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Recent Blog Posts
California Senate committee approves drug possession bill
California lawmakers are considering a proposed bill that would make certain possessory drug offenses a misdemeanor instead of a felony level crime in the state. The bill was debated this week by the Senate Public Safety Committee, which voted 4-2 in favor of the measure. The bill proposes to reduce personal drug possession crimes involving heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine from felony offenses to misdemeanor offenses.
Four of the panel members voted to approve the bill, which would still need approval from the full California Senate and the State Assembly before it would be put before the governor for his signature.
The bill has the support of a District Attorney from San Francisco, who says that imposing long prison sentences for Californians convicted for personal drug possession offenses creates a "vicious cycle that does further public safety." However, the California District Attorneys Association does not share that view, as the association opposes the bill.
Capitola Police: Man climbs tree before arrest on felony charges
A man who law enforcement describes as a parolee was arrested around 7:00 Monday morning behind the former Capitola Theater on serious felony charges. Police claim that they spotted the man sitting with two women in a small compact car around 1:00 Monday and believe he was involved in a series of alleged incidents involving a separate vehicle in Watsonville and Soquel more than twelve hours earlier.
Police claim the man was driving a blue Ford truck in Watsonville around 11:45 a.m. Sunday when he allegedly asked some people who apparently were standing in an alley for gas money. Law enforcement claims the man later ran the Ford into a car and, after displaying a gun to the driver, stole the driver's cellphone and money, before fleeing from the area. Police later concluded that the blue Ford had been stolen from near San Mateo.
While searching for the alleged stolen Ford and the man law enforcement suspected of the alleged robbery in Watsonville, authorities fielded a report that a vehicle struck a fence and propane tank in Soquel around 1:00 Sunday afternoon. Police claim the man again brandished a gun to witnesses before fleeing on foot. It was roughly twelve hours later that law enforcement claims to have spotted the man in the compact car with two women.
Man Tased three times, arrested in Capitola after police stop
Capitola Police say that officers spotted a man walking near Soquel and Wharf roads around 3:00 early Wednesday morning. Officers assert that they believed the 45-year-old man matched the description of a suspect in an unidentified incident sometime earlier in Aptos. Law enforcement apparently sought to detain the man to look into the Aptos incident, and now the man is accused of a string of offenses for his conduct in dealing with the police.
Authorities claim that the man fled from police during the alleged attempted encounter. Capitola officers say that the man initially was aggressive toward officers before he took off running. Authorities accuse the man of a series of acts that have landed him in jail on suspicion of resisting arrest, vandalism, assault with a deadly weapon and trespassing.
After initially fleeing, the man ran to a condominium complex, according to police. Officers say that they located the man, but he refused to be arrested. Officers say the man hit a squad car with a metal rod before police zapped him with a Taser. After the stun gun allegedly failed to have the effect police had hoped for, authorities accuse the man of grabbing a tree branch and swinging at officers.
Three men arrested after car search in Santa Cruz on weapons, drug charges
Santa Cruz Police say that three men were arrested early Monday morning after some sort of encounter with law enforcement. Police claim to have spotted a car around 1:20 a.m. Monday near South Branciforte and Broadway, but an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel does not indicate why spotting the vehicle drew the attention of police.
Apparently, an officer claims that he smelled marijuana and saw a pipe and decided to search the vehicle.
Police claim the driver of the car gave the officer permission to rummage through the vehicle. In the end, law enforcement arrested three men for alleged weapons, drug offenses and a variety of other alleged offenses. Police also claim that they found items in the car that law enforcement is characterizing as burglary tools.
Police claim that a loaded .22 caliber gun was found in a search of a backpack inside the vehicle. Law enforcement claims that a passenger in the vehicle can be tied to the backpack, and the 24-year-old Santa Cruz resident was arrested on suspicion of unlawfully possessing a loaded gun. That passenger may also face drug possession charges, according to police. The passenger reportedly had an outstanding warrant for an unidentified offense.
Tiburon man pleads guilty to felony DUI, seeks trial in misdemeanor DUI
A Tiburon man appeared in court last week and accepted a plea agreement in a felony driving under the influence case. He also has a pending misdemeanor DUI charge in front of him that arose at a later date from the felony charge, and he says that he plans to take the later DUI case to trial. Authorities initially accused the man of felony drunk driving after pulling him over for what law enforcement claimed was to check on his welfare.
Police say the man drove past a police station on Tiburon Boulevard. Law enforcement says officers grew concerned because they heard him yelling and screaming as the car passed by the station. Police reportedly conducted a traffic stop, which eventually led to felony DUI charges.
The accused reportedly has three prior DUI convictions on his record-the oldest of which dates back to 2002. Those three priors were used to upgrade the DUI charges to a felony level under California law. The man pled guilty to felony DUI under a negotiated plea agreement with prosecutors.
Several dead, others injured in shooting at college in East Oakland
California authorities reported to Oikos University in East Oakland Monday morning after gunshots reportedly rung out on the college campus. Students and others at the college dove for cover when the shot were fired. Officials say that as many as 10 people may have been hit by bullets, but conflicting reports have been issued as to how many people were killed in the college shooting.
SWAT team officers entered the college and other officers swarmed the campus and nearby locations Monday. Several miles away from the East Oakland campus, police in Alameda reportedly have arrested a man at a shopping center who law enforcement believes is connected to the incident.
Details about the entire incident remain confusing across media reports, including conflicting reports on the number of wounded or killed in the East Oakland shooting, and what led law enforcement to Alameda.
The man taken into custody may be facing serious felony charges that could range from multiple counts of murder, to assault with a deadly weapon and battery charges, if law enforcement can tie him to the East Oakland incident.
Proposed California marijuana DUI law criticized by criminal justice professionals
It did not take long for a group of former cops, prosecutors and judges to voice their opinion of a proposed measure that seeks to create a zero tolerance type policy for driving under the influence charges involving pot. This blog discussed the new proposal last week, and members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition have written the assemblywoman who introduced the bill, urging that she immediately withdraw the measure.
Ten retired police officers, deputies, prosecutors, judges and other criminal justice professionals signed the letter calling for withdrawal of the DUI drug-related bill, saying that the draconian measure would criminalize driving by any California medical marijuana patient, even if the patient was not impaired at any time near the time of the arrest.
The criminal justice veterans acknowledge that California law already prohibits driving under the influence of drugs, based upon evidence that the pot, prescription medications or other drugs have caused impairment of the driver. The group says that the current flawed California DUI bill prohibiting pot-based driving without the need to show impairment would make driving illegal for up to 30 days after a medical marijuana patient lawfully smokes pot.
Appellate court upholds California defendant's right to remain silent
Most Californians may be familiar with the constitutional concept of the right to remain silent. Popular culture has long depicted Miranda rights in cop shows to wrap up an episode. That public awareness, however, does not necessarily include recognition of the importance, or the potential abuse of the important constitutional right.
A state appeals court recently threw out a conviction of a Redwood City man based upon the court's finding that prosecutors violated the defendant's right to remain silent before the jury at trial. The man was accused of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence after a fatal accident at a Redwood City intersection in February 2007.
The prosecutor told the jury that the man accused of negligence did not ask about the occupants of the other car involved in the accident. The prosecutor unfairly argued to the jury that the man's silence after the alleged crash showed that he knew that he was in the wrong at the time of the accident. The man's silence occurred when he was effectively under arrest, according to the appellate court ruling, which was handed down last week.
Assemblywoman introduces new California DUI bill for marijuana
A California Assemblywoman says the state needs a way to collect data on marijuana related fatal crashes. She says that, "One of the problems we faced as we continue to research this issue is that data specifically related to marijuana is not being collected." She apparently now hopes to have California drivers charged with DUI in order to have a new method to collect data.
She has introduced a proposal that essentially eliminates the necessity of the state to show impairment in marijuana cases. Currently, California laws on driving under the influence prohibit drugged driving. However, the Assemblywoman wants to change DUI laws in the state to allow convictions to be based upon any detectable level of marijuana compounds, or cannabinoids, in a driver's system. Marijuana compounds can remain detectable for weeks after a person uses marijuana.
Advocates for the legalization of marijuana are vehemently opposed to the new proposal. The measure would essentially make it a crime for drivers to get behind the wheel for weeks after using pot. The Assemblywoman who has introduced the concept to essentially eliminate impairment in marijuana related DUI cases admits that the language of the bill "is not perfect." She says she does not intend the proposed measure to impact Californians who have a prescription for medical marijuana.
US Supreme Court says right to effective criminal defense includes plea deals
The vast majority of criminal cases in the United States resolve with some sort of plea. Many defendants charged with a crime choose to go to court without an attorney and enter a guilty plea of some sort. Other defendants enter negotiated plea agreements.
Often, a plea agreement can minimize the damages that a criminal case can impose against a defendant, but criminal laws are complex and the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction can vary widely based upon the nature of the allegations.
The United States Supreme Court ruled this week that a defendant's right to effective criminal representation extends to any plea agreement or plea offer that a prosecutor may present. The court essentially ruled, in a split decision, that plea agreements are an important aspect of criminal defense.
Experienced Santa Cruz criminal defense lawyers know that an aggressive defense keeps one eye on the potential for a trial, while analyzing the legal and factual ramifications that the prosecutor's case may impose.
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