’s Three …

California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed legislation that will cause thousands nonviolent felons to serve their time in county jails instead of state prisons. Here in Los Angeles County, that will likely mean a great deal to the inmates. Here in Los Angeles County we typically see inmates in county jail serving only a small percentage of their given sentence. For Felonies it is common that my client serve a third of their sentence or even less in some cases. Other counties differ greatly from Los Angeles. Just next door in Ventura County, inmates typically serve 66% of their sentences, …

I regularly get calls from potential clients who do not wish to give out any case-specific information and want to get a “quote” over the telephone for the cost of my criminal defense services. It is difficult to quote a fee without knowing the specific facts about a particular case. When I speak to a potential client who just wants a quote over the phone, my first question is usually, “Do you have a minute or two to speak with me about the facts of your case?” The answer is often yes, in which case I am able to obtain …

Domestic Battery seems to be the crime de jour to prosecute these days.  Ever since the O.J. Simpson case, police officers do not seem to be able to go out to any domestic battery call without arresting someone.  Prosecutors do not want to dismiss a domestic battery case unless they have absolutely no possibility of a conviction.  Often times, a defendant in a criminal case does not fully understand the consequences of a domestic battery conviction until it is far too late. Many people are aware that if someone is convicted of domestic battery here in California, there are certain mandatory …

After a staff member from the American Civil Liberties Union witnessed two deputies beating the limp body of a jail inmate, the group has sought out a federal investigation into the incident. Last month an ACLU employee was at the downtown Los Angeles Jail when she noticed through a window that an inmate was being punched and kicked by two deputies. The witness indicated the inmate was so limp that she feared he was dead. Apparently sheriff’s records confirm that there was some sort of altercation on January 24, of this year. The sheriff’s report indicates that the inmate was …

The Los Angeles Police Department has finally cleared up a backlog of DNA evidence which has existed for many years.  Sadly, this was not before they suffered a new backlog from current DNA samples which are adding up at the rate of about 125 per month.  The LAPD says that by the summer they should have enough staff in their lab to keep up with the current testing demand. As a result of testing over 6,000 previously untested rape kits LAPD has arrested over 300 new suspects since the project started in 2008. Under Penal Code Section 296, anyone in California …

Say goodbye to Parker Center and say hello to the new and expansive (and expensive) Metropolitan Detention Center.  This is not to be confused with the other Metropolitan Detention Center that is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.  Is is possible that someone at LAPD could have come up with a different name for their new 84 million dollar jail facility that sat vacant for the last two years? The jail is finally opened and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck is already having to defend his actions to pull some 90 patrol officers off of their field assignments to help …

Here in Los Angeles people have long had a liberal view of illegal drug use.  In recent years we have seen our state’s marijuana laws become more and more liberal as well.  Not all other states take the same view toward unlawful drug activities like personal use and sale of small amounts of drugs. As people’s views toward drug use tend to liberalize, a phenomenon occurs within the court system.  It becomes increasingly difficult to find twelve jurors who will hold a defendant accountable for certain minor drug crimes.  Most people think of the term “drug dealer” as someone who prays on the …

A 61 year old Los Angeles Man was just sentenced to nine years in Federal Prison for traveling to Cambodia for the purpose of having sex with a 14 year old girl.  Michael James Dodd was also ordered to pay restitution to the victim.  A United States Attorney’s Office statement indicated that Dodd was having sex with the minor for some five months prior to his prosecution.  Dodd was buying food for the girl’s family and giving the family $200 per month in what was called a “financial arrangement” in exchange for the minor child.  Although the U.S. Attorney would not …

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anthony Mohr issued a temporary injunction allowing dozens of Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensaries to stay open pending new City Laws or further court action.  The judge stated that as written, City laws violate the Constitution in several significant ways including the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause. The bad news is that the judge also allowed a quick out for the City.  By simple amendments to the current laws, the City could prevent any new dispensaries after a certain date and only allow dispensaries operating prior to that same date. My thoughts are …