Having a criminal record adversely impacts your life. Depending on the severity of the convictions, your criminal record can make it difficult for you to find housing, establish relationships and secure some jobs. The fact that you’re living in the technological age where anyone with internet access has the ability to locate your criminal history […]
For many of us, our dogs/cats are an important part of our family. We can’t imagine life without them. What you might not know is that if own a dog or cat in California, there are some spay/neuter rules you should be aware of. At some point, California lawmakers, many of whom are pet lovers […]
One of the great things about the way our justice system is set up is that everyone is entitled to legal representation. That means that no matter what your financial situation is, you don’t have to worry about navigating the criminal charges that have been filed against you by yourself. If you can afford a […]
It doesn’t matter if the prosecution or the defense thinks you’re a valuable witness, the process is the same for both sides. The first thing they will do is officially summon you to appear. This is done through a formal process in which a court representative hands you the information about how you’re required to […]
One of the biggest decisions you have to make after you’ve been charged with a crime is deciding if you should hire a private criminal defense attorney or if you should take advantage of a public defender. The correct answer is going to vary from one person to another. That being said, there are several […]
In 2016, registered California voters decided that they were in favor of legalized marijuana and voted yes to Proposition 64. A little over a year later, on January 1, 2018, it became legal for adults to enjoy marijuana throughout the state. What some people failed to realize is that even though it was not legal […]
When you stop and think about it, we spend a lot of time in parking lots. Most of us stroll through the parking lots without giving the practice a second thought. We’re simply walking to our car. The problem is that we tend to take parking lots for granted and seldom stop to think just […]
Shortly after you’ve been formally arrested and charged with a crime, you’ll have an arraignment. The arraignment is your first opportunity to tell a judge how you plead. At a California arraignment, there are three different ways you can plea: Guilty Not guilty No-contest Guilty A plea of guilty should be self-explanatory. When you tell […]
Going to jail isn’t any fun. It’s something everyone tries to avoid, which is why so many people hope that the judge handling their case will agree to house arrest rather than a jail sentence. Not everyone is eligible for house arrest in California, especially if the house arrest is being used instead of an […]
Most of us have been there at least once in our lives. Even though we were perfectly sober at the time, the police pulled us over for a seemingly silly reason. The reason the police do this is that they have been trained to recognize these relatively minor driving issues as signs that the driver […]
It seems like this is the time of year when your cell phone never stops ringing. Most of the calls likely come from friends and family members who either want to catch up or who are hoping to finalize holiday plans. Other calls are probably simply Robo callers that signify a sales call. The challenge […]
Most people worry about the possibility of their child being kidnapped from the park or shopping mall. While these things do happen, most kidnapping cases don’t involve strangers but are actually parental kidnappings. According to Safe, at Last, more than 90% of all reported kidnappings are the result of parental kidnapping. The U.S. Department of […]
It seems like the words aiding and abetting are constantly linked together, which makes most people assume that they go together. The truth is that while, legally speaking, aiding and abetting are quite similar, they aren’t the same thing and can be two separate charges. When you are charged with aiding a crime, the police […]
We all go through phases when we can’t help but wish we were someone else. This usually happens when we have a bad day and wish we’d made different life choices. Normally the mood passes and we get on with our life. The problem is that some people take things too far and will go […]
Drunk driving is always bad, but getting caught driving while under the influence of alcohol while using a friend’s car, things become even more complicated. If you were simply pulled over, the issues associated with the fact you were in a friend’s car may be minimal. The biggest headache is that the car will likely […]