Criminal Law Blog

Johnny Manziel is barely 24 years old, but his name has been in the headlines for years. He won the Heisman Trophy at age 20 and was a first-round draft pick for the Browns in 2014, but was released a year later due in part to his numerous off-field run-ins with the law. His latest [...]

If you are a California resident, you no doubt have heard by now that California voters have legalized the recreational use and possession of small amounts of marijuana, effective immediately. And alcohol has of course been legal since the end of Prohibition. So why would a police officer ever have reason to search your car [...]

California law enforcement has been cracking down on intoxicated driving in recent years, and one commonly used tactic in doing so is through DUI checkpoints. Several thousand DUI checkpoints are set up each year in California, with well over 5,000 individuals being arrested for a DUI crime each year at those checkpoints. A single DUI [...]

If you are seeking a new job, career, license, or other position involving a background check, or you simply want to protect your reputation and legacy now and in the future, there are steps you can take to expunge a criminal record in California. Not all crimes can be expunged, and expungement can be a [...]

Criminal charges can effect some of the most important aspects of our lives and during the most vulnerable time.  Where we live, who we meet, and whether you get the job you really want.  It is difficult to describe just how serious a brief moment in the past can create anxiety in so many situations [...]

California offers one of the most gracious expungement programs in the country, and it is a principle of California state law to provide a second chance to people who have made mistakes in the past. But that does not mean that the process is necessarily simple, that any and all criminal records will be erased, [...]

DUI on the 4th of July A lot of images come to mind with our Day of Independence.  To name one of them: Drinking in celebration of our Freedom.  While most Americans can do this with moderation, others make the mistake in timing their decision to drive.  There isn't anything inherently evil about this.  Humans [...]

Photo By Charles Roberts from Plano, United States (Plano Police Motorcycle Officer) [CC BY 2.0 This post used to say "5 Things DUI Cops Won't Tell You", however, new trends and created new issue in the field of DUI law.  Despite law enforcement's efforts to curb impaired driving, trends related to drug-influenced driving [...]

Why Humans Drink & Get High Before undertaking this kind of topic, a few things need to be clarified.  The medical, treatment, and law enforcement communities can disagree about the different ranges between alcohol or drug "use," "abuse," and "addiction."  Not all people who have tried alcohol or drugs have "abused" them.  And not all [...]

When is a DUI a felony? How does a DUI Felony affect you?  What you can do about it? In California, a DUI is what is commonly referred to as a “wobbler”; this means it can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony. Generally, in order to be charged with a felony DUI [...]