Articles by Topic or Issue (Animal Cruelty / Attacks - Court)

Animal Cruelty / Attacks

1. Court of Appeals Clarifies Animal Cruelty Laws in Big Case

2. Dog Owner Is Criminally Liable for His Dog Biting Neighbor?

3. What Charges Will I Face If My Dog Bites a Neighbor?
4. What Are B.A.R.C. Online Animal Cruelty Courses?
   

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Arson

1. What Is Arson (Penal Code § 451 and § 452) and Its Defenses?

2. Arson of an Inhabited Structure Includes a Motor Home?

3. What Does It Mean to Be a Registered Arson Offender?

4. What Is Arson of a Structure or Forest Land (PC § 451(c))?
5. Penal Code § 1473(b) and False Evidence for Habeas
   

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Assault & Battery

1. What Is Assault (Penal Code § 240)? Defenses? Punishment?

2. What Is Battery? What Are the Defenses? Punishment?

3. Victim Must Know of Danger to Have Conviction for Assault

4. Use of BB Gun Can Be Assault with a Deadly Weapon

5. Street Racing As Assault with a Deadly Weapon (PC 245)?

6. Great Bodily Injury Enhancement for a Dislocated Finger?

7. What Is the Law on Self Defense? What Are the Limitations?

8. What Is Assault with a Deadly Weapon? Defenses? Punishment?
9. Is a Butter Knife a Deadly Weapon? No Says Supreme Court
10. Can a Car Key Be a Deadly Weapon under PC 245(a)(1)?
11. What Evidence Sufficiently Shows Intent to Cause GBI?
12. What is Assault with a Deadly Weapon Using a Car?
13. Reversal of Conviction for Battery on a Police Officer
14. Conviction for P.C. 245(a)(1) and (a)(4) in Same Case?
15. Is it Assault if Defendant Raises a Knife 21 Feet Away?
16. PC 245(a) / 243(d), Battery with Serious Bodily Injury
17. Is it Brandishing a Weapon if Defendant 15 Feet Away?
18. What is Penal Code 244, Assault with Caustic Chemicals
19. Battery by Gassing, 243.9: Preserving Evidence Duty?
20. Is Intent for Assault Proven if Man Points Loaded Gun?
    

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Bail

1. How Is Bail Set? What Factors Are Considered in Its Amount?

2. How Do I Get Bail Reduced? What Factors Are Considered?

3. Is Your Bail Too High? Can It Be Reduced and If so, How?

4. When Can a Judge Attach Conditions to Bail or Deny Bail?

5. Judge May Not Use Confidential Information to Increase Bail

6. Can Bail Bondsmen Solicit Bail by Meeting Someone in Custody?

7. What’s a Motion to Examine the Source of Bail (PC § 1275.1)?

8. I Need to Get a Bail Bond – What Information Helps?

9. Can I Get Bail While My Appeal of My Felony Is Pending?

10. If My Case Is a DA Reject, Do I Get My Bail Money Back?

11. What Is House Arrest with GPS or SCRAM Monitoring?

12. Will My Bail Go Lower After In re Kenneth Humphrey?
13. What Will California’s Elimination of Money Bail Do?
14. Under Humphrey, Judge Must View Bail Funds Truly Available
15. Will Sentences Improve with Elimination of Money Bail?
16. Why Elimination Bail Makes Defense Attorneys Critical
17. During Covid-19 Pandemic, Judges May Still Set Bail?
18. Example of Judge Denying Bail, No Abuse of Discretion
19. Conditioning Bail on Ability to Pay Is Unconstitutional
20. When Must a Noticed Bail Hearing be in Open Court?
21. What One Should Know About OR (Own Recognizance) Release
22. Post Humphrey Rules for Setting Bail, Indigency
23. May Bail Bond Agents Solicit Bail for Co-Arrestee?
24. Does the Humphrey Bail Analysis Apply to All Cases?
    

Bench Warrants

1. When Can the Police Serve a Bench Warrant That Is for Me?

2. So You Face a Bench Warrant?  What Should You Do Now?
3. Bench Warrant Recalls and the Right to a Speedy Trial
4. What Is Involved in a Bench Warrant Recall Hearing?
5. What Is Required and Involved in a 977(b) Appearance?
6. When May a Judge Issue a Bench Warrant (PC 978.5)?
   

Certificate of Rehabilitation / Pardon

1. Restoring the Right to Own a Firearm After Being Convicted

2. What Is a Certificate of Rehabilitation? How to Apply?

3. Waiting Period for Requesting Certificate of Rehabilitation

4. Certificate of Rehabilitation Improper - Recent Drug Offense

5. Lifetime Ban on Owning a Firearm Applies After Misdemeanor?

6. Is a Certificate of Rehabilitation Possible After 17(b)?

7. Certificate of Rehabilitation in CA for Michigan Sex Crime?

8. Certificate of Rehabilitation for Parolees & Probationers

Charge Levels (Felony, Misdemeanor, Infraction, Wobbler)

1. How Does an Infraction Differ from a Misdemeanor in CA?

2. What Is the Difference Between a Misdemeanor and a Felony?

3. When Can Judge Reduce a Felony to a Misdemeanor (PC § 17(b))?

4. What's a Wobbler? Can a Felony Be Changed to a Misdemeanor?

5. I Went to Court. No Case Was Filed Against Me. Celebrate?

6. Is the Prosecution Allowed to Add Charges During Trial?

7. Which County Will Prosecute - Crime Happened in 2 Counties?

8. Multiple Punishments for Single Act Violates Penal Code § 654

9. I Committed the Same Crime Several Times - Multiple Counts?

10. Will the DA Dismiss the Case If the Victim Will Not Testify?

11. Case Filed in CA Dismissed Because Acts Happened in Hawaii?

12. Multiple Criminal Cases? Can They Be Joined? Split Up?

13. Can I Reduce My Misdemeanor to an Infraction?  If so, How?

14. A Second Dismissal of a Felony Case?  Can We Celebrate?
15. What Facts Allow a Court to Deny 17(b)(3) Relief?
    

Child Abuse

1. What Is Child Abuse? The Defenses? The Punishment?

2. Conviction for Second Degree Murder by Child Neglect Upheld

3. Systematic Child Abuse Over Time Can Be Aggravated Mayhem

4. Propensity Evidence Admitted in Child Abuse Case
   

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Court (Trials, Hearings, Procedures)

1. What Should I Wear to Court? What Should I Bring to Court?

2. I Missed Court for a Traffic Ticket Trial: What Should I Do?

3. What Happens at an Arraignment and Why? Is It Like Trial?

4. Can DA Assert Facts Not in Evidence in Closing Argument?