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Recent Blog Posts
Law enforcement raids Morgan Hill warehouse; arrests man on pot charges
Law enforcement believes that a 32-year-old Morgan Hill, California man rented 6,000 square feet of space in three units of the commercial building. Morgan Hill officials say that changes had been made to the electrical system inside the warehouse.
Investigators say that 2,775 marijuana plants and 30 pounds of processed pot were seized from the warehouse. Investigators claim that the warehouse was outfitted with sophisticated marijuana growing equipment, as well as measures that authorities believe were intended to hide any odor of the marijuana grow from any outside sources.
Law enforcement concluded the warehouse raid and reportedly obtained a new warrant to search the home of a 32-year-old man who authorities believe can be linked to the marijuana operation. Police claim that more pot and equipment was located in a search of the home.
The Morgan Hill, California man was arrested on suspicion of felony drug charges. Authorities accuse the 32-year-old of marijuana cultivation charges.
Police accuse man of felony DUI after crash at Palo Alto home
Police say that a man in his 70s crashed into a house Tuesday afternoon-the house reportedly is slated for demolition. Movers reportedly were at the house, removing items from the garage in preparation for the demolition project. Authorities say that the man who lost control of his vehicle struck one of the movers before crashing into the Palo Alto residence.
Police investigating the Tuesday afternoon car accident identified the driver of the sport utility vehicle involved in the wreck as a 73-year-old Palo Alto, California resident. During the accident investigation, police apparently suspected that alcohol may have been a factor in the incident. Ultimately, police arrested the Palo Alto driver on suspicion of felony driving under the influence.
Police say that the driver was not injured in the crash. However, a mover working at the site reported suffered moderate injuries, including a possible broken ankle, according to the Daily News.
US Supreme Court rules that dog-sniff at a home is a search
Last December, this blog discussed a story where police used a trained dog to sniff a car seeking evidence of drugs during a Novato, California traffic stop. Courts generally have held that a dog-sniff outside a car is not a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, and therefore police do not need to obtain a warrant before using a dog outside a car. But the United States Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the legal analysis is different outside the front door of a home.
The issue rose to the high court on an appeal from a drug crime case out of Florida. The state high court had ruled that drugs discovered after police brought a trained drug sniffing dog to a home without a warrant were not admissible in a criminal trial against a resident of the home. Prosecutors appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the case, police say that they had received a tip that a marijuana growing operation was going on inside the home. An investigator brought his K-9 to the home and had the dog sniff the base of the front door.
Fourteen arrested during regional Central Valley warrant sweep
Officials in Stanislaus County, California say that the Central Valley Gang Impact Task force led a 10-month investigation before launching a highly visible sweep last week as authorities arrested 14 people on charges ranging from murder to drug crimes. The investigation and arrests involved officers and agents from the federal state and local levels. While many of the people were arrested on federal criminal charges, at least seven were taken into custody on state crimes.
Many people believe that a task force probe looks solely at a distinct and individual alleged offense. But, a task force probe may be opened to investigate general crimes. The latest visible sweep involved arrests in a variety of state and federal criminal allegations that may not be connected to each other in any way.
Authorities claim that the nearly year-long probe looked into allegations of criminal activity, and law enforcement believes that at least one alleged offense may have links to the Nuestra Familia or the street level gang known as the Norteños. But, in the end, not all of the people arrested in the sweep have been linked to gangs, according to information from the Modesto Bee.
Court releases 'actually innocent' man held 13 years on three strikes sentence
In 2010, federal judge ordered the release of a man who was sentenced under California's three strikes law in 1999. State officials delayed the man's release as the man's appeal works its way through the courts. State officials claim that technical issues in filing the criminal appeal justify holding the innocent man in prison until the courts rule on the legal issues. However, a federal magistrate ordered that the man be released pending the outcome of the appeal.
The release follows the federal court ruling finding the man innocent of the alleged third strike crime. The judge ruled that the man had not received proper representation in his criminal defense in the 1999 trial.
Despite the federal ruling finding the man "actually innocent" of the alleged crime, the legal issues are not necessarily over, according to KTLA. The man had been sentenced under California's three strikes law after being convicted for allegedly carrying a concealed knife during a 1998 bar fight in Northridge, California.
Oakland rapper Too Short accused of drug possession, DUI in California
Police in Los Angeles have not provided a great deal of public information, but authorities claim that rap artist Too Short was arrested on driving under the influence and drug charges early Wednesday morning. The allegations apparently arose after some kind of stop--Reuters reports that the stop was a routine traffic stop, but, the New York Daily News claims more specifically that the officer made the stop to investigate the driver for DUI.
Police claim that during the investigatory stop the officer believed that the hip hop artist appeared to be under the influence. The officer says that he requested that Too Short perform field sobriety tests. However, authorities claim that the rap artist tried to flee on foot. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police claims that Too Short tripped after about a half of a city block while running and was taken into custody on suspicion of DUI.
Authorities claim that while sitting in the police car the rapper discarded undisclosed drugs in the back seat of the squad. Too Short was processed on the DUI allegations--the artist blew a 0.09 percent alcohol level during the investigation, according to TMZ.
Lawmaker seeks to reduce some California drug crimes to misdemeanors
A California state senator from San Francisco is seeking to give prosecutors the option to charge some drug crimes as a misdemeanor level offense. The proposal would not only reduce potential exposure to time behind bars for possession of drugs for personal use, but would also keep a felony off of a person's record, which can make it difficult for the person to later find a job.
Senator Mark Leno's proposal would not modify California's marijuana laws, as possession of a small amount of marijuana is already considered an infraction under state law. State law gives authorities the option to charge possession of methamphetamine for personal use as either a misdemeanor or felony offense. The new proposal seeks to expand that kind of discretion in cases involving allegations of possessing of small amounts of heroin, cocaine and other so-called "hard drugs."
Obviously, there is some opposition to modifying California's harsh drug possession laws. State Senator Jim Nielson believes that people who may possess small amounts of drugs may commit other crimes to later buy the drugs. He apparently wants to keep possession of small amounts of drugs as a felony level offense to punish suspects for speculative offenses that he believes may possibly happen at some later time.
Petaluma cop accused of October DUI on scooter at golf course
Last fall, an off-duty Petaluma Police officer crashed a motorized scooter on the fourth fairway of the Rooster Run Golf Club. The police department held a benefit golf tournament at the public golf course October 5. The off-duty officer who crashed a scooter had worked the graveyard shift the night before the tournament and reported in the morning to drive a golf cart transporting "pin-up girls" around the course during the tourney and other tasks related to the event, according to the Press-Democrat.
At some point, authorities say that the officer borrowed a motorized scooter from a fellow officer and reportedly took a run onto the course. That is when he allegedly crashed, suffering undisclosed injuries. Officers and police brass were all over the course for the tournament, but after the wreck, the off-duty cop was not asked to perform field sobriety tests, nor did he submit any breath or blood sample.
Someone at the golf course called 911, and the officer was taken to Petaluma Valley Hospital for treatment. About a month passed, and Petaluma Police reportedly contacted the California Highway Patrol to open a DUI investigation related to the incident. Petaluma Police claim that the department had been looking into the incident and desired to have an independent investigation opened.
Police search parolee's cellphone; make arrest in Oakland Museum heist
Police in Oakland, California arrested a parolee on suspicion of theft crimes after searching his cellphone Sunday morning. This blog has previously discussed a variety of issues where law enforcement needs to obtain a search warrant. However, Oakland Police say that no search warrant was necessary in Sunday's investigation because the man is on parole.
What law enforcement claims to have found in the cellphone search were pictures of a Gold-Rush era jewelry box and a pistol which were stolen in two separate alleged burglaries at the Oakland Museum. Law enforcement arrested the parolee after the investigation.
Police believe that the man is linked to a burglary at the museum on January 9 when the jewelry box disappeared, and also to a burglary November 12, when gold nuggets and gold-rush era pistols disappeared. However, for now at least, the man is charged with receiving stolen property related to the box.
Bobby Brown sentenced of DUI, probation violation and license suspension
When a person is on probation for a prior conviction, authorities tend to seek ways to allege a probation violation. Many probation violations may involve technical violations of a term or condition. However, some people may face allegations of a violation based upon new criminal charges. When probation violations are alleged with new charges, a person may face criminal consequences arising from the alleged violation, as well as in the new criminal case.
That type of combination was involved in the recent drunk driving charges that Bobby Brown was facing. The singer was arrested October 24 on suspicion of DUI. That was Brown's second DUI arrest during 2012, and the 44-year-old singer was still on probation for a March 2012 DUI when he was picked up last October in Los Angeles, California on the new DUI allegations. Authorities also say that Brown's license was suspended at the time of the October DUI arrest.
The singer did not personally appear in court Tuesday. However, his criminal defense lawyer entered a plea on behalf of Brown to resolve the criminal issues involved. Brown was ordered to serve 55 days in jail, but the jail time actually is divided among several different issues. The judge reported imposed 10 days each on the new DUI conviction on the conviction for driving while suspended. The court also ordered Brown to serve 35 days for the probation violation on the prior DUI.
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