The crime of “theft by false pretenses” is defined under California Penal Code Section 532 PC, which can occur in many different ways. This law prohibits defrauding someone of their money or property by using false promises, such as persuading them to voluntarily give up something of value due to...
We get a lot of cases, especially during the holidays, where people are stealing packages off of people's porches. The issue becomes where precisely the package is. I had one case where it was stolen from a mail location inside particular college campus, and that was treated as a burglary. That...
Right now, many people are being investigated and arrested for theft-related offenses at local malls throughout Los Angeles County. The police, prosecutors, and judges are targeting those individuals who are stealing from businesses — especially high-end companies at the mall or in other parts of...
I'll tell you. I've been practicing since the three strikes law went into enactment in 1994 and the prosecutors have really used that to double, triple people's sentences and even put people away for 25 to life, very effectively over that timeframe that I've been practicing. However, now, the ne...
Jury trials have started to resume all over Los Angeles County and it looks like there will be a full green light coming up within the next month or two. It is still unclear how the winter months will be dealt with as far as the Coronavirus goes. If there is no spike in cases, I guarantee you th...
Basically, in the 27 years that I've been practicing criminal defense, bail was pretty much controlled by a couple of things. The judge would look at whether or not the defendant was a flight risk and whether or not the defendant was a danger to the community. When looking at these things, there's a bunch of different...
Review of California Penal Code 664/187 Attempted Murder Laws and Best Defenses California Penal Code 664/187 PC describes the crime of attempted murder as when someone has an intent to kill another person, takes a direct step to kill them, but the victim survives. In other words, the intended cr...
When Searching for a Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney – Get the Right Information Versus Your Own Wishful Thinking . I can't tell you how many times people call me who have gotten themselves whipped up into a tizzy. They're worried about their criminal case in Los Angeles. They're looking for...
This is probably one of the biggest effects of a criminal case in Los Angeles or anywhere. When you're charged, you're facing jail or prison time, when your reputation is on the line, when you may have to go to a jury trial, you can't stop worrying. When you're waiting to go to court, face the j...
Most people do not know what this is unless they have done some research on it or a criminal defense attorney, prosecutor or judge practicing criminal defense on a daily basis. It could also be defendant or family member who is facing a criminal case , a lot of them are murder cases, attempted mu...
If I'm Guilty of Crime in Los Angeles, Why do I Need a Criminal Defense Attorney? I do get a lot of clients who say exactly this. I'm guilty. I did it. I'm just gonna go in there and take my punishment and that's going to be the end of it. What they are not taking into account is, not all punish...
California criminal laws of “stand your ground” are described under Penal Code 198.5 PC. Under the “Castle Doctrine,” you are not required to retreat in a situation where you confront an intruder inside your residence. Legally, if someone forces their way into your home, or attempting to do so, y...
The answer to this question is an interesting one. Usually, iPhones have pretty good technology, where unless they have your passcode, the police and prosecutors cannot get into your iPhone. So, they can get a search warrant, which they are required to do if they want to search your iPhone, but ...
A lot of my clients are calling me because a new law took effect January 1, 2021 that basically says that all felony probations are now two years. This is due to probation reform under California Assembly Bill 1950 There are some exceptions, but not that many, so in most circumstances, you're go...
What is being done to Stop the New Los Angeles County District Attorney's Policies that Help the Defense? A number of actions are underway to try to undermine and prevent the new head DA's policies from taking hold. Number one, there's been an injunction filed in civil court, which at the end...
This is probably one of the biggest burning questions on most people's mind. Nobody wants to go to jail. Nobody wants their freedom taken away, especially in today's day and age, where you're 15x more likely to catch the Coronavirus if you end up in the LA county jail. There's three different p...
At the end of January, there is a hearing in civil court. There has been an injunction filed against the new District Attorney related to many of his policies, such as the three strikes law being basically abolished in Los Angeles county, all enhancements being struck, and a variety of other iss...
Has The New Los Angeles District Attorney Made Any Changes with Bail? What Has He Enacted? The new DA's position on bail is interesting. For the most part, he has instructed the deputies to argue to the judge that the bail should be zero, which would wipe out bail bondsmen. They wouldn't be able ...
What Is the New Los Angeles District Attorney's DA's Background? What Are Some Of The Big Changes That Have Come To LA? Part of being a great criminal defense attorney is knowing your opponents. In most of my cases, my opponent is the district attorney's office. As a former police officer, you wo...
Whenever somebody goes to trial in and they're charged with certain California crimes, at the end of the case and even in the middle of the case, the judge is going to read jury instructions to the prospective jurors. The reason they do this is because what they're trying to do is educate them on...
In Los Angeles county, I see a lot of people being arrested, taken into custody and then they're coming in and asking me why there was no questions asked of them. Why didn't the police get their account of what happened? This is very frustrating for a lot of people because they simply can't figu...
I love being able to post about dismissals because it really shows you that not every single case that the prosecutors file and the police investigate is a good case. I just had a case in the LAX Airport Court. The client was charged with kidnapping and it really just wasn't a good case. But, it...
When it comes to defending a criminal case in Los Angeles county, a lot of people think that it's an exact science, meaning if they tell you what they're charged with and where their case is you should be able to tell them exactly what the sentence is going to be in the case, or what the...
Learn How to Prevent Hiring a Bad Criminal Defense Attorney in Los Angeles County, CA I thought this was a topic that needed to be addressed because I'm seeing time and time again people are hiring an alleged great defense attorney for a criminal case they have pending in Los Angeles county. Howe...
Learn How the New Los Angeles County District Attorney has Announced a New Policy of No Prison for California Felony Cases. The new District Attorney of Los Angeles county, George Gascon, has made a major announcement to his Deputy District Attorneys prosecutors. In Special Directive 20-14, he sai...
