A felony pretrial hearing is a meeting in court involving the defendant, the criminal defense lawyer, the prosecutor, and the judge. The hearing takes place after the preliminary hearing, but before the jury trial. Sometimes the court holds several pretrial hearings before the case is set for jury trial. The following five things often take …
Personal injury cases generally take between 6 months and 3 years to settle. However, there is no “average” case. This makes it impossible to say what an “average” timeframe for settlement would be. While there are many factors, the most important are the victim’s eagerness to settle and the extent of his or her injuries. …
You can bring a lawsuit for wrongful termination when you have been fired or laid off from your job for an illegal or improper reason, such as discrimination or retaliation. Workers who have been wrongfully terminated have a limited time in which to bring their claim. This time period is set by each state’s statute …
There are five proven things you can do to help defend yourself against false accusations. These are: seek the help of a criminal defense attorney, conduct a pre-file investigation, gather evidence to support your side of the story, obtain evidence to impeach the accuser, and take a private polygraph test. There are also three important …
People arrested for driving under the influence in another state should contact a DUI defense attorney in that state for help. Most DUI cases will involve appearances for a DMV license suspension hearing and for criminal court proceedings. A defense lawyer can often make these appearances on your behalf and also help you fight a DUI …
In workers’ compensation law, catastrophic injury benefits are generally the same as total permanent disability benefits. Victims will usually have their medical care covered and will receive a portion of their wages, up to a certain amount. The details will depend on the law of the specific state. Some states may have laws that treat …
If you are facing an arrest warrant for a misdemeanor offense, and the state has already filed criminal charges against you, you can usually turn yourself in by contacting the court in charge of the matter and scheduling an arraignment. If the state has not filed criminal charges, you can turn yourself in by going …
Prosecutors typically have to have some type of evidence of impaired driving before they can file charges against a person for driving under the influence (DUI). This is because prosecutors can only secure a DUI conviction by showing evidence that a person drove or was in control of a motor vehicle while impaired or with …
Most state laws set forth three possible outcomes if a person violates his/her probation for the first time. These include a judge: issuing a warning to the probationer and reinstating probation under the person’s original terms, modifying the terms of the probation (often to make them harsher), or revoking probation and sending the probationer to …
While driving under the influence (DUI/DWI) is usually charged as a misdemeanor, most states will treat the crime as a felony offense under certain circumstances. The most common scenarios are when a driver has a third or fourth DUI conviction within seven to ten years of a prior conviction, or when a driver causes bodily …
There are three important things that you must do if falsely accused of a sex crime. These are: contact a criminal defense attorney, document the alleged incident, and understand the nature of the accusations. There are also three important things that you should not do if facing false allegations of a sex offense. These are: …
The DUI laws in most states say that driving under the influence of alcohol with a minor passenger in the car is a more serious crime than a simple DUI. This is because most jurisdictions impose sentencing enhancements for the offense and/or treat it as a form of aggravated DUI. Further, some states may also …
Generally, workers can legally work as many hours in a day as they choose to or as their employer requires. No federal or state law caps the number of hours in a workday for most workers. However, workers under 16 years old are not allowed to work longer than 8-hour days. Other occupations, such as …
Per Penal Code 1203.2, Rules for Probation Violations in California, the main penalty for a probation violation is that the judge can: revoke probation, and sentence the defendant to up to the maximum term of the offense for which he was committed. Depending on the facts of a case, a judge may also: revoke probation …
Under California criminal law, a statute of limitations (“SOL”) refers to the maximum time period for which a prosecutor can file criminal charges. The SOL in California for most misdemeanor cases is one year. One of the main reasons the law puts limits on when a criminal case gets filed is to preserve a sense …
Under Federal law, employers are encouraged to reimburse employees for uniforms or required clothes. But the law does not say that they must reimburse their employees for such costs. In addition, federal law states that employers, who require non-OSHA mandated uniforms, are not required to pay for them if they compensate their employees adequately. Federal …
California no longer has an “attractive nuisance” doctrine. This doctrine essentially makes property owners liable to injured children who have trespassed onto their property to explore something that could reasonably have induced them to trespass. Objects that might cause this trespassing include a: swimming pool, pond, or trampoline. While there are no longer special instructions …
Extradition is the process of arresting and returning a fugitive from one state to another state (or country). At an extradition hearing, a judge first determines whether the right person was arrested. Second, the transfer paperwork is reviewed for correctness. If the demand is proper, the fugitive from justice will be held for pickup by …
A rock may be considered a deadly weapon. Criminal laws generally say that an object is a deadly weapon if it can be used in a manner that makes it capable of producing death or great bodily injury. Given this definition, a “deadly weapon” may include such things as: rocks, bottles, and BB guns. Penal …
If your probation ends and you still owe restitution the debt does not go away. Under California Penal Code 1214, any victim restitution that remains unpaid when probation ends, is enforceable against the defendant as if it were a civil money judgment. Restitution still owing when probation ends is enforceable as a civil money judgment …
Yes. A judge can deny bail if an offense is punishable by death, if there is a parole hold, or if there is a public safety exception. The “public safety exception” allows preventive detention. It applies to certain classes of felonies and felony sexual assault offenses. If the charge is for any other offense, bail …
No. Law enforcement officers cannot lawfully search a hotel room without a search warrant UNLESS there is a valid exception that exists. Examples of exceptions are that there are exigent circumstances, that the police are in hot pursuit, that the search is consented to, or that the search is incident to a lawful arrest. The …
Return fraud is activity which can lead to the filing of theft or shoplifting charges in California. The most common return fraud schemes involve the return of stolen or altered merchandise for cash or store credit. These include: Receipt fraud—using forged, found, or altered receipts to return stolen items, Price switching—switching price tags or labels, …
Maybe. California courts have ruled that hands and feet are not considered “deadly weapons” under California’s assault with deadly weapons law, penal code 245(a)(1). However, kicking someone can still be considered assault with a deadly weapon if it is done with force likely to produce great bodily injury. Under Penal Code 245(a)(1), assault with a …
While the crimes of shoplifting and petty theft are similar, they are technically different offenses under California criminal law. The main difference between the two is that while shoplifting focuses on the act of entering a store with the intent to steal, petty theft focuses on the actual taking of property. Per California Penal Code …
