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California College Student Endures Extreme Isolation After Drug Arrest

Over-zealous law enforcement can take many forms. Arresting someone without cause is certainly one of them. But detaining someone and then forgetting for five days that the person was in detention?

It sounds outlandish, but that is what happened recently to a California college student named Daniel Chong.

Federal agents investigating allegations of drug crime picked up Chong for questioning. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) had raided a house where he was spending the night.

Chong was then kept in a holding cell for five days - without food or water and sometimes in nearly complete darkness.

The intense experience of unexpected, utter isolation was psychologically devastating for Daniel Chong, "I didn't stay sane," he told a reporter for NPR. "Eventually, by the second or third night . . I went completely insane and was just trying to get a grip on reality, on what's happening to me."

Chong's emotional condition was so dire that he thought about committing suicide by using his glasses to cut into his arm. He screamed and kicked the door, yet no one came.

Federal Marijuana Raids Put Pressure on California Dispensaries

Tension between the federal government and state or local governments is as old as the American republic itself. The tension is heightened when there is a local perception that federal agents are overreaching their authority.

California marijuana charges are a case in point. Two years ago, California seriously considered legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Though that measure was defeated, interest remains in legalization remains strong.

California law already allows marijuana to be used for medical purposes.

Federal law enforcement officials, however, continue to crack down on the California marijuana community. Last week, federal agents raided Oaksterdam University, a Bay Area school whose founder, Richard Lee, was a key supporter of the 2010 ballot measure seeking to legalize marijuana.

That measure received nearly half of the vote: 46 percent.

The agents blocked off the doors to the school in downtown Oakland and proceeded to remove numerous trash bags. A spokeswoman for the Internal Revenue Service declined to specify the contents of the bas. She said only that the agents were executing a search warrant.

Marijuana as Ingredient in New Cancer Drug Could Thicken the Pot Plot

The dangers of prescription drugs are much in the news today, amid speculation that the singer Whitney Houston's untimely death was linked to them.

No one denies that overuse of prescription drugs can lead to problems. It should be noted, however, that prescription drugs are legal substances. Unless some other offense is involved, merely possessing or using prescription drugs should not lead to charges of drug crime.

A complication may be coming soon, though, in the form of a prescription drug that contains the same primary psychoactive substance found in marijuana. A British company called GW Pharma is hoping to sell a mouth spray containing cannabis in the United States next year that could be used to treat cancer pain.

The drug being developed is called Savitex. It has already been approved for use in several countries, including Canada, for a different purpose: the relief of muscle spasms caused by complications of multiple sclerosis.

GW Pharma hopes to obtain approval from the Food and Drug Administration by the end of next year to market Savitex as a cancer-relief medicine.

California Medical Marijuana Laws and Local Restrictions

When it comes to medical marijuana, there is very large disconnect between what state laws says is legal and what local communities actually allow.

This gap is particularly acute in California. It is frequently an issue in Bay Area drug possession defense cases.

California has the most liberal laws on medical marijuana in the nation. But, according to a recent article in the Washington Post, 185 California cities and counties have banned marijuana dispensaries completely.

This phenomenon is also present in other states across the country where medical marijuana is legal. These include New Jersey, Main, Colorado, Oregon, and others.

Local government officials claim they are concerned about federal law, which they say still contains restrictions on marijuana. But there is also a prejudice against pot that is not necessarily grounded in reality.

For example, local officials may argue that medical marijuana dispensaries could attract crime and become fronts for drug-dealing, or distribute weed to people who have not qualified on the basis of medical need.

Rise in Arrest Rates Makes Expungement Matter to More and More People

The experience of being arrested for a suspected crime has become so common that it now includes nearly 1 of every 3 Americans.

The figure comes from a major research study led by Robert Brame, a criminal justice professor at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. The study found that 30.2 percent of 23-year-olds who participated in a national longitudinal study reported that they had been arrested for an offense that was not merely a traffic violation.

In our justice system, of course, arrest does not necessarily lead to conviction. But even an arrest record can have serious consequences for people going forward as they look for employment, housing, or credit.

That is why expungement or record sealing are so important, in California and across the country. This is because an old arrest record can hold someone back from getting a job or an apartment - even if the arrest was years ago. In fact, this can occur even if the arrest was erroneous, because digital technology is so relentless at preserving and allowing access to such a wide range of information.

California Bill on Vehicle Impoundment Affects Bay Area DUI Checkpoints

Checkpoints to crack down on drunk driving may sound good in theory. But in practice, in California, there is a common perception that checkpoints have often unduly targeted people in low-income areas and been used disproportionately against undocumented immigrants.

In particular, police have often been quick to impound vehicles of unlicensed drivers, even if the drivers are sober. Statistics from the state Office of Traffic Safety show that, at many checkpoints, the number of vehicles impounded has far exceeded the number of drunk driving arrests.

It wasn't only lawyers focusing on Bay Area DUI defense who were concerned about this. So were immigrant rights groups and many people in the general public. The practice of impoundment had become a cash cow for many local governments and tow companies benefitting from the fines and fees associated with it.

In October, Gov. Brown signed a bill passed by the legislature that is supposed to cut down on the number of cars that are impounded. The bill, AB 353, makes it against the law for police to seize vehicles at DWI checkpoints simply because the driver lacks a license.

California Realignment Law Raises Many Questions

When many Americans hear the word "realignment," they probably think of college football conferences. In California, however, realignment refers to a significant change in how the state and local governments will divide up the responsibility to incarcerate, supervise and rehabilitate people who commit certain types of crimes.

The California legislature passed the realignment law in April. Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill, and the law took effect this week.

The broad intent of the law is to shift the responsibility for monitoring and offering programming to lower-level offenders from the state to local governments. The overcrowded state prison system, which is under court order to shed 33,000 prisoners within two years, is supposed to receive only the more serious or violent offenders.

Those convicted of nonviolent offenses, such as theft or property crimes, are to be handled at the local level. To a great extent, this means they will be sent to county jails.

Report Shows That Trying California Juveniles in Adult Court Doesn't Reduce Crime

Only a decade ago, it was far less common than it is today for California juveniles to be tried as adults in the adult criminal justice system. But that was before California voters approved Proposition 21, which made it easier for juveniles to be tried in adult court.

Under Prop 21, California prosecutors can choose to try juveniles charged with a felony in the adult system, without any prior review by a judge. Before Prop 21 was passed, a judge had to sign off on this first, before this could happen.

How has this increased discretion for prosecutors worked out in practice? And what are the implications for California juvenile offenders? The Center for Juvenile and Criminal Justice addressed this issue in a recent report.

The report documented stark differences in the way California counties use the adult trial option. In San Francisco, the percentage of juveniles tried as adults is only 0.15 percent. In Ventura County, by contrast, the rate is 12.2 percent of juvenile offenders.

The statewide average for percentage of juveniles tried as adults for felonies is 2.5 percent. Santa Cruz County is slightly above that figure, at 3.1 percent, despite a strong reputation for innovation in juvenile justice programs.

Courts Consider California Law on Collection of DNA Evidence

DNA evidence is often associated with exoneration of death-row inmates who shouldn't have been convicted in the first place. But DNA evidence can conceivably apply to most any type of criminal charge - not only violent crimes.

A key question, however, is what rights law enforcement officers have to obtain that evidence from people. Under what circumstances can someone simply refuse to give a DNA sample? Conversely, are there circumstances under which someone must give that sample?

Someone who has no discernable connection to a crime, who is just walking down the street, does not have to give a DNA sample, even if a police officer asks for it. On the other end of the spectrum, a prison inmate who has already been convicted of a felony does not have the right to refuse to give such a sample.

So when, during the criminal justice process, does the right to refuse to give a DNA sample get called into question? After all, the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures still exists.

Errors in Breathalyzer Results Can Be Grounds for Fighting DUI Charges

Breathalyzer tests are far from infallible. In fact, they can be fraught with errors if the machine used to deliver them was defective or was not calibrated correctly.

In Ventura County, 300 people are challenging their drunk driving convictions on the grounds that the hand-held breathalyzer devices used to determine their blood-alcohol content delivered erroneous results.

The device in question is the Alco-Sensor V. Ventura County purchased 128 of the hand-held devices. The manufacturer later admitted that there was a design flaw, though it wasn't clear how many of the devices were affected by the flaw.

Law enforcement officers and prosecutors like to rely on breathalyzer evidence because it is quantifiable. Field sobriety tests administered by officers at the point of arrest are notoriously subjective. Breathalyzer readings seem more straightforward and reliable in comparison.

But that's only true if the machine is working properly. If the machine is defective, or the officer did not set the machine properly, breathalyzer readings can be utterly erroneous.

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