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Recent Blog Posts
Governor Brown signs California jailhouse snitch law
Governor Jerry Brown has signed a new measure into law making it harder for the state to convict a person accused of a crime based upon the testimony of jailhouse informants. Criminal defense attorneys, civil rights advocates and at least two district attorneys in the state supported the measure. Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar vetoed the same proposal twice during his administration at the urging of the California District Attorneys Association.
Our criminal justice system has a variety of important safeguards built in to protect a person accused of a crime from being wrongfully convicted. Every person has the right to a fair trial. Our system places the burden on the prosecutor to prove allegations beyond a reasonable doubt in order to get a conviction. But individuals accused of a crime also have the right to a complete defense.
Among the safeguards the law affords Californians accused of a crime is the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses at trial. But what if a trial witness is unreliable? In 2004, the California Senate created a statewide commission to look into the causes of wrongful convictions in the state.
California three strikes law affects second strike sentencing
The California three strikes law actually increases a person's exposure to significant prison time before the third strike. The number of people crowding California prisons has received a high level of scrutiny since the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state to reduce the overcrowding of our state prisons.
Most Californians know the three strikes law allows prosecutors to seek a mandatory 25-year-to-life sentence in allegedly qualifying cases. Currently, roughly 8,700 are serving prison time on a third strike under the law. However, 32,390 people are serving increased sentences under the second strike provision of the law. Second strike prisoners account for nearly 20 percent of the state's prison population.
The provision under the three strikes law related to second strikers allows prosecutors to seek double the prison time for a second strike conviction. Barry Krisberg, a researcher at UC Berkeley's institute on law and social policy says the significance of the second strike provision "is having an enormous impact on our prison population, and many second strikers are serving more time than third strikers, but when people talk about the policy of reforming three strikes, nobody wants to touch the second strike."
Woman accused of hotel room burglary may face three strikes law
Prosecutors claim the woman stole money and a bracelet from Alex Trebek's hotel room while the TV host and his wife were sleeping. Trebek says he woke up in his hotel room and saw a woman rummaging through his belongings. The TV host says he chased the woman.
The woman now accused of breaking into the hotel room says she was not involved in the alleged burglary. The woman was visiting in the hotel and happened to be waiting at the elevator when a man approached her. She reportedly says Trebek approached her and asked if she had been in his room. She says she had not been in the room. The San Francisco Chronicle reports the woman ran because she feared police would become involved.
The woman reportedly was detained downstairs by hotel security. The woman was arrested on suspicion of burglary and is being held on $625,000 bond. Prosecutors say the woman has burglary convictions dating from 1990 and 1991, which prosecutors are considering relying on to seek a 25 to life sentence under the California three strikes law. A decision whether to pursue a three strikes sentence reportedly will be made after a preliminary hearing is held in the case.
Eureka man arrested for pot during traffic stop
The threshold for conducting a traffic stop is fairly low for police in Santa Cruz, like anywhere in California. Law enforcement needs only a reasonable suspicion that some violation occurred for a court to determine the officer's decision to conduct a traffic stop was reasonable. During a traffic stop police often seek to find evidence to support a suspicion of potentially more serious offenses.
Many Californians have read stories of DUI arrests that include the narrative of odors of alcohol, glassy eyes and slurred speech. Odors are a common basis that police try to rely upon to expand the scope of an investigation during a traffic stop. An alleged strong odor of marijuana is part of the allegations of police that led to the arrest of a Eureka man after a traffic stop Tuesday.
An officer claims he saw a car make an abrupt lane change on southbound Highway 101 Tuesday evening. The officer says the driver cut off another vehicle during the lane change. The California Highway Patrol reports the officer conducted a traffic stop due to the observations.
Two men appear in court on California assault and mayhem charges
This blog reported the story of the arrest last week, and that another person originally arrested related to the Dodger Stadium incident has been exonerated. Now, police and prosecutors have released more details about the new arrests as two men have been charged in the matter.
The 29 and 30-year-old men appeared in court on charges of assault and mayhem. Mayhem involves serious allegations. Under California law, a charge of mayhem involves allegations of serious injury of another person. The 29-year-old man is also accused of battery related to allegations arising inside the stadium, during the opening day game.
At the time the two men were arrested, a 31-year-old woman was also taken into custody on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact. The woman was later released and not charged. Police say the woman is the sister of the 29-year-old and engaged to the other man accused of beating Santa Cruz resident Brian Stow after the game. Law enforcement says the woman has implicated the two men in the incident.
Two new arrests in Dodger Stadium assault and battery
Matt Szabo, senior aide to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says, "Obviously, we're going to need to get an explanation." Police say the original arrest stemmed from suspicions raised by a parole agent that the original 31-year-old suspect may have been involved in the Dodger Stadium attack. The parole agent reportedly grew suspicious that the man may have been involved. Police had claimed multiple witnesses identified the original detainee, based upon photo lineups.
Police took the 31-year-old man into custody in a raid on May 22. A news conference the flowing day proclaimed the man was captured and taken into custody.
However, after reviewing surveillance videos, phone and financial records and hundreds of tips, police were never able to tie the arrested man to the beating. No charges were ever filed against the man. Nonetheless, law enforcement held the man in custody on an alleged probation violation. In June, the 31-year-old was sent to prison for 10-months on the probation violation.
Police hold woman for felony DUI after fatal crash
The California Highway Patrol says a 28-year-old woman was speeding on Interstate 5 near Disneyland around 12:45 a.m. Sunday. Law enforcement claims the woman was involved in a fatal accident and has taken the woman into custody on suspicion of felony DUI.
Police say the woman made an abrupt lane change between the Number 3 lane and the Number 4 lane when her GMC S-10 pickup struck the left rear corner of a 1995 Mercury Villager. The pickup truck reportedly careened off the roadway and ran head-on into a bridge abutment at Disneyland Drive. The pickup truck rolled over several times, rebounding back across the Santa Ana Freeway coming to a rest in the Number 1 lane, according to the CHP.
A 24-year-old woman in the Mercury Villager sustained injuries and was hospitalized. Police claim both people in the GMC pickup truck sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. The 28-year-old male passenger in the GMC reportedly died at UC Irvine Medical Center at r 4:15 Sunday morning.
Woman arrested for alleged California assault with deadly weapon
Another issue that can be difficult to grasp for many Santa Cruz residents is what constitutes a deadly weapon. California law recognizes firearms as a deadly weapon. But Californians can also face charges of assault with a deadly weapon in certain circumstances, even when no firearm is involved. For instance, a Glendale woman has been arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after allegations arose that the woman used her SUV to attack an ex-boyfriend.
Police claim the woman drove into a parking lot Saturday evening and ran into her ex-boyfriend. Initially the man was pinned against a wall, according to law enforcement. The man reportedly pulled out his cell-phone and photographed the license plate attached to the SUV, according to police. Law enforcement claims the woman responded to the photograph by backing up a short distance, and then ramming the man a second time with the SUV.
The woman reportedly told police she had parked at the man's feet initially. She says the man began insulting her mother, according to law enforcement. She noticed the man was taking a photograph and allegedly ran into the man because she is afraid of her ex-boyfriend, according to police reports.
YouTube sales alleged in California marijuana sales case
Three Californians are facing marijuana and child endangerment charges in relation to an alleged illegal marijuana growing operation. One of the men reportedly is 17-years-old. The allegations allege the group was using the Internet to sell marijuana. The three were reportedly specifically arrested on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and child endangerment.
The three Porterville residents were arrested after raids of properties located in Porterville and California Hot Springs. Law enforcement claims the searches at the properties followed a two-month probe into allegations that the group of Californians was selling marijuana through YouTube.
Deputies with the Sheriff's tactical Enforcement Personnel unit in Tulare County reportedly made the arrests after allegedly locating indoor and outdoor grows of medical marijuana that law enforcement claims exceeded allowable amounts under California law.
Police arrest man in California art theft
Police arrested a man Wednesday in connection with allegations the man walked away from a San Francisco art gallery with a Picasso sketch, valued at roughly $275,000. The San Francisco District Attorney's Office reportedly has charged the man with several counts alleging California theft crime. The man faces charges of grand theft, receiving stolen property and second degree burglary.
Police claim the man walked into the Weinstein Gallery in San Francisco Tuesday. At around 11:40 a.m., police say the man wrestled a Picasso sketch from the wall and walked out of the gallery with the original artwork wrapped in paper.
The man reportedly hailed a Black and White Checker Cab and rode off, en route to the Palomar Hotel. Tuesday night San Francisco police seized a taxicab they believe the art theft suspect hailed after allegedly stealing the Picasso drawing, known as "Tête de femme." Police say the cab had a security video system. Law enforcement also interviewed the driver of the cab Tuesday night.
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