Categories for Criminal Defense

Aiding and abetting is a legal theory as to how prosecutors can capture additional suspects in a criminal case, beyond the principal actor. For instance, in a bar fight, two people attack two other people and one person hits someone with a bottle, cutting their eye. The man is charged with assault with a deadly weapon. His friend, who fought along with him, is charged with the same, as an… Continure reading

The police derive a lot of cases from searching people’s cars and one big trick that they have is they’ll pull you over.  They’ll order you out of the car for officer’s safety and then they’ll claim they have to go back in the car to search the car for your driver’s license, your insurance information, your car registration.  That just pretty much gives them a free search of the… Continure reading

Excessive force an interesting concept because the way I use it in criminal defense is, as a defense to certain crimes that my client is charged with.  For example, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer (CALCRIM 945). Some of these other charges that the police drum-up once they rough somebody up and the person either fights back or they don’t fight back, the police are just putting a crime… Continure reading

This is an interesting area of the law and it’s usually where insurance companies feel like they are going to have to pay out money or they’ve already paid out money on some auto insurance claim that they don’t think is either fair or they think the person is attempting to pull a fast one on them and get money for something that’s not a legitimate accident or not a… Continure reading

A specific intent crime has to do with a criminal defendant having the specific intent to commit a specific crime.  For example, let’s assume that the crime we’re talking about is attempted murder. In order to be convicted of attempted murder, one of the elements of the crime is that the defendant has to have the specific intent to kill the victim.  So, for example, if you take the Reginald… Continure reading

Obviously, the easy answer to this question is don’t let them, but the police are little bit more persistent than that and a lot of times they will get a search warrant to search your house.  If they come with a valid search warrant, then you ought to just get out of their way and let them search the home. You certainly don’t have to provide any statements to them… Continure reading

Defense of others you don’t see a lot in criminal defense.  I’ve been doing this for twenty-five years.   Very rarely see it used as a defense.  Once in a while where it comes into play is where somebody does something to another individual or individuals in defense of another person. For example, of somebody were beating somebody up and another person came in and knocked that person down, hit them… Continure reading

I get these cases all the time and a lot of times they’re filed as criminal cases, so people are asking well if it was just an accident and I didn’t do it on purpose, how could they possibly charge me with a crime?  And that relates to a number of different factors. Involuntary Manslaughter Charges First off, the San Fernando Valley courts and the prosecutors and the police are… Continure reading

There are many risks when it comes to criminal defense, some of which most people know about which relate to having a criminal record and having to move on with your life with a criminal record is obviously difficult, because when you apply for a job your criminal record will be read and people will be evaluating whether you get the job. Also, for other things such as getting a… Continure reading

This is a good question because there’s not a real perfect exact answer. Typically, what you should do if you’re a family member or even the person who is in custody and you’re trying to figure out when you’re going to get into court, you have to get an attorney and give them all the information – where you’re being held, what the charges are, what the bail is, when… Continure reading