714-997-4400Legislation Tackles BAC and IID Rules
Driving under the influence is an offense that can result in severe penalties for those convicted. California is no exception. In the Golden State, it is against the law to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% or more. An individual can also receive a citation for driving under the […]
Mandatory Attorney Re-Fingerprinting Reveals Criminal Records
Members of the California State Bar, Foreign Legal Consultants, and Registered In-House Counsel had until February 1, 2019, to be re-fingerprinted. Some of our readers may remember a post we wrote on this subject last summer. Those who did not meet the deadline were subject to fines. Now that the deadline is long since passed, […]
AB-392 Peace Officers: Deadly Force
Last year, two police officers in Sacramento fatally shot Stephon Clark, 22. Mr. Clark was unarmed; it is an all too familiar scenario in this day and age. Unarmed people of color losing their lives to use of force is a regular occurrence. People who follow deadly use of force cases know that police officers […]
Gavin’s Law Would Increase Hit-and-Run Penalties
Vehicular homicide is a crime involving the death of a person other than the driver as a result of either criminally negligent or murderous operation of a motor vehicle, according to The Journal of Legal Studies. When the former is the case, i.e., criminal negligence, unintentional vehicular manslaughter is usually the charge. Last month, the […]
DNA Testing and Fingerprinting Subject to Human Error
DNA is a “genetic fingerprint” that can help people track down their origin story or assist law enforcement in solving a decades-old cold case. DNA testing is ubiquitous in modern times and is considered indispensable to crime fighters the world over. Where once significant emphasis was placed on fingerprinting, today swabbing for genetic material is […]
Death Penalty Executive Moratorium
In 2016, California voters approved Proposition 66. The bill, which passed narrowly, kept the death penalty in place along with some procedural changes that expedited the appeals process by putting trial courts in charge of initial petitions challenging death penalty convictions. Prop 66 also set a new time frame for death penalty review. The legislation […]
Automatically Sealing Criminal Records
An arrest record can significantly disrupt a person’s life. Many Californians who have served time for a conviction struggle to find employment, secure loans, and acquire housing. Unfortunately, many of the said individuals do not know that there is an avenue of recourse that could dramatically change their lives—petitioning the court to seal a person’s […]
Civil Forfeiture Limitations
Civil forfeiture (otherwise known as civil asset forfeiture, civil judicial forfeiture, or civil seizure) is a legal mechanism allowing law enforcement officers to take assets from persons who are suspected of committing a crime or illegal activity. This process has occurred in the United States for decades; one of the facets of this procedure that […]
DNA Leads To Arrest In Newport Beach Cold Case
We have written about DNA as it pertains to the law on numerous occasions. A person’s genetic fingerprint being left at the scene of a crime can make a prosecutor’s case; but, it can also prove someone’s innocence, even decades later. Last year, we covered the remarkable story of the apprehension of the “Golden State […]