Articles Tagged with California criminal defense attorney

Solitary confinement: while proponents claim it is the only way to control the most violent prisoners, the fact is that in the states that have abridged the use of solitary confinement, the rates of violence have really declined. 

Life in Solitary

American prisons are confining tens of thousands of inmates to years, and sometimes decades, in solitary confinement. Oftentimes, these prisoners receive subpar services to address mental health issues that brought them to prison in the first place, so those conditions become markedly worse with their time in solitary. And what groups are disproportionately represented in solitary confinement? Not surprisingly, people of color and trans individuals.

The Cost in Humanity

Long periods of isolation and forced idleness deprive prisoners of the basic human interactions and productive tasks that are needed to sustain mental health, healthy relationships, and pro-social thinking. In solitary confinement, people have no opportunity to use or develop important life skills, such as learning how to take turns, mediate differences, deal with frustrations, and find common ground. Instead, these prisoners’ potential for growth is overshadowed by depression, panic, paranoia, self-mutilation, and a disturbing rate of suicide.  These mental conditions are often side-by-side with worsening physical conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease.

After Prison Release

When inmates who have spent lengthy stays in solitary confinement are eventually released, they are at a statistically higher risk of a life of crime and substance abuse than their peers, making them at a higher risk of rearrest. 

California

Here in California, the governor has vetoed attempts to limit solitary confinement. Lawmakers attempted to create the following limits on the use of solitary:

• A limit of 15 consecutive days;
• A maximum of 45 days in a six-month time span;
• Limited to inmates between the ages of 26 and 60;
• Inappropriate for individuals with disabilities.

Despite saying no to these proposed restrictions, Governor Newsom has committed to working with the Department of Corrections to come up with acceptable reforms. Meanwhile, the state lags behind other states in recognizing the dangers of solitary confinement and implementing changes that would benefit both prisoners and society at large. Continue reading

Are you facing domestic violence charges even though you are the real victim of abuse? If so, you are looking at some serious legal penalties. If prosecutors have it backward, and the violence in your relationship is directed at you, proving otherwise could be a tough job. But oftentimes, when heterosexual couples have violent relationships, men are often assumed to be the aggressor. But is that always accurate? The truth is that men do wind up on the receiving end of family violence more often than some people realize. 

DV Charges

Spousal abuse is a crime, and if you have been wrongly accused, you should absolutely fight the charges. Otherwise, the consequences could be life-changing, including:

• Impacting your ability to secure employment;
• Destroying your right to own a gun;
• Paying substantial fines (as much as $6000 for a first offense);
• Going to jail (up to four years, depending on charges).

Bias Against Men in DV Cases

When we hear about domestic violence, women are usually thought of as the victims, which is accurate in many instances—but not always. As unlikely as it may sound, men are victims of DV, too. They often fear they will not be believed if they report it or try to get help. Unlike women, men know many people will think of them as pathetic and feeble, if not as a liar.  Especially when a man is physically larger and stronger than his intimate partner, some will find it difficult to believe he is being abused. Even so, men do experience violence from domestic partners with alarming frequency, and they often cannot get the help they need because of societal bias:

• There are hundreds of studies substantiating that when relationships are violent, women are equally likely to be the aggressors. Studies reveal that roughly 40% of reports of serious violence involving former or current partners are filed by men, usually involving an attack by women. 
• In spite of these facts, when police are called to intervene in a domestic dispute, they are more likely to arrest both individuals only if it involves same-sex couples. When police are called to cases involving heterosexual couples results in men being arrested.
• Women are much more successful than men in securing protective orders.
• Mock juries who witness DV scenarios are more likely to assign blame to men than to women when presented with violent scenarios, regardless of which partner is the perpetrator of that violence in the scenario.

Violence Against Men is Real

Any violence in a relationship is very serious. The Centers for Disease Control reports that between 10% and 15% of males surveyed say they have experienced serious violence at the hands of an intimate partner. What kind of violence are we talking about?

• Hair pulling;
• Punches and/or kicks;
• Being burned;
• Being slammed against a hard surface;
• Being struck with a heavy object;
• Suffocation and choking;
• Being beaten;
• Being threatened with a knife or gun.

Continue reading

Working closely with a defendant to develop the best defense possible requires skill, creativity, and a depth of knowledge found among the defense lawyers at Boertje & Associates. If you are facing criminal charges, we can provide the services of an experienced criminal defense attorney who understands the many options available to defendants. Some of the possibilities that could benefit you include the following: 

Showing a Jury That You are Innocent

The law states that every defendant is innocent until proven otherwise. Prosecutors must prove every element of the case to get a conviction. A good defense attorney will use testimony, documents, and other materials to try to convince a jury of your innocence.

Putting Forth an Affirmative Defense

Constructing an affirmative defense is one way to reduce legal consequences associated with your charges. That means we do not claim that you are innocent; instead, we show that there were mitigating circumstances—maybe self-defense, intoxication, or other factors that could decrease or even eliminate your criminal liability. 

Negotiating a Plea Bargain

This strategy — pleading to lesser charges in exchange for a lighter sentence — might be available depending on your history of arrests/convictions, the confidence a prosecutor has in their case, and the value of information you have to trade.  

 Challenging of Evidence

Strict rules around evidence mean that any deviations from standard protocols can be quite beneficial to a defendant. Your attorney may be able to point out glitches with the chain of custody, challenge the reliability or interpretation of forensics, or focus on contradictions related to witness testimony.

Using Expert Testimony

When we provide our own expert witnesses, it is a potent way to show a jury a different explanation of the evidence that might be presented by the prosecution. This can be fundamental to establishing a fresh narrative to explain events relative to the event in question.

Looking at Mitigated Sentences

Defendants who express remorse, accept responsibility for their situation, and show a clear desire to turn their lives around may be able to take advantage of sentencing options delivered by sympathetic judges. Judges generally have some leeway when it comes to sentencing. There are multiple alternatives to jail that might be considered, including one’s desire to rehabilitate through mental health or drug rehabilitation, for example.  

Citing the Statute of Limitations

Many crimes have very specific time frames during which they may be prosecuted. Once that window closes, the prosecution may be barred from moving forward with charges.  Continue reading

Because defendants are presumed innocent until proven otherwise, it makes sense that the Founders believed in giving the accused their day in court as quickly as possible. The  6th Amendment of the Constitution guarantees the right to a speedy trial. It is important for many reasons, not the least of which is that it quickly clears the names of innocent people in a court of law. But what constitutes a speedy trial? 

Defining Speedy

Under California law, a misdemeanor criminal case must be tried within 45 days of charges for individuals who are not being incarcerated and just 30 days for anyone in custody. Felony charges must be tried within 60 days. More specifically, formal charges are required within 15 days of an arrest, and misdemeanors are tried within 45 days of arraignment.  Felonies must be tried within 60 days of arraignment. If that fails to occur because the state’s case is not ready yet and they have failed to demonstrate good cause for a delay, the case may be dismissed with a Serna motion, the claim that a speedy trial was denied.

Benefits of a Speedy Trial

 The benefits of having a speedy trial are many:

• Defendants who have been wrongly accused are able to move on with their lives rather than be indeterminately burdened with unresolved charges.
• Locating witnesses to the event in question will be less challenging if the trial occurs soon after an alleged crime.
• Witnesses will likely remember their experiences more clearly.
• A speedy trial can reduce the time behind bars since the accused is often jailed while awaiting trial. 
• A speedy trial will reduce the stress and trauma for defendants.

Trial Delays

There are numerous reasons that any trial might be delayed, some legitimate, and others not so much:

• Information may be passed along to the prosecution from law enforcement slowly.
• The prosecution may be slow to disclose information to the defense.
• State labs may be slow due to backlogs, leading to delays in essential forensic testing.
• Complicated cases have a great deal of evidence that takes an extraordinary amount of time to review.
• The prosecution may be short-handed, and therefore need more time to prepare.
• Backlogged court dockets may make scheduling a timely court date a challenge. 
• In some situations, the prosecution may intentionally delay the case for their own reasons.

The Fight for a Speedy Trial

If a person’s right to a speedy trial is violated, an aggressive defense attorney might charge that the prosecution was sloppy and disordered, leading to unnecessary delays.  It may be possible to find evidence of intentional delays by the prosecution in an attempt to provide gain time to ferret out additional evidence against the defendant. Since the right to a speedy trial was largely intended to safeguard the presumption of innocence, any uncommon or problematic delays might be a reason to fight for a case dismissal. Continue reading

As an unsuspecting woman prepared her two daughters for school one February morning, she was shocked to find six armed police officers at her door. They requested she step outside and promptly arrested her for carjacking. The woman, compliant, was stunned.   

Is This for Real?

The woman had no idea what was happening or why they thought she was connected to a carjacking. At eight months pregnant, she was in no condition to pull off a carjacking and would never be compelled to participate in that kind of activity anyway. Even so, police handcuffed her and took her to jail. She spent 11 hours detained, locked in a holding cell, and being questioned relating to a crime she knew nothing about. Finally, she was released on a $100,000 bond. Then she went to a local hospital, where she was treated for dehydration. One long month later, the charges against her were dropped.

Why Was This Woman a Suspect?

The evidence leading to the woman’s arrest began with facial recognition technology (FRT). Videotape from the crime scene was run against a criminal mugshot database, which came up with the innocent suspect. Her face was there due to a 2015 arrest for driving under an expired driver’s license. Police included the woman’s photo in a photo lineup that was shown to the victim, who identified her as his assailant. And therein lies the problem: When a person appears similar to the perpetrator, facial recognition technology and humans can both make the same identification mistakes.

Can FRT Be Trusted?

There is general agreement that facial recognition technology is extremely accurate under model conditions. However, in most cases captured in video surveillance from things like convenience store security cameras or traffic cameras, conditions are appreciably less than ideal. Indirect angles, shadows, and aging have adverse effects on the reliability of FRT. One study found that the technology’s accuracy rate at sporting venues was between 36% and 87%. That is a substantially lower rate than in, for example, an airport, where security cameras are placed at boarding gates in well-lit, eye-level conditions. It brings into question how law enforcement can be so confident in FRT results.

Race and FRT

Another serious problem with this technology is the problem related to race and FRT. Research is clear: The rate of error is over a third higher for dark-skinned people than for light-skinned people, with black women experiencing the highest error rates when attempts to identify them were tested. It makes one wonder why law enforcement would rely on FRT at all. Continue reading