Recently, prosecutors in Oakland, California announced they opened up a criminal investigation into the fatal balcony collapse that occurred on June 17 near the UC Berkeley campus. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley launched an investigation into the incident that killed 6 college students at an apartment party when police…
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has announced it will seek the death penalty against a mother (Pearl Fernandez) and her boyfriend (Isauro Aguirre), who have been accused of the torturing and death of the woman’s 8-year-old son. This case stems from Gabriel Fernandez’s death in May 2013, where…
As a practitioner in the criminal law field, it is part of my job to keep updated on new case law that will affect my clients. This blog will seek to explain to you the latest development in criminal case law—coming from our highest court—the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court…
A 13-year-old teen in Chula Vista who took his parents’ car for a wild joyride overnight crashed into a senior service center and then left the scene of the accident. The Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD) said the joyride began with the teen crashing into a parked Dodge Ram truck.…
In the common law, reckless endangerment (also known as criminal endangerment) is a crime consisting of acts that create a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person. In essence, it is a crime that covers a wide range of behavior, although the term has mainly come up in…
Attorneys often hear this question—how do multiple convictions affect a sentence? Being convicted of more than one crime may have a big impact on a criminal defendant’s sentence or “punishment.” This issue comes up in the context of convictions for the same offense such as multiple DUIs, multiple convictions for…
This blog seeks to explain two basic concepts in criminal law which tends to lead to significant confusion: double jeopardy, and dual sovereignty. Double jeopardy is a constitutional principle that comes from the double jeopardy clause in the Constitution’s 5th Amendment. It means that you may not be charged or…
In the government’s latest assault on civil rights, California Attorney General Kamala Harris has announced a new policy last month that the California Department of Justice (“CADOJ”) will only be issuing its annual reports on wiretaps as locked pdfs– which would significantly limit the public’s ability to view the information.…
The 14-year-old teenage girl who set the Cocos fire in San Diego last May was sentenced recently by Judge Howard Shore in a two-week non-jury trial. The minor, whose identity has not been revealed, was sentenced to 400 hours of community service and must pay $40,000 in restitution in fines.…
As mentioned in my previous post, Prop 47 (“the Reduced Penalties for Some Crimes Initiative”), which was approved by California voters via a ballot initiative last November 2014, would reduce the classification of most nonviolent and non-serious property and drug crimes from a felony down to a misdemeanor. Since then,…