California Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

You see it during just about any holiday period -- law enforcement officers out in full force, targeting drunk drivers.

This Labor Day holiday weekend, authorities made 262 DUI arrests in a four-day period. That's a significant number of people whose lives have likely been changed forever. Yet, a DUI arrest in Santa Ana, Anaheim or elsewhere in Southern California isn't necessarily the end of the world.

An experienced Santa Ana DUI defense lawyer must be called on to make sure the driver's rights are upheld and to ensure the officer followed proper rules and procedures in conducting the arrest.

According to The Orange County Register, in 2010 officers made 187 arrests during the same weekend time period, that's 40 percent fewer incidents. Local police departments, the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol participated in the checkpoint operations. The stepped-up patrols were part of a grant provided by the state. Officials reported one DUI-related fatality when a San Dimas man lost control of his vehicle and flipped it into a flood-control channel.

Many in the public would be thrilled to hear that so many people were arrested for DUI over the holiday weekend, but our lawyers know the toll that such an arrest can take on drivers who face driving under the influence.

People don't plan to get arrested for DUI like someone who breaks into a house or flees police. This is a charge that anyone -- from plumbers to police officers -- can face. Many times it's a matter of having one more drink than than they should have.

But an arrest isn't proof of guilt. When law enforcement officers set up these stings or planned patrols, they are focused on drunken drivers. Even if a person may not be legally under the influence of drugs or alcohol, officers are so focused on the task they sometimes don't follow the rules and violate drivers' rights.

While this may be seen as a "technicality" to some, evidence must be tossed out if a person's rights are violated by officers not properly doing their job. This can happen anywhere from the initial traffic stop to conducting field sobriety tests and administering a breath test.

If a driver has medical or physical limitations that may have caused erratic driving or caused an accident, that should be factored into the officer's decision as to whether a DUI arrest should be made. But, sometimes that isn't the case.

The best decision, though many don't follow this advice, is to say nothing other than being polite and allow an experienced Santa Ana DUI defense lawyer to take over the case after arrest. A driver is unlikely to convince a trained police officer not to make an arrest. Even if the person has had only a few drinks, their speech skills can be hampered, making matters worse.

What a person says to police can be used against them and that applies to a DUI case just like a murder case. The officer's testimony will be given strong consideration by jurors, so keep that in mind if you face arrest for DUI.

Continue reading " Santa Ana DUI Lawyers Can Help Those With Labor Day DUI Arrests " »

An Irvine man faces charges of child endangerment, a felony, after authorities allege he threw his 7-year-old son over a boat during a cruise when the boy wouldn't stop crying, The Orange County Register is reporting.

The 35-year-old man also faces a misdemeanor charge of resisting and delaying officers after the incident, which happened August 28, the newspaper reports.

This is a case of parental discipline gone wrong and the father now faces a potential prison sentence as a result. Charges of child abuse in Santa Ana are particularly difficult because when children are considered victims, the state can be particularly aggressive in determining which charges to file and how many.

That's why an experienced and aggressive Santa Ana Criminal Defense Attorney is needed in order to defend against these serious allegations.

In this case, child endangerment in California is defined under California Penal Code 273a.

Under that code of law, a person can be charged with the felony version of child endangerment if they are "likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully causes or permits any child to suffer or inflicts thereon unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering," willfully causes pain or puts them in a position where they are endangered. Under that law, a person who is convicted could be sentenced to two, four or six years in a state prison.

If there are other scenarios in which a child could be placed in danger other than those described above, a person can face a misdemeanor. If a person is sentenced to probation in lieu of prison time, the law mandates the person spent 48 months on probation. They may also be ordered to stay away from the child and must complete one year of child abuser's treatment.

In this case, the man and his son were aboard the Queen, a tour boat, when the man allegedly was under the influence of alcohol when he repeatedly poked his son in the chest and slapped him before tossing him 10 feet down into the water, prosecutors allege. They say the boy was thrown into the path of oncoming boat traffic.

Authorities allege he was on board with his girlfriend and two sons when the incident occurred. Police say he made no effort to save his son, but rather jumped off the boat only to avoid other passengers, who were angry at him.

A boat captain had to maneuver to avoid hitting the boy, who stayed afloat until a captain of another boat tossed him a life ring and carried him to safety. The man is scheduled for arraignment in the coming weeks.

Given the high-profile nature of the case, an Orange County Defense Attorney must be able to control the news media. A defendant has a right to a fair trial, and that includes not having the potential jury pool tainted by one-sided media reports of what the prosecution and police say happened. This pre-trial work is also an important as the defense prepares for trial.

Continue reading " Dad Charged for Allegedly Throwing Son Overboard in Santa Ana " »

An accountant from Burbank who has served on hundreds of political campaigns is being held on federal fraud charges for her work with a state Assembly member, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Charges of fraud in Orange County are serious because they can not only be charged in the state court system, but prosecutors have the option of charging a defendant in the federal court system instead, which typically comes with more serious penalties and different rules of evidence.

Consulting with an experienced Santa Ana Criminal Defense Attorney as soon as you know or believe you are being investigated for a crime is critical because the sooner you try to attack the charges against you, the better you can begin to prepare a defense.

Typically, fraud charges require sifting through stacks of paperwork and records that can be agonizingly complex. That's why it is advantageous for the defendant if the attorney gets started quickly. It also allows the attorney to be able to speak with investigators and prosecutors as soon as charges are filed.

According to the newspaper article, the single count of mail fraud -- a federal charge that alleges she used the United States Postal Service in committing a crime -- is based on transactions involving a member of the state Assembly. The investigation is continuing.

The accountant has worked on the accounts of many Democratic politicians, including state and local representatives, senators and Los Angeles City Council members. Two Santa Ana politicians -- State Sen. Lou Correa and Assemblyman Jose Solorio -- were notified by the FBI that their accounts may have fallen prey to embezzlement. Both said they were shocked by the news.

Embezzlement is a fancy word for stealing from a person's company, but in plain language it is theft. In these highly complicated cases involving hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, authorities sometimes jump to conclusions that the money was stolen and not simply misplaced or spent recklessly.

Especially when you're dealing with political campaigns, money is coming in as quickly as it's going out and it can be difficult to keep track of those funds.

Under the U.S. Code, mail fraud is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. It is a serious crime and must be fought aggressively. That includes attacking the government's theory of guilt and aggressively questioning its witnesses to find out the truth.

An experience lawyer will also file motions to keep key evidence and statements by the defendant and even witnesses from being introduced at trial. There are many aspects of this complex area of law that must be addressed in order to ensure the defendant has a fair trial and a strong defense. Don't leave it up to someone without the knowledge and experience to get you through it.

Continue reading " Santa Ana Politicians Allegedly Victimized by Burbank Accountant Charged With Fraud " »

Authorities are finally listening -- after years of Orange County Criminal Defense Attorneys and others trying to tell California officials that the prisons are overcrowded and their hard-line stance that everyone should be locked up, even for minor crimes, is ruining lives and costing billions.

But it's not because of some kind of proactive planning move. They're desperate. The state's budget is in disarray and prisons are overcrowded to epic proportions. Inmates and staff are sick as a result and it's unconstitutional.

But as of Oct, 1, 2011, AB 109 will go into effect, realigning the way California treats convicted criminals, according to the California State Association of Counties.

Under the new plan, those convicted of non-serious, non-violent, non-sex offenses will begin serving their sentences in local jails rather than in state-run prisons. There are 60 such charges that are excluded from the new rule. Some of these charges include drug crimes, minor assaults and theft in Santa Ana.

Because of the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Plata, the state had to immediately revamp is unconstitutionally overcrowded prison system. Under the Plata decision, the government "realigned" the burden of housing convicts from the state to counties.

But the American Civil Liberties Union has a different plan for "realignment" that would better serve Californians and the decimated budget that the government is attempting to overhaul. This is a list of the twelve key elements of realignment planning as sent to all California counties by the ACLU:

-Set up a process from the beginning that is transparent.
-Assess the plan of the currently supervised population and the new realignment population.
-Determine whether programs have a valid basis for success, set targets and evaluate.
-Create a comprehensive approach that includes underlying causes of criminal behavior and recidivism.
-Create a pre-booking and pre-charging diversion for the low-risk population.
-Reduce immigration-based booking and detention costs.
-Expand alternatives to imprisonment using home detention and work furlough programs.
-Use community correction alternatives over jail for punishment.
-Ensure that jail conditions and other sanctions are constitutional and subjected to legal review.
-Use evidence-based post-release supervision programs.
-Develop financing model that prioritizes funding programs for rehabilitation, treatment and reentry instead of just adding jail beds.
-Don't just exchange prisoners.

It's unfortunate that it's taken years of wasted money for California's leaders to figure out that they can't just keep sending people to prison and paying for it without investing something in the defendants. Recidivism is one of the biggest problems in America's criminal justice system -- the same people going through the system year after year.

If the prison system would work with inmates, teach them life and work skills and give them the ability to find jobs and maintain finances when they get out, the system overall will be in much better shape. But officials would rather just keep shipping people back to prison.

This may finally be the start of California getting smart about its prison system instead of continuing to operate without new or innovative ideas.

Continue reading " California Prison Realignment Is State's Newest Money-Saving Venture " »

A Corona woman will spend the next 10 years of her life in a California prison after being sentenced in connection with a 2008 accident that killed a University of California, Irvine student, The Press-Enterprise reports.

DUI in Rancho Cucamonga and elsewhere in California is a highly targeted crime, yet it is one that people don't mean to commit. Drinking slightly too much can land a person in jail, yet hiring an aggressive Orange County DUI Defense Attorney can help defend against the allegations and work to get the best possible resolution.

The 32-year-old defendant showed remorse and apologized to the family of the 18-year-old victim. She was convicted recently of involuntary gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and she received a maximum 10-year prison sentence, the report states.

According to the newspaper, the woman left a bar drunk and ignored friends who encouraged her not to get behind the wheel. But police said she drove her SUV at 84 mph in a 50 mph zone and crossed over two sets of double yellow lines and smashed into a sedan driven by the victim.

Investigators said the woman had a .20 blood-alcohol level, which is more than two times California's legal limit. That reading was taken three hours after the accident.

The defendant has a 15-year-old and 6-month-old daughter who she will leave behind when she goes to jail, while members of the victims family told a judge during a sentencing hearing how much the teen will be missed because of the senseless killing.

Prosecutors had sought a second-degree murder conviction based on the fact that because the defendant had a semester of training as a paramedic, she would have been more aware of the dangers of drinking and driving, but that didn't fly.

DUI defense is different when an accident occurs. When a driver faces a DUI charge, an officer must have probable cause to make the stop and then must follow certain procedures in order to ensure the driver's rights are upheld throughout the process.

A DUI-related accident is different, however. Typically, when an accident occurs, the vehicles that are involved are still at the scene when an officer arrives. Typically, they speak with eye witnesses who try to explain what they saw as paramedics are tending to the drivers involved in the accident.

When someone has died, officers typically look first to the survivor as the person possibly responsible. They survey the scene, take measurements and make calculations to fit that conclusion. Sadly, they sometimes arrest a driver who may have a blood-alcohol limit above the legal limit even before testing reveals the other driver was intoxicated as well.

When a person has died, officers want to make an arrest. It satisfies their bosses and minimizes the amount of chatter from the public. But not every person arrested is guilty and it takes an experienced Orange County DUI Defense Attorney to see through the problems with the case to ensure justice.

Continue reading " Woman Gets 10-Year Prison Sentence in Corona DUI Accident " »