Written By: Paul J. Wallin, Senior Partner of Wallin & Klarich, A Law Corporation. If you have been convicted of a felony crime, you have options available to you. A guilty verdict does not necessarily have to be the final judgment. Many criminal convictions may...
The California Supreme Court recently resolved the issue of whether a single act resulting in two strike-able felony convictions can be used as two strikes. In People v. Vargas, 14 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7786, 2014 Daily Journal D.A.R. 9070, Darlene Vargas was sentenced...
The Supreme Court of the United States in Abramski v. U.S., 134 S.Ct. 2259 (2014) held that misrepresenting oneself as an actual firearms purchaser versus a “straw purchaser” was a material misrepresentation. Abramski was convicted of making a false statement that was...
Summarized beautifully in this blog: http://justsecurity.org/12219/scotus-cell-phone-searches-digital/
California Penal Code §1203.4a provides that an individual convicted of a misdemeanor, who is not granted probation and who is not serving a current sentence for any offense may withdraw his plea of guilty or nolo contendere for the misdemeanor after one year has...
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...
On April 10th the United States Sentencing Commission voted unanimously to amend and reduce the federal drug sentencing guidelines. The Commission estimates that approximately 70% of federal drug trafficking defendants would qualify for the change, which would result...
Last week, a federal jury in Manhattan found former SAC portfolio manager, Michael Steinberg, guilty on 5 insider trading charges related to trades he made in the shares of Dell and Nvidia. Steinberg was the highest-ranking employee at SAC Capital Advisors to stand...
The California Supreme Court affirmed a trial court decision that excluded the defendant's expert witness testimony regarding the reliability of breath test machines at trial. The court ruled as follows: "The trial court did not err in limiting Dr. Hlastala‟s...
In this case, the defendant pled guilty to wire fraud in connection with a real estate investment scheme. The parties reached an agreement on defendant's sentencing guidelines and the loss amount, taking into account that some of the losses were not due to defendant's...