The mental health diversion statute (Penal Code section 1001.36) was amended in the 2021-2022 Legislative Session to encourage the courts to make use of mental health diversion. The amended law became effective on January 1 of this year. Penal Code section 1001.36 was enacted in 2018 to address the fact…
You are hanging out in a park with a couple of friends. Two police officers show up and ask you and your friends what you are doing in the park. You walk away, which is within your rights. If you do attempt to walk away and the officers prevent you…
Not long after the invention the Model T, people in the U.S. fell in love with their cars. Nowhere was the car culture more celebrated than in California. (Perhaps you recall the hit 80’s song “Walking in L.A.” The chorus: “Walkin’ in L.A., nobody walks in L.A.”.) Back in the…
No doubt you have heard the news that Alec Baldwin is to be charged with involuntary manslaughter after fatally shooting a cinematographer on set. I won’t recount the alleged series of events leading up to this charge as most everyone is familiar with the story. What is important to know…
You may have watched the popular reality TV series “To Catch a Predator” which aired from 2004-2008. In that series, law enforcement would set up adult men who thought they had arranged a tryst with a minor. The scheme went something like this: an adult man would go online looking…
Legislation recently signed into law by Governor Newsom will make certain previously convicted individuals automatically eligible for the dismissal of their conviction when four years have passed since the completion of their sentence. This new law makes many Penal Code section 1203.4 petitions for expungement automatic rather than requiring filing…
Those of you who are old enough will no doubt remember the slow-motion Los Angele Police Department pursuit of O.J. Simpson’s Ford Bronco in June of 1994. The “chase” (if you can call it that) lasted approximately two hours and covered 60 miles, mostly on the 405 after he became…
Issuance and execution of a search warrant has been in news this summer. You have probably read a few articles that mention the standards for the issuance and execution of a search warrant. Foundational to the validity of a search warrant is that the warrant must establish probable cause for…
Our country continues to witness an increasing mental illness. Studies demonstrate growing percentages of depression, suicide ideation, substance abuse, and our own observations cannot deny the growing rates of homelessness. Inmate populations have swelled and research finds a direct correlation between the increasing mental health crisis in this country and…
This is a true story. Martha M., a 72-year-old widow, was charged with murder. She became a widow when her husband, who was suffering and in great pain with terminal cancer, died. Her husband’s death is how she came to be charged with the crime. You see, she gave him…