Category: Criminal Defense

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 the law that is applicable to their case. These are known as California Criminal Jury Instructions (CALCRIM). Really what the jury instructions are is, each crime has its own elements.  For example, somebody commits a crime and that person will be charged with that crime… Read More

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 likelihood of a not guilty verdict is going to be if they decide to take the case to a jury trial. Unfortunately, this is ridiculous if there are attorneys that are making these types of predictions. Because a lot of times when you… Read More

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. However, as it often turns out, number one, they don’t even know who they’re hiring.  I was just talking to someone who was crying because their son was in horrible trouble and they had hired an attorney, and I said to them, who did you hire?  They don’t… Read More

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 said that if somebody is charged with a felony, then it will be presumed that that person should get probation instead of prison in every felony case, unless there’s some unusual circumstances or the person is ineligible from getting probation. That’s a huge change in Los Angeles.  Now that gives defense attorneys a… Read More

The New Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon Announces Elimination of Cash Bail for Any Misdemeanor Crime Starting January 1, 2021, when somebody is arrested and then appears at their arraignment, there’s usually going to be a bail argument by the defense and the prosecution. Then, ultimately, the judge will decide what anyone’s bail is in any criminal case in Los Angeles. However, the new District Attorney recently has indicated that he will be instructing his prosecutors not to argue that a bail be set for those offenders who are not charged with a murder charge or who are not… Read More

All Sentencing Enhancements Eliminated in the Los Angeles Criminal World by the New District Attorney George Gascon One big area that the prosecutors are allowed to get a lot of extra time on a sentence has to do with sentencing enhancements. Examples of this are gang enhancements. They can sometimes carry up to 10 years in prison on top of whatever the person is being charged with.  Other sentencing enhancements that have been eliminated include: gun enhancements, prior prison enhancements, out on bail enhancements All of these have basically been struck by the new Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.… Read More

It’s very surprising to me that the public has chosen to elect a new District Attorney in Los Angeles County.  Jackie Lacey has been a prosecutor in Los Angeles for many years.  I had cases against her way back in the day, but apparently a new day is dawning. How this new prosecutor will interact with the police and with the prosecutors that currently sit in the many courthouses throughout Los Angeles county is still yet to be seen. It seems very interesting what’s going to happen.  Some of these courthouses that have very tough head prosecutors will see a… Read More

Just like all people are not the same, all attorneys are not the same.  Some attorneys have a more aggressive approach, while others have a softer, more milder approach. Depending on the type of case you’re talking about, that would probably dictate the best approach.  But, when you’re looking to hire an attorney for a criminal case in Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley or any of the surrounding areas, there are a good amount of attorneys out there that practice criminal defense, but the one that’s right for you is likely going to have a number of key characteristics:… Read More

I continue to speak on this and I think people are going to realize it more and more, that the police are really not that smart and this whole introduction of bodycam evidence has really thrown them for a loop. You realize you’ve got people who are not putting two and two together.  They’re continuing to write the same police reports where they jimmy-up crimes against people and where they jimmy-up illegal stops against people. Also, they claim things happened that didn’t happen and they’re not mentally used to the fact that not only do they have a bodycam on… Read More

New Procedures for Photo Line-Ups and Live Line-Ups Under California Penal Code Section 859.7 For the last 26 years now, I’ve had to deal with photo line-ups and live line-ups for purposes of identification in criminal cases. A lot of these procedures have been done in an improper manner which as influenced the potential witness in a case to identify my client or other clients related to cases that I’ve defended in Los Angeles county. They have now come up with new procedures pursuant to Penal Code Section 859.7.  Now the detective and the prosecutors, if they’re involved at the… Read More