The San Francisco District Attorney formally filed charges against the new sheriff in town, Ross Mirkarimi last week. The top cop faces three misdemeanor charges in conjunction with an incident that occurred on New Year’s Eve with his wife. At his swearing in ceremony, he brushed the incident off as a “family affair” and maintains he is innocent of all the charges.

The charges Mirkarimi faces include domestic violence battery, child endangerment, and dissuading a witness. He was booked and released on $35,000 bail from the jail he is in charge of. The judge also approved a protection order against Mirkarimi, forcing him to have no contact with his wife and child and barring him from returning to the family home.

The new sheriff refuses to step down and says he will fight the charges to the very end. His wife, at his swearing in, supported him and said “We are together and we are fighting. We are going to fight this.”

Evidence against Mirkarimi includes a video filmed by the neighbor of his wife explaining the incident and revealing bruises on her arm. Police have obtained the video, along with a photo and text messages that were sent in conjunction with the incident.

An elected sheriff can only be removed when convicted of a felony charge, something Mirkarimi is not facing. However, the Mayor has the authority to suspend him during the case, though he has not alluded to this being in the plans. He could also appoint a temporary caretaker while Mirkarimi is under suspension.

The problem with a potential suspension is that the decision would take the approval of 9 of the 11 supervisors serving on the Board of Supervisors, all but one of which served with Mirkarimi when he was a supervisor himself.

This sort of conflict is common when law enforcement is accused of domestic violence. And it’s part of the reason many women who are abused by police officers don’t come forward—they feel it will all be for naught.

According to this article from the San Francisco Gate, “women suffer domestic abuse in at least forty percent of police officer families.” This is markedly higher than the 25% experienced in the average American household.

Whether it’s the profession that attracts an abusive personality or if the profession turns well-minded men into more violent spouses, the numbers say cops are more likely to abuse than others.

It makes no difference whether you are a police officer or a cab driver, when you are accused of domestic violence, the whole world can crumble around you. It’s during tough times like this that you need the assistance of a skilled attorney. Contact our offices today if you are accused of a domestic violence offense.

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Ross Mirkarimi was sworn in as the 35^th sheriff of San Francisco this past weekend, despite allegations that he was involved in a domestic violence incident with his wife. Mirkarimi’s wife, Eliana Lopez, was by his side during the ceremony and said she had “no complaints” against her husband. The duo suggests the fact that this “misunderstanding” went public may have been a subversive effort to derail his quest for his new office, though they remain confident that things will work out.

The pair’s neighbor reported the potential domestic abuse situation about a week after speaking with Lopez. Photos that reportedly show Lopez’s bruised arms and text messages about the situation were turned over to authorities. Though it isn’t clear what happened, the case is in the hands of the district attorney’s office to see if charges are warranted. If Mirkarimi were to ever be convicted of a domestic violence offense, he would be ineligible to serve as sheriff.

The couple, as seen here in photos at the swearing in over the weekend, seemed to be all smiles. Mirkarimi said, “I am sorry that a cloud hangs over what should be a very special day…but you know what? Clouds break and the possibilities shine through.”

The new Sheriff denies ever being verbally or physically abusive to his wife.

Domestic violence cases are often hard for prosecutors to manage because the alleged victim sometimes changes their story and winds up showing support for the person that they initially accused of harming them. The close relationship of the alleged aggressor and their victim makes things tricky.

This makes things difficult for everyone involved, from the cops trying to conduct a fact-finding investigation, to the defendant who is accused of hurting someone he cares about.

But, the law in California is definitely designed to protect the victim in cases like this. The penalties are severe and the consequences can last for years. From a whole year of domestic violence counseling, to 40 hours of community service, and jail time—a domestic violence conviction can carry far more penalties than your typical misdemeanor or even felony case.

Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of a domestic violence case is the no contact order that’s often put in place while the case is still being investigated. Obviously, there isn’t such an order in Mirkarimi’s case, but these orders can make life extremely difficult.

Coping with charges like these and trying to decide how to best handle them is something that comes a bit easier when you have a criminal defense lawyer on your side. Contact our offices today to discuss the details of your case and how we might be able to help.

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At least 1,480 wrongful jailings have occurred at the L.A. County Jail over the last five years, something the Sheriff isn’t proud of. As a result, he has vowed to make significant changes including establishing a task force to look at the whys and the what can be dones.

The LA Times uncovered the many wrongful jailings in an investigation that focused on the already-troubled LA County Jail. Many of those who were jailed were ultimately held for weeks before the mistake was caught and they were freed.

Baca says he will establish a task force that will likely be led by his detectives chief, a patrol commander, and a jail captain. About the incarcerations, he said, “It’s a horrible reality of what is basically the imperfect nature of the criminal justice system. No one who is an innocent person should ever be tied in with the criminal justice system.”

The jail is already facing problems for deputy misconduct and inmate mistreatment and abuse.

But the errors that lead to the wrong person being jailed can’t only be blamed on jail personnel. There are many steps that a warrant must go through from the time it’s issued until it is served and the person is ultimately jailed.

Warrants often include a nine digit number that matches the fingerprints of the suspect. Arresting officers use the name as well as birth date and driver’s license number to check for warrants before bringing someone in a verifying their fingerprints. Sometimes, however, these checks and balances fail.

Some warrants are missing information. Some cops don’t check and recheck identity. And many of those who are jailed incorrectly are done so because the arrestee is brought in by an outside agency and those within the L.A. County system assume that agency took steps to ensure the correct identity.

Overall, such cases are rare. But any number of wrongful incarcerations is too many.

When you’re arrested on a warrant, you can almost see the police officer feeling smug about “catching the bad guy”. But when you aren’t the bad guy they are looking for, your cries often go unheeded. They assume you are just blowing smoke in an attempt to get out of trouble.

Even if you are named on the warrant and they do have probable cause that it was YOU who committed the offense in question, doesn’t automatically mean you will be found guilty of a crime and sentenced to prison time. You still have options.

If you have been arrested for a criminal offense or if you know you have an active warrant, contact our offices today for a consultation and to see how we can help.

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Over the past few years, numerous cameras were installed in downtown Los Angeles to help reduce crime. The city didn’t pay for these cameras; business owners and concerned members of the community did. And now, those who spent their money and those who supported the partnership are upset as the LAPD has admittedly not been using them at all.

The LAPD agreed to monitor and maintain the cameras if they were supplied by outside businesses. Unfortunately, they haven’t followed through on their end of the bargain. Many of the cameras are broken and some have not even been plugged in. Six cameras in Little Tokyo haven’t been wired to send signals to the monitoring bank at the police station. In other words, they are just for show.

A broken camera can be found above the corner where a 53 year old man was recently stabled and beaten to death by more than 6 attackers. No arrests have been made in the case, which occurred on Skid Row.

Estela Lopez, the director of the Central City East Association, says “It’s heartbreaking to see a network of cameras gifted to the LAPD sitting idle while perpetrators of violence get away with murder on our most dangerous streets.” Her organization, incidentally, donated 10 of the cameras at a total cost of about $200,000.

Officials with the LAPD admit they are in the wrong, that they have failed to live up to the expectations of the people of the city. They say part of the reason is that no one was trained on using the cameras and many have ended up broken by officers who were unsure of what they were doing.

Deputy Chief Jose Perez Jr. compares the issue to buying a car without an extended warranty and then trying to “make it work.” Police Commissioner Alan Skobin, however, says the issue is much bigger and says “We need to embrace technology, but it’s important that when the department promises something to the public that they follow through.”

Several years ago, the department faced similar criticism over a group of cameras in MacArthur Park. Those cameras have since been repaired. But the downtown cameras have not. Lopez says, “Frankly, I got tired of asking…it seems like at every turn there was an impediment to putting these cameras to the use for which they were intended.”

Whether or not such cameras prevent or merely move crime is a matter worthy of study, but if the police agreed to maintain these and paid nothing for them, it would seem this is another instance of the LAPD falling short of the public’s expectations.

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The general public cannot own assault rifles. It’s against the law. However, in California and several other states, this law does not apply if you are a law enforcement officer, prison guard, school police officer, or even a game warden. A new investigation, as reported by the Long Beach Press Telegram, shows that in the decade since lawmakers first made this law enforcement exception to the assault weapons law, officers have purchased more than 7,600 such weapons.

Federal authorities are now investigating the law’s contribution to potential illegal weapons sales by officers. After all, if they can lawfully get their hands on weapons the majority of us cannot, they could make a pretty penny by selling them on the black market.

Among the things that are off limits for us and okay for law enforcement are assault rifles, some handguns, and high capacity ammunition magazines. Which of these were purchased isn’t exactly known at this time.

Lawmakers are revisiting the law to see whether those guns purchased can only be used for law enforcement duties. “The idea is that these guys would be able to have these in the trunks of their police cars if they’re needed,” says one police commander.

For many departments, allowing officers to purchase these weapons allowed them to bolster their departmental arsenal when they couldn’t afford to outfit the cops with these weapons themselves.

Some departments have restrictions on when and where the weapons can be used and kept. Some even allow the weapons to be used in an officer’s “off-time” while most restrict the usage to only while on duty.

About 1,300 of the Los Angeles Police Department’s 10,000 officers have assault rifles. More than 500 were purchased by the officer themselves. This year, the LAPD accounted for 146 sales to officers, the highest of any department in the state.

With the militarization of police becoming a common topic of news stories, one has to wonder if allowing officer’s to purchase and possess assault rifles (which are otherwise illegal), is a good idea. Are there instances where an assault rifle could be warranted? Possibly, but the majority of officers who would need this type of weaponry are supplied it by the department. Normal patrol officers don’t often get into high-powered gun fights.

Police officers are civilians too. They should not have any rights above and beyond the rights of the people or it seems as if we are making an assumption that they are more responsible to handle such rights—an assumption that could be seriously flawed.

When you are charged with a crime or pulled over by the police, you don’t want the scales already tipped in their favor, though that’s often the way it seems. If you are facing criminal charges or have reason to believe you are under investigation for a crime, contact our offices today.

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The mentally ill are a tricky population for police to deal with. Without proper training, a cop’s actions can actually aggravate a situation rather than diffuse it. A new virtual roleplaying game is designed to help police learn better ways of working with the mentally ill, in order to avoid confrontations and potential tragedies.

The training tool offers interactive video simulations of a variety of scenarios and asks the police to respond appropriately. They may encounter a suicidal teen on social networks or confront a paranoid schizophrenic on their front porch. The officers react and the scenes change, operated by a trainer on a computer.

The new tool was developed in conjunction with the county’s mental health liaison Patrick Dwyer, who says, “We are going to save lives with this.”

Police are frequently involved with the mentally ill simply because many people who would have previously had access to community based programming are having to go without. Jails and prisons have become the new mental health facilities and cops are dealing with sometimes volatile people with whom they have no training.

Two officers in Fullerton, for example, are facing criminal charges for beating an unarmed homeless man to death. He was mentally ill. “Several” mentally ill people have been shot and killed by San Jose police in recent years. Encounters like this aren’t entirely rare, which makes this new training device all the more important. If it can help officers prepare for such encounters, it can reduce the likelihood of such tragic occurrences.

The Palo Alto Police Department is first in line for training with the new equipment. Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department is next and the San Jose police will likely follow. True success would be measured if each local agency used such a training program and then turned around and utilized the gained knowledge in their daily interactions.

Because there is no one kind of mental illness and because all people are different, interacting with someone who is mentally ill can be uneventful or volatile. You never know what you will get. Being prepared for this uncertainty can be difficult, particularly if there is no way of knowing that the person you are encountering is, in fact, suffering from mental illness.

About 10 to 15% of an officer’s time is spent dealing with the mentally ill, according to Dwyer. But only a fraction of an officer’s total training is dedicated to this particular group of people. Mental health advocates hope this changes as time goes on and this particular interactive training module could be a step in the right direction.

Being involved in the criminal justice system is difficult no matter your mindset. If you are mentally ill, it can be particularly troubling. If you’ve been charged with a criminal offense, you need the assistance of a criminal defense attorney. Contact our offices today to discuss the details of your case.

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By now you’ve heard of the incident at the University of California Davis, where one campus officer let loose pepper spray on a group of seated, peaceful protestors. You’ve either heard of it, seen the video, seen the spoof photos of the officer, or you’ve been living under a rock. The incident is now under official investigation, with the former Chief of the LAPD leading the way.

William J. Bratton now works as a chairman for the Kroll security consulting firm out of New York, according to the Los Angeles Times. This firm was hired by the University to investigate the incident and they are expected to issue their findings in a month.

The pepper spray fiasco happened as campus police attempted to break up the student gathering associated with the Occupy movement. At Occupy Davis a group of students was seated, posing no risk to the officers. You can see in the video, it appears as if they are warned before the officer walks back and forth, casually spraying the line of students in the face.

The incident was followed by calls for Chancellor Linda Katehi to resign her position. She has refused to step down and has said those officers were only to use such force as a last result. Two officers and the chief of the campus police have been placed on paid administrative leave as a result.

Another investigation, into all police policies regarding student protests throughout every UC campus is being conducted by UC General Counsel Charles Robinson and UC Berkeley Law School Dean Christopher Edley Jr. It’s obvious the University wants to squash any possibility that people will be able to say they didn’t do everything possible to prevent this from happening again.

The students who were pepper sprayed are having their medical bills covered by the University and charges against 10 people arrested at the scene have since been dropped. These charges were likely for misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges.

When interviewed about the case, Bratton was reluctant to rush to judgment. He said he hoped to rise to the request for “an outside, independent, investigation and try to ascertain exactly what happened.” He pointed to several incidents when serving as LAPD Chief that required him to handle similar controversial events.

The Occupy movements across the country have provided us with a glimpse into what really happens when mass protests arise in this country where the right to do so is guaranteed. And what we’ve found is that our Constitutional rights aren’t always easily exercised.

If you’ve been charged with a crime and believe you were acting within your rights, a criminal defense lawyer may be able to assist you. Contact our offices today for a consultation on your case.

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Taking pictures is not against the law. But if you are searched by the police for using your camera, you may be confused about what it is that you did wrong. The ACLU of Southern California has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for allegedly harassing photographers, using the guise of Homeland Security to detain, search, and otherwise pick on photographers.

According to the LA Times blog, the federal lawsuit says the Sheriff’s Department are singling out photographers under the auspice of Homeland Security, searching and questioning them when they are in public places taking photos of things like “Metro turnstiles, oil refineries, or near a Long Beach courthouse.”

The suit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of three different photographers who had been detained, searched, and ordered to stop photographing on six different occasions.

One of those photographers was taking photos of newly installed turnstiles when he was confronted by a deputy, pushed against a wall and searched. The deputy justified this action by saying “Al Qaeda would love to buy your pictures, so I want to know if you are in cahoots with Al Qaeda to sell these pictures to them for terrorist purposes.”

Another photographer was taking pictures for a story on Distracted Driving Awareness Month when he was surrounded by a group of deputies and frisked. The corner he was shooting on was across the street from the courthouse. He was eventually told the questioning was related to terrorism and Sheriff Lee Baca supported the deputies’ actions.

The third has been detained three times for taking photos of brightly lit oil refineries, once being held in a squad car for more than 45 minutes before being allowed to leave.

Since the tragic events of September 11, police across the country have been trained (though perhaps not to well) on detecting the actions of terrorist groups, in particular those that are scoping out future targets. They justify treating these people as suspects by saying their photographs could be providing intelligence to terrorist organizations. But when it comes down to it, these photographers have done absolutely nothing wrong.

You can’t be arrested for taking photos in public—that is, unless the police have asked you to stop for legitimate legal reasons and you fail to do so. One example could be if your photography puts you in the way of them executing their job to keep the peace. But even if that’s the case, simply stepping back could resolve the issue. In cases like this, when an officer is reaching for a reason to initiate an arrest, you could be charged with disorderly conduct.

Whether you were arrested for taking photos or for disobeying police orders, we may be able to help. Contact our offices today to discuss your case and your rights.

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The city of Oakland has served an eviction notice to protesters of the Occupy movement. The notice was posted on Thursday, stating that the park at Frank Ogawa Plaza must be cleared of all protesters by 10 p.m. Though it didn’t specify a date, the park was still occupied as of Friday.

Occupy Oakland is one of hundreds of protests taking place across the nation and across the world, where demonstrators peacefully (for the most part) protest the wealth gap, corporate greed, and many other hot-button issues that are highly relevant during these days. If you were only to read the local news accounts, this Occupy protest and others are nothing more than partying “hippies” with signage and loud speakers. But visiting one of the protests may change your mind.

The city says it’s a public health issue, that the protest camp has attracted rats, not to mention violence, alcohol, and drugs. “In recent days, camp conditions and occupants’ behavior have significantly deteriorated, and it is no longer manageable to maintain a public health and safety plan,” says the city’s notice.

Protesters don’t plan on leaving, chanting messages about holding the camp and resisting “by any means necessary.” While this doesn’t sound like the shouts of a peaceful protest, it could be that Occupy Oakland has actually deteriorated. “Things have changed dramatically this week, and many of the people who were here left because of the violence and fighting,” said one unemployed protester.

Many demonstrators of the Occupy movement, which has grown in cities across the country, have been rightfully critical of the media coverage. There seems to have been a push to paint the movement as a rag-tag group of young people who didn’t know exactly what they were protesting or what they wanted to achieve.

But, for the large part, protesters at these gatherings know exactly why they are there and just because there is no single, catchy tagline to sum up their litany of frustrations, they have been marginalized by the mainstream.

In many cases, where we are hearing about violence and filthy, illegal behaviors at these protests, they are stories of a select few—it’s the behaviors of a select few that have earned the entire collective a bad name.

In Oakland, and across the country, arrests at these gatherings are not unusual, though they are less common than some would think, considering the number of people turning out. Mostly these arrests are for violations of city ordinances or crimes like disorderly conduct.

If you’ve been arrested at an Occupy protest and have questions about your case, contact our offices today.

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The federal government is once again showing its disdain for the medical marijuana industry. This time federal prosecutors are threatening property owners with legal action if they don’t close down the dispensaries owned by their tenants. The letters went out last week and give the landowners 45 days to stop the sale of marijuana on their properties.

The federal government maintains that these locations are operating in violation of federal law. Indeed they are, dealing in a substance that is still classified as a Schedule I drug under federal law. (Schedule I drugs are the most addictive and also include heroin.)

California voters demanded medical marijuana legislation and while a patient using marijuana in California is within the state laws, the dispensary lies in a grey area (in regards to state law), and both are illegal under federal laws, creating a line in the sand between federal enforcement and California law.

The letters advised property owners that the dispensaries were in violation of federal law. “Your prompt attention to this matter is strongly advised. Please take the necessary steps to discontinue the sale and/or distribution of marijuana at the above-referenced location within 45 days of this letter.” The letter did not say what the consequences of failing to obey would be but it would, more than likely, involve prosecution.

Critics of the dispensaries say that they are targeting youth and recreational users rather than the ill patients the medical marijuana laws were designed to help. Supporters, on the other hand, say that is not so and that the medical marijuana industry has done far more to help California than to hurt it.

“Apparently the federal government would rather destroy an industry that’s employing tens of thousands of people and creating hundreds of millions of dollars in legal tax revenues to save face on a bankrupt policy that the American people don’t even support—namely denying the medical value of marijuana,” said California NORML director Dale Gieringer.

Nationwide, activists are pushing for the federal government to reclassify marijuana from the Schedule I designation. It’s this classification that drives the feds to investigate and enforce in spite of what the voters want.

The medical marijuana laws in California, and elsewhere, allow patients to grow their own pot and many are likely to revert to this or buying it on the black market if all of the dispensaries shut down. However, whether a drug dealer sells to a patient or a friend, that sale is still punishable under either federal or state law.

If you are facing drug charges, even those related to medical marijuana, contact one of our attorneys today to discuss your case.

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