Dec 11, 2019
What is a Credit Score?
A credit score is a numerical representation of your credit worthiness. There are three main credit reporting bureaus that calculate and report your credit score. Potential lenders, employers, landlords, and others who you authorized to obtain a credit check use your credit score to make decisions about whether to lend you money, rent an apartment to you, or offer you a job.
| Score |
Quality of Score |
| 800 – 850 |
Exceptional |
| 740 – 799 |
Very Good |
| 670 – 739 |
Good |
| 580 – 669 |
Fair |
| 300 – 579 |
Very Poor |
Your credit background check represents your borrowing and repayment history, debt to loan ratio, income, and net worth. The number of open accounts you have and their borrowing limits also play a role it also will determine whether you will be able to get an auto loan. Even if you have not used the available credit, lenders will factor in your ability to use open lines of credit.
How long you’ve had credit accounts, whether you pay on time or pay late, or miss payments affect your score. If you have a bankruptcy, lien, repossession, or eviction it will impact your score.
At its essence, the credit score from your credit background check is a shortcut used to determine your creditworthiness.
When Will You Get a Criminal Background Check?
A credit score and a criminal background check provide different information. Criminal background checks can be done without your permission by almost anyone who is interested except employers, potential employers, creditors or landlords, and insurance companies. Someone you’ve asked on a date can run a background check on you if they have your name and date of birth.
When an employer or other party with restricted access wants to run a background check, they must obtain your permission and disclose to you how it will be used. A credit score and background check are different reports. An employer cannot discriminate against you by running your background if they don’t run background checks on other employees.
Some states have implemented “ban-the-box” laws that prohibit potential employers from asking if you’ve been committed of a crime on the application. These laws do not prohibit background checks after you have been interviewed.
If an employer or other restricted party makes an adverse decision based on your background check, they must advise you of what was in the report. Or if an insurance company orders an investigative background check, which is one where they interview neighbors and acquaintances to learn about you, your habits, and your character, you have a right to a description of the report.
If you attempt to get a job in financial services or other occupations where you are placed in a position of trust, expect that a background check will be done. Many companies run background checks on employees who would go into customers’ homes because they can be held liable for crimes employees commit when their job gave them access to homes, businesses, and occupants who were victimized.
Insurance companies are prohibited from hiring felons unless an exception is made, which sometimes requires the state’s Commissioner of Insurance to grant an exception. Some states with this law do not have a procedure for obtaining an exception.
Together, your credit and background check provide information that determines the types of opportunities you’ll be offered.
Your criminal history, education, and other information that relates to your behavior or character, including the results of pre-employment drug tests, can be included in a background check.
Criminal cases are public records. Unlike your credit report, you do not have an expectation of privacy. However, there are restrictions on how the information in your background check can be used by potential employers, current employers, and lenders.
Will Criminal Background Affect Your Credit Score?
While your incarceration will affect your credit score if you have bills you are unable to pay while you are in jail or prison, if you are able to pay your bills while you are incarcerated, the credit score will not hint at what they’d find in your background check. When you hire the best criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles has to offer, your chances of a criminal conviction decline.
Oct 22, 2019
What Is A Warrant?
The word “warrant” has been around for more than 600 years. It is included in the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution where the requirement for probable cause is set forth to protect citizens from unwarranted searches and seizures. As early as the 14th Century, a warrant referred to being granted permission from a superior that gave the person executing the warrant protection from blame or responsibility for the authorized actions. This definition adequately describes what a warrant means today.
The various types of warrants are written documentation that a law enforcement officer has the authority to do something that is a protected act. For example, in the United States, random searches of our homes and bodies are not allowed without probable cause. Law enforcement officers can only act without a warrant when someone is caught in the act of committing a crime or when evidence of a crime is in full view.
Different Types of Warrants
Three types of warrants are issued in California including a search warrant, arrest warrant, and bench warrant. All types of warrants require probable cause before they can be issued. Probable cause is a reasonable belief that the circumstances are as they are being presented to the judge by the DA, law enforcement, or other officials who are requesting the warrant.
Different types of warrants are used based on what is being authorized. The purpose of having a judge sign off on different kinds of warrants is to insert someone who is neutral into the decision-making process and to ensure that the search or arrest is lawful.
If the warrant authorizes a search, it is generally executed quickly. If an arrest warrant is issued for a serious crime, law enforcement will actively search for the person.
What is a Search Warrant?
Law enforcement can’t search you, your car, your home, or your business without a warrant unless you grant permission, or the search is incidental to your arrest. Only two types of warrants put you at risk of immediate arrest although a search warrant can lead to an arrest, the outcome depends on what is found during the search.
A search warrant can be issued for a variety of reasons that involve looking for evidence of a crime including possession of child pornography, stolen property, property that was used while committing a felony, and property that is evidence of a crime, or of who committed the crime, including the weapon, getaway vehicle, mask or wig, and other evidence.
They may also search for a property that is intended to be used to commit a crime. Special rules apply to property held by special classes of people including clergy, psychotherapists, attorneys, doctors to protect confidentiality and privacy requirements applicable to those occupations.
The prosecutor’s office or law enforcement requests the search warrant, but a judge or judicial officer must issue it.
Even with a valid search warrant, there are some complexities to the law that a Los Angeles warrant attorney could use to have a search that violates the rules thrown out.
What Does an Arrest Warrant Mean?
An arrest warrant authorizes law enforcement to place you under arrest because you are suspected of committing a crime. A grand jury may have reviewed the evidence and decided there is probable cause to arrest you.
It is uncommon for the person to know an arrest warrant has been issued before they are arrested. When the arrest warrant is issued, law enforcement will look for you and arrest you when they find you, whether that is at home, work, or another place. If you have minor children in your custody and no other adults are present to take care of the children, your children will be taken to Child Protective Services.
If the crime is rather minor, a letter demanding you to appear at a certain date and time may be sent instead of using law enforcement resources to hunt you down and arrest you.
What Is a Bench Warrant?
Although being the subject of all types of warrants is not desirable, a bench warrant is the best of the bunch. Generally, bench warrants are issued when someone fails to pay parking fines or appears in traffic court, commits a misdemeanor, or misses a court date including when you are subpoenaed to testify.
Once arrested, bail will be set and if you can’t come up with the bail, you’ll be held in custody until your court date. Bench warrants can be issued in civil and criminal cases.
How an Attorney Can Help?
An attorney may be able to help you with all types of warrants. There are specific rules that must be followed when the warrant is issued and others that relate to how the warrant is executed. Flaws in any step of the process can cause the warrant to fail.
If the search is deemed unlawful, the fruits of the search including evidence of your guilt can be ruled inadmissible. If statements that led to the issuance of the warrant were false, the warrant can be questioned and potentially quashed.
If you are arrested or a search warrant is issued for your property, you should immediately contact an experienced attorney to assist you.
Sep 20, 2019
Are you wondering how to erase old cannabis convictions? Now that recreational marijuana use is legal in California, individuals who were convicted in the past who want to clear marijuana charges are in luck if they don’t have convictions for serious crimes. Keep reading to learn more about the requirements to expunge records for marijuana and some other minor convictions.
Did California Expunge Marijuana Convictions?
A ballot initiative, Proposition 64, that was voted on in the November presidential election in 2016 legalized the adult recreational use of marijuana throughout California and established taxes on the billion-dollar industry.
What Does Marijuana Legalization Change?
Proposition 64 made marijuana use legal in California which ended adult arrests for legal marijuana use. But what about those who were previously convicted of a crime involving marijuana that would be legal today?
Prop. 64 allowed District Attorney to dismiss, seal, or redesignate past marijuana convictions and provide relief to hundreds of thousands of people convicted of a misdemeanor or felony for something that is now legal in California. Despite this positive change in the law, the future didn’t look that rosy for those whose past convictions have impaired their life because some prosecutors didn’t plan to devote resources to the task of going through past convictions to identify individuals who were eligible.
With up to 40,000 eligible convictions in a single county, that’s understandable because the process would have required more labor than they have available. Requesting the charges be expunged was an expensive proposition for many who are shackled with past marijuana convictions.
California County Prosecutors Erase Old Marijuana Convictions
The latest California cannabis news is more positive. A nonprofit organization out of San Francisco, Code for America, developed a program called Clear my Record that can search up to 10,000 records a minute to locate eligible marijuana convictions and is making the program available at no cost to all 58 counties to ease the labor-intensive task of identifying the appropriate records.
In addition, Assembly Bill 1793 provides greater uniformity in the way each county’s District Attorney will deal with retroactively clearing marijuana convictions. Although a prosecutor can choose to fight against overturning specific convictions, AB 1793 requires them to notify the public defender’s office and the court of any convictions for which they plan to fight against sentence reductions or expungements by July 1, 2020.
This is good news for hundreds of thousands of Californians whose lives have been hampered by marijuana convictions. Those past convictions, especially felonies, made it difficult or impossible to work in some industries, for companies with Federal contracts and for the Federal government. A criminal conviction can make it difficult to rent a home and impossible to obtain a student loan. Some people have been convicted for life without parole due to California’s 3 strikes law as the result of marijuana-related crimes.
The war on drugs had a disparate effect on people of color and those with low incomes who tended to receive harsher charges and sentences than white people and those who had the resources to fight the charges. Although the past disruption to their lives from this treatment can’t be erased, reducing the conviction or sealing the record can help them build a better future.
Each conviction can be handled differently. They can be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, dismissed, or sealed. Possession with the intent to sell was a felony that is eligible to be reduced to a misdemeanor under the new law. Automation is speeding up the process and reducing the cost for most people with a prior conviction related to marijuana.
What is the Clear My Records Program?
The Clear My Records Program helps expunge records for eligible individuals so they don’t miss out on the opportunity to clear marijuana charges that may be interfering with their quality of life.
There are important benefits to individuals who qualify. If the only convictions they have been expunged, the ability to qualify for a variety of benefits will open up for them. These benefits can include student loan eligibility, the ability to cross the border into Canada or get visas for travel to many countries, and the possibility to restore their gun rights.
How Can I Have My Old Marijuana Convictions Erased?
One of four things can happen to old marijuana convictions:
- If the offense is no longer a crime, the case can be dismissed with all arrest and court records sealed.
- If the offense is now a misdemeanor instead of a felony, the conviction can be reduced to a misdemeanor.
- If the offense was a misdemeanor, it will be reduced to an infraction.
- Nothing, if one of the exceptions applies to you. The exceptions include prior convictions of serious and violent crimes such as rape, child molestation, identity theft, or a crime that makes you a registered sex offender.
Additional outcomes may include:
- If you are currently incarcerated, a sentence reduction may result in your release.
- If you are on probation, it may be terminated.
The process can be simple or complicated depending upon whether there was more than one conviction, what the conviction was, and where the conviction occurred.
The process requires you to provide a reclassification packet with copies of your criminal record to the DA’s office and the Superior Court in each county where you were convicted. Counties may impose additional requirements such as requiring you to appear in person when you file the reclassification packet, additional paperwork, or a hearing.
Prop. 47 also provides relief for some other crimes by reclassifying the financial cut-off for felonies to over $950 for crimes including shoplifting, forgery, and receiving stolen property which makes such crimes eligible for reclassification to misdemeanors.
Which Convictions Can Be Dismissed and Sealed?
Health and safety code violations §11361.1(a)(1), § 11362.1(a)(2), 11362.1(a)(3), 11362.1(a)(4), 11357(b)(2), and 11362.1(a)(5).
These involve:
- 28.5 grams or less of marijuana for personal use and gifts
- Transfer to other adults of 4 grams or less of concentrated cannabis
- Smoking cannabis
- Crimes involving the use of, gifting of, or sale of accessories
- Growing and the harvest of six or fewer living marijuana plants
What Felonies Cannot be Expunged in California?
Health and Safety Codes §11357(b)(2), §11358(c), § 11359(b), and §11360(a)(2) are eligible unless the exceptions noted above apply, or the offense involved a minor or violated specified environmental laws during the commission of the crime that makes it punishable under Penal Code, §1170(h).
Eligible convictions include:
- Possession, giving away, or transport of more than 28.5 grams of marijuana or 4 grams of concentrated cannabis
- Planting, cultivating, harvesting, drying, or processing of more than six marijuana plants
- Possession with the intent to sell
Do You Need an Attorney?
While it is possible to handle it yourself, preparing the reclassification packet can be complicated, especially if there is more than one clear-cut conviction in more than one county or there are other convictions. An attorney can also speed up the process as local DAs don’t have to decide which petitions to challenge until July of 2020.
If problems occur or your petition is denied, an attorney can help with the hearing.
Aug 13, 2019
What is the Legal BAC for Someone Under 21?
Young drivers can be charged with numerous types of underage DUIs in California including charges for:
And enhanced penalties for:
- 04% BAC if operating a vehicle for hires such as a Lyft or Uber driver
- 05% BAC
- Adult DUI, .08% BAC
It doesn’t matter if alcohol is the result of drinking alcohol or from cold medicines that contain alcohol. In addition to a DUI charge for blood alcohol content (BAC) above the limits noted above, legal and illegal drugs that impair a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle safely including cold medicines, pain killers, marijuana, and street drugs can result in DUI penalties.
What is a “Zero Tolerance” DUI law?
Anyone under the age of 21 who is discovered driving while intoxicated is subject to California’s zero-tolerance law for underage drinkers. This law says that a blood alcohol reading of 0.01% or higher is treated as a traffic infraction and punished with a suspension of a person’s driver’s license for one year.
The blood alcohol level is typically measured at the time of the stop using a breathalyzer or other similar device. Note that alcohol from any source, including medication like cough syrup, is subject to this law, and if the driver refuses to submit to this testing, he/she is subject to an extension of driver’s license suspension of up to three years.
However, just like adult DUI license suspensions, the driver has the right to challenge the license suspension in front of the DMV, or seek restricted driving privileges if the challenge is unsuccessful.
Underage Drinking with a BAC of 0.05% or Higher
In addition to the zero-tolerance law for underage intoxicated driving, California has another law that elevates the penalties for underage drivers with a blood alcohol level of 0.05% or higher. This reading is usually confirmed by an additional test at the police station.
This violation is still not considered a misdemeanor but does punish the driver with a one-year license suspension, a $100 fine, and a mandatory alcohol education program of three months or more. It is important to mention that any driver under the age of 21 that registers a blood alcohol level of 0.08% or more is considered legally impaired, and will be charged under the standard adult DUI offense laws.
Possessing Alcohol While Under the Age of 21
Finally, if an underage driver knowingly operates a vehicle that contains alcohol he/she could face charges for a misdemeanor offense unless the driver is accompanied by a parent, adult relative, or adult designated by the parent.
In addition, if the driver is not accompanied by an adult there is still a defense to this crime if the driver was in the process of following a parent’s instructions on transporting/delivering the alcohol.
Because this is a criminal offense, the possible penalties include impoundment of the vehicle for up to 30 days if it is registered in the name of the underage driver, a $1,000 fine, and a one-year suspension of the driver’s license.
What are the Penalties for an Underage DUI?
The penalties for underage DUI vary by the blood alcohol level, whether you submit to a chemical test when you are stopped, prior convictions, whether there are minors under age 14 in the vehicle being operated by an impaired underage driver, whether or not there is an accident, and if there is an accident, the extent of the injuries.
If the underage driver refuses to submit to a chemical BAC test, there is an automatic 1-year suspension of the driver’s license whether or not the arrest results in an under 21 DUI conviction. If the driver is an adult (age 18 – 20) and has a BAC of .05%, they will generally be required to attend a mandatory alcohol education program.
When injuries are involved, the driver may be charged with a misdemeanor or felony, at the prosecutor’s discretion. Injuries can lead to prison time that is tied to the extent of the injuries. In other words, the more severe the injuries caused by the impaired driver are, the longer the prison sentence is likely to be.
Getting an underage DUI in California when you have a prior conviction will lead to a 2-year revocation of your driver’s license.
An under 21 DUI that exceeds the legal limit for an adult DUI (.08% BAC) has stiffer penalties which can include 3 – 5 years of misdemeanor probation, fines, mandatory drug or alcohol education programs, and may include jail time.
When you refuse a lawful request for a chemical test to determine your blood alcohol level, the DMV can suspend or revoke your license regardless of the outcome of your DUI charge and you may be given enhanced penalties if you are convicted.
How Many People are Killed by Drunk Drivers?
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a government agency that tracks statistics related to death and injury:
- The risk that an underage driver between the ages of 16 – 20 will die in a car accident is 17 times higher when their BAC is .08% than it is when they are sober. That’s a sobering statistic, especially when added to the three times greater risk a teen driver has of dying in an automobile accident even when they are sober.
- One out of five teenagers who are involved in a fatal accident drank alcohol before the crash.
- Every day, six teenagers’ lives are cut short because they die from injuries sustained during a motor vehicle accident. Many of these deaths were preventable. Not drinking and driving reduce the risk of premature death.
What Happens if You Get a DUI in California under 21?
If you are arrested, you should use your best manners. Be polite. Do your best to remain calm. Use deep breathing exercises to help yourself calm down. Follow all the officer’s instructions. Refusing to follow instructions makes things worse for you and may increase the charges against you.
Do not admit to anything. In fact, say as little as possible. Don’t volunteer information. Provide the officer with your license, proof of insurance, and vehicle registration. If they ask you questions, tell them you need to talk to your lawyer before you answer.
However, as an underage driver, refusing to submit to a BAC test will result in automatic penalties. You can, however, refuse field sobriety tests without penalties. Pay attention to what is said, the order it is said, and specific words. For example, if the officer tells you that you may lose your license for a year if you refuse to take the BAC instead of you will lose your license, it can make a difference in court.
If you are arrested, you’ll want the best criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles to represent you so contact us as soon as possible. You have a very limited time to request a hearing (10 days).
Finally, when it is all over if you qualify, you should look into having your DUI expunged from your record as a DUI in California will show up on background checks employers and landlords conduct in the future if it is not expunged.
Jul 29, 2019
What is a Diversion Program in California?
On July 1, the new budget was active and allowed for $5 million towards funding a new program that allows victims of crimes to confront their offenders. The money was used to fund the program for 5 years and it will allow offenders of any age to participate, not just those who are juvenile which has traditionally been the case with this type of program.
The program pairs victims and offenders before the conviction occurs. The benefit for offenders is that if they go through the program they can avoid a criminal record which impacts the rest of their lives outside of prison.
How does Diversion Work in California?
Those who are proponents of the plan believe that it is going to be beneficial for both survivors as well as criminals. Survivors get closure and a piece that is needed for them to help heal more thoroughly. Offenders may be deterred from continuing to repeat criminal offenses once out of prison because they have had the opportunity to leave their sentence with a clean slate, thus giving them a second chance at life without the blot of crimes on their records.
It is a program that allows for a more personal look at crimes for both parties and participates in forgiveness which may have a strong and valuable impact in the long term. It is a means to make a bad situation into a good one for both sides of the equation.
Who is Eligible for Diversion Program in California?
This is a state-funded program and only those offenders who do not exhibit an extensive criminal record are eligible. Additionally, those who have been convicted of sex crimes and murder will not be eligible. Crimes that are highly associated with violence such as robbery, assault, burglary, and criminal threats would be eligible.
Working together with community groups, law enforcement, defense attorneys, the offenders, and victims a plan will be developed that will meet the needs of the survivors while also promoting a strategy to help the offender avoid engaging in more crimes in the future. In order to accomplish this, substance abuse treatment, counseling, education, and job training may all play a role. Victims can have the ability to obtain restitution or even a letter of apology.
There will be tracking done on those who successfully complete the totality of the program to determine its effectiveness. Looking at factors like victim satisfaction as well as new crimes committed or lack of crimes committed by offenders will be evaluated.
Get the Best Outcome Possible with Proper Defense
Individuals who have been charged with criminal offenses have the right to a solid defense. The use of a Southern California criminal defense attorney at the Manshoory Law Group, APC can help you when you are facing a criminal trial. We specialize in criminal defense and we are experts in criminal law.
We know about all the opportunities that are available to you to help you with your case, such as new programs including this diversion program opportunity. You don’t have to go through this process alone, our team of Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys can help.
Call us at 877-977-7750 and speak to one of our resourceful Southern California criminal defense attorneys today.
