Many people are looking forward to celebrating Cinco de Mayo this year. It is the first time in several years that the holiday falls on a Saturday. For some, this means they will be able to really enjoy the holiday without having to worry about going to work the next day.
The weekend celebration has police concerned about an increase in the number of individuals driving under the influence (DUI). Already, drunk driving is responsible for more than 30 percent of all fatal crashes. With the holiday weekend, police are planning measures to make sure that number isn't higher. Checkpoints will be established across the state throughout the weekend.
]]> Those individuals who didn't plan for a designated driver may be surprised by a new innovation. Motorcycle patrols that can easily ride up beside drivers to check for signs of intoxication will be on the streets.Despite the checkpoints, there are limits to what the police can do. Police are required to follow these guidelines:
Fighting a DUI charge often requires knowledge of the best ways to challenge DUI evidence, including how it was obtained. Even if the police or prosecutors make it seem like their case is iron clad, there are always defenses. Breath tests and field sobriety tests are not foolproof.
There are stiff penalties for DUIs in California. The best way to fight a DUI charge is not to get one in the first place. Arranging for a designated driver or planning your celebration so you won't have to drive is the best way to steer clear of trouble this holiday weekend.
www.reuters.com, "Cinco de Mayo Checkpoints to Pop Up Nationwide," Andrew Chow, 1 May 2012
]]>O'Connell also had the misfortunate of sharing a similar physical description with the gunman. Witnesses to French's shooting described the gunman as a tall and slender man with blond hair. O'Connell, a one-time Glendora High School football star, fit the bill.
O'Connell was ultimately convicted based on that eyewitness testimony. Now, 27 years later, that testimony fell into question after the prosecution's key witness recanted his identification. The witness told the judge that he felt pressure by police to finger O'Connell and confessed that he was not able to get a really good look at the gunman who murdered French.
The witness's about face followed other evidence that revealed that police may have improperly influenced their witnesses and failed to disclose records that implicated another suspect.
O'Connell's release follows a series of cases and studies that have called into question the reliability of eyewitness testimony. Developments in the DNA testing have resulted in the release of number of people previously convicted on murder charges based on eyewitness testimony.
Whether O'Connell will be retried is still up for determination. The district attorney is still reviewing the remaining evidence to determine whether there is enough to retry the case.
Source: www.latimes.com, "Convicted Murderer Who Denied Guilt is Freed After 27 Years," Jack Leonard, 22 April 2012
]]>Last week, Maria Magdalena Rocha, 43, of Riverside County turned herself in to authorities. She is accused of siphoning off funds from California's dwindling government coffers between 2006 and 2010.
]]> She has been accused of committing fraud against the state of California and its Employment Development Department, the state agency that administers unemployment and disability benefits, to the tune of almost $300,000.Two weeks ago federal grand jury indicted Rocha on 18 counts of mail fraud and 3 counts of aggravated identity theft. Federal mail fraud punishments can include a fine, up to 20 years in prison or both. Sentencing for identity theft is complex, but could potentially include a fine, prison time or both, depending on the circumstances.
According to the indictment, Rocha supposedly stole the identities of more than 50 people - family, friends and work colleagues - and filed more than 80 state disability claims and more than 10 fraudulent unemployment claims.
Source: CBS Los Angeles, "Woman, 43, Accused Of Ripping Off State For Nearly $300K In Disability Fraud," March 15, 2012
]]>The California Office of Traffic Safety has agreed to provide a $360,000 grant to create a specialized team that can both investigate and prosecute felony DUI charges with injuries as well as alcohol-related vehicular manslaughter cases.
The funding was needed to help the Southwest Riverside District Attorney's manage their caseload. Of the cases that have already been prosecuted, a number of them included individuals who had multiple DUI offenses in Riverside.
]]> California's penalties for DUI offenses are notoriously tough. There is a significant difference between the consequences for a first DUI offense and the second. By the third offense, individuals face serious prison time.The Lake Elsinore Wildomar Patch reported on several of the high-profile cases handled by the Riverside DA's office. Although most of the individuals covered had not been sentenced yet, the individuals who had been sentenced received between six and ten year prison sentences.
Several of the people arrested last year had what are known as enhanceable offenses. Sometimes known as aggravating factors, DUI enhancements in Riverside may include:
Individuals arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) with an enhanceable offense are likely to face much harsher penalties in California.
Source: www.lakeelsinore-wildomar.patch.com, "Local High Profile DUI Fatalities Attract Attention," Toni McAllister, 13 January 2012
]]>Both organizations have encouraged education and enforcement as a means of reducing the number of alcohol-impaired drivers on the roadways. There are indications that these measures are working. Nationally, drunk driving numbers are going down. Yet, drunk driving still remains a threat.
]]> Californians Struggle to Find Their Drinking LimitsDespite education efforts that have yielded a 14 percent decrease in the number of drunk driving related fatalities over the past year, 29 percent of all traffic deaths in California still stem from driving under the influence (DUI).
Assessing how much is too much is often difficult for people. It is easy for people to think they are okay to drive if they believe they are only buzzed. But research has shown that buzzed driving is often too much.
Individuals surprised to find themselves pulled over because they were suspected of drinking and driving should contact a Riverside DUI lawyer as soon as possible. A conviction for DUI will bring severe consequences, including fines, a suspended license and possibly even jail time.
Refusing a DUI Breathalyzer test brings its own problems. Because of California's implied consent law, anyone who refuses to have their blood alcohol content (BAC) tested will automatically face a minimum one year suspension of their driving privileges. In addition, insurance premiums frequently soar.
Alternative DUI Enforcement Measures in Riverside and Contra Costa Counties
Holiday DUI enforcement has traditionally meant sobriety checkpoints. But for a cash-strapped California, the state is looking for alternative measures. According to a Los Angeles Times article, law enforcement in Conta Costa County will be utilizing saturation patrols rather than sobriety checkpoints to catch suspected drunk drivers. Riverside County will be using a combination of sobriety checkpoints to target drunk drivers.
MADD and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) are both urging holiday revelers to buckle-up and use designated drivers this holiday season. People who have been drinking and are unsure whether they have had too much should err on the side of caution and call a family member, friend or taxi to get home safely.
Source: www.MADD.org, "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over This Holiday Season," 13 December 2011, MADD
]]>Anyone facing child molestation charges quickly realizes the importance of having an aggressive defense who will explore every possible angle. The attorneys at Greenberg and Greenberg bring their combined 40 years of experience to each case.
To craft the best defense for possible, they utilize the skills of a forensic expert. Together they scour the forensic evidence for inconsistencies.
]]> Every case is unique and sometimes it is not possible to get the charges dropped. When this happens, the team at Greenberg and Greenberg work towards getting the best possible settlement.Recently, the attorneys were able to get an outstanding result for a defendant accused of three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor. Under the California Penal Code, a person convicted of this type of child molestation could face three, six or eight years in prison. The defendant in this case was facing 12 years if convicted.
Greenberg and Greenberg were able to convince the prosecution to require the defendant to serve only 180 days - six months - and be on probation for five years. This kind of result is rare.
As former district attorneys, Greenberg and Greenberg were able to bring their experience with how these kinds of cases are prosecuted to help their client achieve a favorable result.
Source: www.leginfo.ca.gov, "California Penal Code"
]]>Strained capacities have led to an increase in fighting and deaths within the prisons. Prisoners were also denied sufficient mental health and medical care. As a result, the Supreme Court determined conditions within the state prisons violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
What is Sentencing Realignment?
In response to the mandate, the California legislature developed a sentencing realignment plan. The new plan will transfer all persons convicted of non-violent felonies and other non-serious crimes from prisons to local county jails.
]]> For offenders not already in the system, judges will have a new option when issuing their sentence. An Associated Press article reported that judges will now be able to offer offenders "split" or "hybrid" sentences. Under this new sentencing platform, offenders will serve only a portion of their sentence in county jails. The rest of the time will be spent under "mandatory supervision" by probation officers.Realignment will also bring about a change in supervision post-release for parolees. Instead of being placed on supervised by the state parole board, parolees will be monitored for three years after release by county probation agents.
Not all non-violent offenders will be eligible to serve their time in local county jails. Deputy Attorney General Darren Indermill told the Associated Press that offenders who have been convicted of a violent crime in the past will still be sent to state prison.
How Will Realignment Affect Los Angeles and Riverside Counties?
There are advantages and disadvantages to the new program. Some legal scholars see realignment as a step in the right direction that will help reduce offender recidivism rates. Jonathan Simon, a law professor at the University of California Berkeley, believe realignment will allow offenders to take advantage of important education and rehabilitation programs that the state prisons have been unable to provide. In addition, the local placement will make it easier for offenders to maintain family relationships and ties to the community at large that may help them be more successful when they get out.
The major disadvantage of the realignment plan will be the cost to the counties themselves. Although the state has allocated $6.4 billion to fund the realignment, with Riverside
County receiving $21.4 million and Los Angeles County receiving $124 million, the money is not expected to come close to meeting the actual cost of housing the offenders. With over a third of the state's prisoners coming from Los Angeles and Riverside County, the counties will undoubtedly have to develop a plan for addressing this additional strain on county resources.
Sources: www.latimes.com, "LA's Prison Realignment Opportunity," 12 October 2011, Jonathan Shapiro and www.google.com, "AP Exclusive: New Calif Law Broadly Defines Crimes," 4 October 2011, Don Thompson
]]>Kat Vardanian called her brother, Hovik Dzuryan, after receiving an offensive text message from her boyfriend, Gombert Yepremyan, and asked her brother to beat up her boyfriend. The indictment against Dzuryan alleges that he recruited two friends who arranged to meet Yepremyan at a North Hollywood Sears parking lot. Once there, one of Dzuryan's friends hit Yepremyan, and the other shot him in the back of the head. Dzuryan was not at the scene.
]]> Although Dzuryan's sister and the other two suspects had already been arrested, it took law enforcement almost two years to bring charges against Dzuryan. It is not known why police officers did not charge Dzuryan sooner. Both Dzuryan and his sister have pled not guilty.In California, a conspiracy charge requires three things:
•1. An agreement by two people
•2. The intention of achieving a result which is either illegal itself or is something illegal achieved through an illegal means
•3. Taking an overt action that would achieve that end
An interesting aspect to the overt action requirement of conspiracy charges is that it does not require the conspirator to be successful. The goal of law enforcement is to charge someone with conspiracy before a crime is committed. So, the overt action involved could be the act of obtaining a gun rather than using it to shoot somebody.
Conspiracy charges can be challenging because there is seldom a "smoking gun" where two people are caught making an agreement. Generally conspiracies are proved by looking at the general circumstances surrounding the crime and the conspirators behavior. The evidence is almost always circumstantial. Given the length of time it took prosecutors to charge Dzuryan, this is almost certainly the kind of evidence they will be using to try and convict him.
]]>The legislation was introduced in response to the outcry from civil rights advocates following the January California Supreme Court decision of People v. Diaz, which permitted law enforcement officers to troll through the contents of an arrestee's cell phone without a warrant. The opinion was criticized by dissenting judges for failing to address the differences between a cell phone, which holds vast amounts of data, and a packet of cigarettes or article of clothing, both of which have limited volumes and visible contents.
]]> Civil liberties groups and criminal defense lawyers believe the new law is necessary to address the privacy concerns created by modern technologies. The extensive amount of personal information contained within smart phones make them more analogous to computers, which require warrants before they can be searched.Despite objections from police, the new law is not expected to hamper law enforcement efforts. The standard exceptions to the warrant requirement still apply. Police will be able to search a cell phone without a warrant if it is necessary to prevent a crime from occurring, the destruction of evidence or an injury to someone.
The legislation has a few more stops before being enacted. Slight adjustments to the original bill require the measure to go back to the Senate before it goes to Governor Jerry Brown for final signature into law.
Source: sfgate.com, "California Assembly passes cell-phone privacy bill," Marisa Lagos, 23 August 2011
]]>A California woman has filed a lawsuit against the online dating website Match.com after claiming to be sexually assaulted by a man she met on the website. The woman claims that match.com failed to look into the background of the man before allowing him to use the dating website.
]]> Following the alleged attack, the woman conducted her own search over the Internet and found that the man had six convictions for sexual battery in Los Angeles County.Match.com has stated that it will begin checking members' names against the National Sex Offender Registry. However, Match.com reminds all users that these checks, while helpful, are not 100 percent fool proof, and that members should always use their best judgment and common sense when meeting with people that they meet online.
The man accused of the sexual assault pled not guilty to two felonies. He claims that the sexual conduct was mutual.
The lawsuit against Match.com was originally filed in state court, then removed to federal court. However, the federal court judge, questioning the woman's standing to bring a class-action lawsuit, has since remanded the case back to state court.
A conviction for a sexual crime can carry serious, life-long consequences. If you are accused of a sex crime, speak with an experienced criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.
]]>At Greenberg and Greenberg, we assist clients throughout Riverside, San Bernardino and the surrounding areas who have been arrested for drug crimes, DWI, sex crimes and other criminal offenses. As former prosecutors, we know how to quickly determine the next step in your criminal defense case.
Contact our office by e-mail or call us at 877-219-1788 to discuss your situation with an attorney.
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For more information on your specific case, please contact us by e-mail or call us at 877-219-1788 for more information.
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