Invalid probation condition: curfew for DUI conviction
COA (1st Dist.) held that imposing a curfew as a condition of probation in a DUI case was unreasonable under Lent. I cannot emphasize enough that people should object to probation conditions under the...
View ArticleCall Jerry Brown (916) 445-2841 to urge him to sign CACJ bills
Jerry Brown has only two more days to sign two very important bills sponsored/co-sponsored by CACJ. Call his office at 916-445-2841 to urge him to sign the bills into law! AB 1909, authored by...
View ArticleYou can’t prove a drug is a drug by relying on a picture of a pill on a website
Seems like this would be obvious, but apparently not in Contra Costa County. An expert was allowed to testify that various pills were controlled substances when that opinion was based solely on a...
View ArticleCACJ’s bills passed/signed
Below are all the great CACJ sponsored/cosponsored crim law bills enacted this year (in addition to the bill making it a felony for prosecutors to withhold Brady): AB 813 (Gonzalez) adds section 1473.7...
View ArticleIAC to fail to file a motion to dismiss for pre-charge delay…in a homicide?!
Well this one comes as a shocker! Motions to dismiss for a violation of a speedy trial right by pre-charge delay are generally losers — ESPECIALLY if the issue is a delay in charging a homicide. Am I...
View ArticleOh, the good ole days. 1800s case law.
Came across this gem today while researching something totally unrelated. As someone who REGULARLY has typos in her work, I almost feel bad for the DA (but not really): conviction reversed because the...
View ArticleSVP Commitment reversed for insufficient evidence
Great opinion today from the 2nd Dist. on the sufficiency of the evidence that D suffered from a mental disorder that made him a danger to others by committing future sex crimes. D’s diagnosis was...
View ArticleJuveniles who were already resentenced from LWOP to Life can still petition...
Lovely opinion today. Juveniles were given LWOP. After Graham, they were resentenced to life with the possibility of parole. After 1170(d) was passed, which allows juveniles sentenced to LWOP to...
View ArticleSecond victory for juveniles with LWOP sentences today
And another thing. 2nd Dist. COA also held today that when a trial court is going to hold a post-Graham hearing on whether LWOP is appropriate for a juvenile convicted of homicide, they have to make...
View ArticleBattered homeless person syndrome = relevant evidence; 1st deg. murder...
Super interesting case where the trial court excluded a proposed defense expert who would testify about how homeless people are more likely to be victims of crime of violence. The testimony was...
View Articlewhat tha what? Dismissal of capital murder charges for VINDICTIVE PROSECUTION
Well I’ll be damned, first a reversal for IAC in failing to file a motion to dismiss for pre-charging delay (last week) and now a dismissal of several capital murder charges for vindictive prosecution....
View ArticleDear DA: No backsies!
Nice Supreme Court decision today: if a DA enters into a plea bargain and D later petitions for resentencing under Prop. 47, the DA is not allowed to take back the original plea bargain. E.g., here,...
View ArticleProp 64 resentencing
Check out Judge Couzen’s and Justice Bigelow’s memo on Prop. 64 marijuana resentencing (the new CA law which allows for resentencing for mj possession, sales, & transportation convictions, and...
View ArticleInsufficient evidence of kidnapping for rape. Weakest. Kidnap. Ever.
Wow. This dude got an LWOP enhancement for kidnapping for rape? REALLY?! What was the “kidnap”? Moving CW from one room in the apartment to another and he committed the crimes against her in both...
View ArticleInteresting competency procedural issue: conviction reversed
Court of Appeal reversed a conviction today on an issue the defendant did not initially raise on appeal. D claimed there was not sufficient evidence he was competent after the trial court ruled...
View ArticleMost scathing opinion ever?!
A little late blogging this…the COA issued a scathing opinion in the OC snitch scandal case. The AG argued the trial court erred in disqualifying the entire DA’s office from prosecuting the case....
View ArticleProp 66 stayed
If you don’t get email alerts from defender411@cpda.org you ought to. They just emailed that the Cal Supreme Court issued a stay (see below) on the implementation of Prop. 66–the proposition that...
View Articlenew laws
I was reading a cpda pdf on the new laws and a few caught my eye that I was previously unaware of. Of course, we all know (or should know) that marijuana is now legal with reduced penalties that apply...
View ArticleCOA: PRCS sux cause it lacks a “homeless” provision re reporting a residence
D found in violation of PRCS because he failed to report his address to probation even though the guy was homeless and had no residence. Reversed. COA said PRCS does not have any provision that governs...
View Articleanother life kidnapping sentence reversed for insuff evid of substantial...
LOVELY. Insufficient evidence of kidnapping for robbery where Ds moved victims 50ish feet in the same store they robbed. They did move them from the front of the store to the back but that was not...
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