A judge may order than medicine (often antipsychotic medication) be administered involuntarily (by force if necessary) when the individual refuses to take the medicine and the person lacks the capacity to make decisions regarding the medications and that he or she presents a danger to society. To read more about this situation, please click on the following link – When Can Judge Order Medicine be Given by Force?
What a Federal Court Does to Unexhausted State Claims
When a person files a “mixed” federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus that includes some exhausted claims and some unexhausted state court claims, the federal court must give the petitioner the choice of either amending the petition to proceed on only the exhausted claims or having the petition dismissed so that the petitioner may return to state court to exhaust all the state court claims. How does one filing a federal claim request this? What then happens? To find out more information on this situation, please click on the following link – What a Federal Court Does to Unexhausted State Claims
Cop Prosecuted for False Police Report (PC 118.1)
While some may say prosecuting a police officer for a false report is not done often enough, the following summary explains a 2018 incident and the 2021 conviction of two Los Angeles Sheriffs Department officers and how the Second Appellate District reinstated charges after the trial court judge dismissed the case. The Second District commented that Penal Code § 118.1 was enacted to deter exactly the type of “creative report writing” present in this case. To read more about this case, please click on the following link – Cop Prosecuted for False Police Report (PC 118.1)
What Does it Mean to Exhaust State Court Remedies?
Exhausting state court remedies means trying to get habeas relief at every level of the state court before filing in federal court. This means starting with, if one is in state prison, with filing a Form 602 claim in prison, usually twice, filing one’s petition or writ request in the county court, then appealing the ruling to the court of appeal, then appealing that ruling to the California Supreme Court. To read more about this, please click on the following link – What Does it Mean to Exhaust State Court Remedies?
Motion to Suppress on Laser Narcotics Identification
Evidence of a drug’s identity by police use of the TruNarc laser drug identifier device was inadmissible because the judge abused his discretion in not following the Kelly and Frye tests for admissibility of such novel scientific evidence. There was no evidence of the general reliability of the device in the relevant scientific community. To read more about this ruling, please click on the following link – Motion to Suppress on Laser Narcotics Identification
Who Can File a Federal Habeas Corpus Petition?
One must be “in custody,” including on parole, probation, on bail or released on one’s own recognizance, to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. There are many seemingly counterintuitive legal interpretations of what can be considered “in custody” as well that are not immediately obvious, so read this article, particularly for being in custody due to “continuing consequences” of a sentence or punishment – Who Can File a Federal Habeas Corpus Petition?
Death Row Challenge to Method of Execution Fails
Appeal by death row inmate denied in challenging lethal injection as cruel and unusual punishment and therefore unconstitutional because the inmate’s claims that the pentobarbital used in the injection was of unknown origin was safe. This was so because the prison had provided the inmate’s attorney with a Certificate of Analysis verifying that the pentobarbital in its possession complied with regulatory and quality standards and that it had a February 2025 expiration date. To read more about this appeal, please click on the following link – Death Row Challenge to Method of Execution Fails
What is a Post-Conviction Motion for DNA Testing?
After being convicted and being sent to prison (as compared to county jail for a misdemeanor), one can request DNA testing of biological evidence under Penal Code § 1417.9. The following article explains how to request post-conviction DNA testing under Penal Code § 1405(a) – What is a Post-Conviction Motion for DNA Testing?
Commutation Denied Because Proceedings Not Arbitrary
Commutation request of execution denied because the hearing on petitioner’s commutation request was not arbitrary or unfair, as petitioner claimed, and not a due process violation, specifically a prosecutor’s erroneous description of evidence was a harmless error because even if the error was not committed, the jury would have still found defendant guilty and he still would have been sentenced to death, particularly in light of defendant’s extensive criminal history. To read more about this ruling, please click on the following link – Commutation Denied Because Proceedings Not Arbitrary
What Must be Stated in a Writ of Mandate / Mandamus?
A petition for a writ of mandate, also called a petition for a writ of mandamus, must contain a minimum of at least seven things to properly assert a claim for relief. Such things are similar to what is required in a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. To read what these things are, please click on the following link to read a short article setting for these things – What Must be Stated in a Writ of Mandate / Mandamus?
