Criminal Defense Blog

If you are facing criminal charges due to being coerced, threatened, or forced into committing an offense against your will, you may have a legitimate defense of coercion or duress. Your defense lawyer may be able to have the charges dropped, or at...

A Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO)/The Red Flag Law is a legal mechanism designed to prevent potential harm by temporarily restricting an individual's access to firearms. The legal process can be challenging for individuals facing the prospect...

Authorities at the federal level treat terrorism accusations with utmost seriousness. If convicted, you could potentially face the death penalty or a life sentence. Terrorism is not limited to foreign organizations. It can also occur within a...

In California, a child is any person below the age of 18. Children are considered unable to consent to sexual conduct under California law. Therefore, any sexual behavior, abuse, or indecent action intended to satisfy or arouse the sexual desires...

A criminal statute of limitations is a law that establishes the time frame for the prosecutor to bring criminal charges against the offender. Even though timelines within which to file charges vary from one crime to another, the statute of...

Involvement in a criminal gang can attract serious legal repercussions, including long prison sentences that may extend to life imprisonment. Upon your arrest, you must learn more about the criminal system, including whether you will face trial...

Recently, my client prevailed in a Title IX action brought against him at a small, private college. The action was based on highly inflammatory allegations of sexual misconduct brought by a disgruntled female student he casually and briefly dated....

Living in a multicultural setting requires all citizens to observe practices and laws prohibiting hate crimes as provided in the California Penal Code. When you face a hate crime felony accusation with potential sentence enhancements, you must...

If you were arrested or involved in a juvenile court case, the juvenile justice system and other agencies may have a record of your crime. When a juvenile record is accessible to the public, it can cause significant discrimination, which may hinder...

Child sexual assault charges always elicit compassion for the victim, especially if the abuse is said to have occurred over a long period. The accused is left thinking the law's protections do not apply to them. If you face prosecution for a crime...

If you are a parent, guardian, teacher, or anyone with contact with minors or persons under 18 years old in California, you may wonder what offense could make you face an arrest. One such violation is called contributing to the delinquency of a...

California law is stringent on crimes involving persons under eighteen years. Therefore, if you express a sexual act or interest towards a child, you will face an arrest and charges for annoying or molesting the child under California Penal Code...

The American system of juvenile justice has traditionally followed a form of incarceration quite similar to that utilized for adult defendants. This especially refers to the usage of secured detention facilities to hold juveniles who have been...

According to California's hate crime legislation, it is illegal for someone to harm another because of their gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, perceived or actual disability, or color or ethnicity. The laws impose penalties for...

If a male defendant engages in voluntary sexual activity with a female juvenile between the ages of 14 and 17, the California sex offender legislation requires judges to order them to register as sex offenders. The legal system takes the victim's...

California has some of the most stringent sex crime laws in the country. Among the most severe sex crimes is rape, addressed under California PC 261. You will be arrested and charged with rape if you engage in non-consensual sexual intercourse with...

An assessment of most child abuse cases points to sexual grooming preceding the abuse. Sexual predators use sexual grooming to gain an individual’s or an organization’s trust to sexually abuse their targets, with teens, children, and vulnerable...

California Juvenile delinquent court systems are primarily used to handle crimes perpetrated by juveniles below the age of eighteen. When contrasted with the adult criminal system, the juvenile court system places a greater emphasis on...

You violate the California fraud and theft laws every time you engage in an act that results in an undeserved or unfair benefit for you or causes loss to another person. Most people commit fraud for financial gain. Fraud perpetrators also commit...

Sex crimes are some of the most severely punished offenses in California. They carry severe penalties, including a long time behind bars, payment of hefty fines, and registration as a sex offender. You could receive a misdemeanor or felony charge...

All criminal offenders in the U.S go through the justice system, after which they receive a sentence upon conviction. However, states like California have realized that low-level offenders can benefit more from counseling and training than...

California is the primary center of technology in the United States, owing to its major tech companies like Silicon Valley. For this reason, the state is a hotspot for all types of cybercrimes. Most cyber crimes result in financial losses and...

Crime is as eternal as a society, meaning that crime will exist as long as there is a society. With advancements in science and technology, detecting and investigating crimes have also developed. The progress of forensic science has entirely...

Workplace conduct is often scrutinized to ensure that employers and employees maintain a healthy relationship. Due to this, you may face serious sexual harassment accusations attracting criminal charges in specific cases. When accusations arise,...

Opioid-related deaths have reached epidemic levels across the country over the last few years. Opioids are extremely powerful painkillers, yet even when used responsibly, they can cause considerable complications, such as an overdose or accidental...

According to the California PC 13700, you could face domestic violence charges if you commit abuse against an intimate partner. The law defines abuse as intentionally or recklessly using or threatening to use physical force against your intimate...

Until recently, the law relied on the process of elimination, commonly known as negative corpus, to prove arson cases. This investigation method is no longer applicable. It was removed from the National Fire Protection Association fire...

Prosecutorial misconduct is any unethical or illegal conduct by a prosecutor when handling a case. Prosecutors are bound by strict professional ethics, rules, and standards due to the power they wield. If a prosecutor engages in misconduct, they...

Eyewitness testimonies are an excellent form of evidence in the investigation and prosecution of crimes in California. An eyewitness account can outline the events that led to the commission of a particular offense and details regarding how the...

California's Three Strikes Law is a sentencing scheme that requires criminal defendants who are convicted for three serious felonies to receive a prison sentence of twenty-five years to life. The Three Strikes Law is extremely serious. Under...

Many Americans are currently navigating the criminal justice system more than ever before for various offenses. Several of these citizens face discrimination in the corridors of justice based on socioeconomic status and race. Reforming the...

For what seemed to be a promising future for the Los Angeles criminal justice system, there have been a few setbacks that the new District Attorney, George Gascon, has to deal with. A few months after he was sworn in, George Gascon seemed to face a...

Three notions are hard to deny. If you are a capitalist, you probably believe running any industry privately makes better economic sense. On the other hand, some on the political left will argue that the government should supply essential services,...

If you are a student in a federally-funded university or college and get involved in sexual misconduct, the school administration will likely handle your case as a Title IX proceeding. These proceedings are different from the typical criminal court...

California criminal law details restrictions, punishment, and descriptions of various crimes. Moreover, the laws are categorized in several statutes for reference when deciding on a suspect’s case. While the existing codified laws are reliable, the...

Today, I proudly enjoyed one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire 29 years of practicing law. After 8 years of very intense and difficult litigation with the U.S. Government, my client, who is a homosexual, ethnic Chinese and Christian...

Douglas Bradford entered his ex-girlfriend’s studio in the summer of 1979 wielding a weapon he had fashioned at home: a garrote made of wooden mop handles connected by a thick wire, a prosecutor said Monday. He wrapped the wire around her neck and...

Although the United States Secretary of Education, Betsy De Vos, rescinded the requirement that Title IX investigations be determined by the preponderance of the evidence standard, in California, that standard is still mandatory. In September 2014,...