As of midnight yesterday, the U.S. government has been shut down indefinitely until Congress can come to an agreement on a budget. An agreement was not reached because Republicans will not approve a stop-gap measure unless ObamaCare is defunded, and Democrats refuse to block the money for the Affordable Care Act. Until one side relents or the two can come to a compromise,…
If you’ve been involved in acar accident, you need an attorney you can trust. Many people choose to handle the claims process on their own, but this can result in unfavorable results with settlements that are far lower than the victims deserve. Listed below are some qualities you want to be on the lookout for when searching for a lawyer to handle your…
Many nonviolent and low-leveldrug offenders will no longer have to fear mandatory minimum sentences, Attorney General Eric Holder announced yesterday. Mandatory minimums have been controversial since they were implemented in the 1980s as part of the “war on drugs.” This series of laws requires judges to sentence drug offenders to mandatory minimum periods of incarceration if caught with certain amounts of illegal drugs….
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) cybercrime is any type of criminal activity committed by means of the computer or internet. There are state and federal task forces exclusively focused on eradicated this type of crime. Cybercrimes are prosecuted harshly, which is why more people should be aware of what constitutes a cybercrime. Cybercrimes can take the form of scams. The…
Federal criminal law. This is a somewhat elusive term, but one that is important to understand. What isfederal criminal law and how does it differ from state and local criminal laws? Put simply, federal criminal codes are laws detailed in United States Code. These differ from civil law, and outline crimes against the federal government of the U.S. Each state in the country…
Despite her DNA evidence being found at the crime scene, a woman was acquitted formurdering an aspiring model inside her Santa Monica apartment. The DNA evidence was in multiple locations at the crime scene, in fact, such as the victim’s cellphone, the knob of the stove and on the victim’s neck. Prosecutors protested that the evidence was too much to ignore, and alleged…
A jury found a Compton teenager guilty of first degreemurder and lying in wait for the slaying of his girlfriend’s parents. The teenager had been accused of killing the couple, then driving to a party supply store with one of the victims still in the backseat of the vehicle. He was picking up party supplies for a Halloween party he planned to host…
In ourlast blog, we wrote of the Northridge kidnapping suspect’s capture in Mexico. This week, the man was formally read his charges – 37felony counts – to which he pleaded “not guilty.” Among some of those charges are accusations ofsexual assault andkidnapping. His 37 felony counts include: Kidnapping a victim under 14 Kidnapping to commit a crime First degreeburglary 34 sex offense counts…
Law enforcement recently reported that they have apprehended a man suspected ofkidnapping and assaulting a 10-year-old Northridge girl. The suspect was tracked down and arrested in Mexico at a Tijuana drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. Working together, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) had been concentrating their investigations near the California-Mexico border due to indicators that…
The state of California recently implemented a prison realignment plan for the purpose of remediating the problem of overcrowding in state prisons. Unfortunately, it has had an unforeseen side-effect. Counties across the state of California are now short on funds for community corrections performance grants. In previous years, counties were given hundreds of millions in order to fund these grants whereas this has…
