A motion to suppress evidence certainly may be filed to suppress evidence obtained by police during a detention (as distinguished from an arrest). After all, during a detention, a suspect is not free to leave, so police searches are possible and some may even argue probable. To read a summary of a reported decision that allowed such a motion to suppress, click on the following link.
https://www.greghillassociates.com/motion-to-suppress-granted-after-unlawful-detention.html
Broadly is the answer to the rhetorical question posed in the title to this blog posting. To exemplify this, a man named Boatwright appealed his felony conspiracy conviction that he suffered for helping a friend package and cultivate marijuana. Penal Code § 32, conspiracy, is not listed under Prop 64, but the appellate court reduced his felony to a misdemeanor based on the underlying marijuana-related conduct being subject to Prop 64. To read more about this case, please click on the following link.
https://www.greghillassociates.com/is-prop-64-relief-viewed-by-courts-narrowly-or-broadly.html
The answer to the rhetorical question posed in the title is yes. Robbery is theft by force or
fear. However, how much force is required to commit robbery? As it turns out, very little is needed, especially if one impersonates a police office while committing theft. To read about a couple who impersonated police officers to steal from others, which the court found was robbery, please click on the following link.
https://www.greghillassociates.com/can-one-commit-robbery-if-the-victim-never-put-in-fear.html
As the reader of this blog post may know, Senate Bill 1391 changed California law to prohibit the transfer of cases involving 14 or 15-year-old defendants from juvenile court to adult court. Proposition 57, enacted about a year earlier, permitted the transfer of such juvenile cases from juvenile court to adult court, but only after a transfer hearing. Consequently, many have pondered whether SB 1391 is unconstitutional in light of Prop 57. What is the answer? To read one court’s analysis of this issue, please click on the following link.
https://www.greghillassociates.com/is-senate-bill-1391-unconstitutional-under-prop-57.html
There is a general policy that punishment from or legal system is cruel and unusual punishment when defendant is so mentally disabled that he or she cannot understand what is going on or how punishment is consequential to certain conduct. Therefore, there exists a state court diversion program from those who have severe cognitive development issues. To read about this program, please click on the following link.
https://www.greghillassociates.com/what-is-cognitive-development-disability-diversion.html
A violation of most Vehicle Code provisions is usually an infraction (DUI is a Vehicle Code
violation and it can be a misdemeanor or a felony), but an infraction can be charged as a
misdemeanor under certain conditions. What are those conditions that can “elevate” an offense otherwise an infraction to a misdemeanor? To read about this little-known provision, please click on the following link.
https://www.greghillassociates.com/when-can-a-vehicle-code-infraction-become-a-misdemeanor.html
Yes is the answer to the rhetorical question posed in the title to this blog posting. However, it is important that the timing of the discovery of the false testimony be such that the petition for a writ of habeas corpus relief is filed as soon as practicable. To read a short article about this type of situation and how the writ of habeas corpus must be brought, please click on the following link.
https://www.greghillassociates.com/can-false-testimony-support-habeas-corpus-relief.html
Senate Bill 1393, signed into law by then-governor Jerry Brown about a year ago, on September 30, 2018, grants discretion to judges to impose or strike the previously mandatory five-year prison sentence enhancement for anyone with a prior conviction for a serious felony. As with many types of resentencing requests and appeals, a certificate of probable cause is required before one can seek review of a sentence or decision. To read whether this is required in a petition under SB 1393 for resentencing, click on the following link.
https://www.greghillassociates.com/is-a-certificate-of-probable-cause-required-for-sb1393.html
It is often said that there are so many exceptions to the Fourth Amendment requirement of a warrant for any search of an area wherein one has a reasonable expectation of privacy that the Fourth Amendment is now meaningless. Cynics point to the search incident to an arrest exception, the exigency exception, the automobile exception, the inventory search exception and so on. However, what is the community caretaking warrant exception? To read about this exception to the Fourth Amendment, click on the following link.
https://www.greghillassociates.com/what-is-the-community-caretaking-warrant-exception.html
While paperwork provided by police to a driver arrested for DUI does state how one may restore one’s license to drive, many of our clients are not able to understand what it stated on the temporary license and then, when their license is suspended, what is stated on the notice of suspension. Indeed, the information provided is somewhat confusing. To clarify what must be done, and why, please click on the following link to read how one can get back one’s ability to drive after a DUI.
https://www.greghillassociates.com/how-do-i-get-my-drivers-license-back-after-a-dui.html
Greg Hill & Associates (310) 782-2500 