Criminal

Bail is a right in most states. Bail Reduction is an area of law that is handled by criminal defense attorneys.  In California bail is allowed for all crimes except capital murder.  Bail is accomplished by posting a bond with the Court that has jurisdiction over the particular case.  The bail bond is usually obtained by using a bail bond agency that will charge a fee, usually ten percent of the amount of t... Read More

The answer to this commonly asked question is no.  The law that regulates the crime of shoplifting in the state of california requires only that an item be taken with the intent to permanently deprive the store owner of his property.  This means that a person can be arrested inside a store as long as the required intent can be shown.  This is commonly done by using circumstantial evidence to prove the intent such as placing the item in a purse or secreting the property on the p... Read More

California has two statutes dealing with the offense of resisting arrest, Penal Code sections 69 and 148.  The latter is a straight misdemeanor and the former is known as a wobbler which means it can be filed as either a felony or a misdemeanor at the discretion of the local district attorney.  In order to be adjudicated guilty in Court of the criminal offense of Penal Code 148 the People of the State of Ca... Read More

California law makes it a crime to take an item of any value with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of said property.  The applicable law governing theft, both shoplifting and petty theft.  The good news is a petty theft or shoplifting lawyer can be a saving grace when someone in arrested for a crime of theft in California.  There is no difference between the offense of shoplifti... Read More

When a detention exceeds the boundaries of a permissible investigative stop, the detention becomes a de facto arrest requiring probable cause. Dunaway v. New York (1979) 442 U.S. 200, 212; see also the criminal case of People v. Gorrostieta (1993) 19 Cal App 4th 71, 82-83.  A Santa Clarita Criminal Attorney can file the appropriate motion to challenge an illegal arrest, the lawfulness of an arrest cannot be presu... Read More