Criminal Defense Legal Archives

You already know that social media has changed the way we communicate. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the other social media platforms allow us to look up old friends, share pictures and videos, and market our businesses. You also probably know that elected officials, government agencies, and police departments use social media to provide information directly [...]

California’s “Three Strikes” sentencing law was originally enacted in 1994. Although it has been slightly amended, the law still mandates harsh sentences for second and third felony offenses in California. If you or someone you love already has one felony conviction in this state, you must understand fully the consequences of a second or third [...]

Criminal street gangs account for many of the home invasions, drive-by shootings, drug crimes, and robberies in southern California. The state enforces a gang "enhancement" law, the California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act, that outlaws and punishes street gang activities, but sometimes, innocent people have been accused of gang membership or gang crimes under [...]

If you are arrested on a criminal charge in Southern California, you may have to pay a cash bond to be released – even if you are innocent. For several years, a national effort has been underway to eliminate cash bonds – the money that suspects pay to get released from jail while awaiting trial. [...]

Parents in California need to know. According to the FBI, it's the leading threat to children on the internet, but until just recently, it was specifically against the law in only four states. Beginning in 2018, however, sexual extortion will also be a specific crime in California under Senate Bill 500, which was signed into [...]

In the state of California, if you are charged with committing a crime and the state's case against you is weak, you may dispute the charge, exercise your right to a trial, and hope for a "not guilty" verdict from the jury. However, if the jurors determine that you are guilty of the crime, a [...]

In Los Angeles County, the Pretrial Services Division of the Los Angeles County Probation Department administers nine separate programs concerned with community safety, incarceration, and the alternative sentencing of particular offenders. Several of these programs include the possibility of early release and/or the dismissal of criminal charges. Some are cooperative programs that involve other county [...]

The presumption of innocence is the legal principle that a defendant who is accused of a crime is to be considered innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The presumption of innocence is not only foundational to the criminal justice system in the United States, but it's also a part of the [...]

In California, if you record someone without obtaining that person's permission, it's an invasion of privacy, and it's always against the law. Or is it? Are there legal exceptions to the state's invasion of privacy law? That's the question that will be answered when the State of California prosecutes two anti-abortion activists on felony invasion [...]

Although in the state of California, criminal defendants actually have six different ways they may plead to a criminal charge, the most common pleas entered are guilty, not guilty, and nolo contendere. Literally translated, the Latin phrase nolo contendere means "I do not wish to contest." When a defendant enters a plea of nolo contendere [...]