Yesterday, the California Supreme Court granted review on two cases involving the retroactivity of revised Penal Code section 4019. The lead case on the issue is People v. Brown (2010) 182 Cal.App.4th 1354 (S181963), in which the Third District had held that the...
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that a suspect's silence can be used against them in court—unless they speak up and explicitly say otherwise. In a 5-4 decision, the court determined that in order for people to invoke their Miranda rights—the right to a lawyer, to...
Petitioner Graham was sixteen when he committed armed burglary and another crime. As a result of a plea agreement, the trial court placed Graham on probation. Subsequently, the court found that Graham had violated the terms of his probation and revoked his probation,...
In April 2010, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) (collectively, “the Agencies”) released for public comment substantial proposed revisions to the Horizontal Merger Guidelines. These Guidelines...
The California 4th District Court of Appeal held that because Ecstasy contains methamphetamine, it qualifies as a controlled substance or an analog to a controlled substance for purposes of Health and Safety Code section 11377. In this case, Appellant was convicted of...
The California First Appellate District held that a CHP Officer who impounded a vehicle for safekeeping that belonged to a defendant who was arrested for DUI acted reasonable when searching the vehicle pursuant to an "inventory search." A large amount of cash and...
The California First Appellate District held that the brief exclusion of a defendant's family members from the courtroom during jury voire dire did not violate his constitutional right to a public trial. Mr. Bui was charged with multiple felonies, and had a jury...
In this case, the California Court of Appeal held that the case Melendez-Diaz did not alter the California rule that an in-court witness may rely on laboratory notes and reports, even if prepared by a different individual, to support the witness's expert opinion....
In United States v. Song Ja Cha, the Ninth Circuit held that a 26-hour seizure of a home before a search warrant was executed was unreasonable. As a result, the suppression of evidence was warranted. The case is: United States v. Song Ja Cha, __ F.3d __, 2010 WL...
Last week, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Maryland v. Shatzer. Justice Scalia wrote the opinion, which six other Justices joined in full. Justice Thomas concurred in part and concurred in the judgment; Justice Stevens concurred in the judgment. The Court held...