Last week the Supreme Court of California ruled on whether a defendant can bring an “unreasonable self-defense” claim based on his delusional mental state at the time of the murder. In People v. Elmore the Court refused to give the jury an instruction of voluntary...
Opinion by: Justice Thomas The United States Supreme Court decided in Alleyne v. United States (June 2013) that any facts that would increase the mandatory minimum sentence of a crime must be submitted to the jury, overruling Harris v. United States (2002). In...
Defendant's conviction for sale and possession of marijuana was reversed and remanded where the trial court erred in disallowing the defendant from offering his defense under the Medical Marijuana Program Act (MMPA), with respect to distribution to patients who...
Mayor Lee has remained firm in his initiative to implement a Stop-and-Frisk policy in San Francisco as a means of gun control, particularly in the wake of the movie theater mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado. The policy, which already exists in New York City,...
Conrad Murray – to be known forever as the man associated with the King of Pop’s untimely death. Despite being convicted by a jury of involuntary manslaughter, Dr. Murray may never see the inside of a state prison cell. He has the California Realignment Act of 2011...
Defendants who plead guilty or no contest may not challenge on appear the trial court's conclusion that a factual basis existed for a plea, according to the 6th Appellate District in California. The court held that a criminal defendant who pleads guilty or no contest...
In People v. Torres, the Second Appellate District determined the acts of bringing alcohol into a jail facility and possessing alcohol in a jail facility are two separate punishable crimes that each have its own objective. Alfonso Torres and Adan Barajas were two...
In People v. Canizalez, the Second Appellate District affirmed judgment on the convictions for Robert Canizalez and Martin Morones. On a busy city street, the two defendants engaged in a street drag race that ended in a collision with another car. The other car...
In U.S. v. Evanston, the Ninth Circuit Court vacated a district court’s judgment because it allowed attorneys on both sides to re-address arguments after the jury declared its second deadlock. Calvin Evanston was charged with assault on his live-in girlfriend, leaving...
The State of California Court of Appeals has reversed a decision by the trial court in the case People v. Powers. The original decision in January 2009 charged David Thomas Powers with one felony count of criminal threats against a Cold Stone Creamery employee along...