May 26, 2020
What is the Zero Bail Law in California?
A lot has changed since the country has been shut down and has been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. In California, the courts acknowledged that individuals who are sentenced to prison or jail are at-high risk of being exposed to and then infected with the virus.
To minimize the number of people in the jail system who could get the virus and potentially die from it, a statewide rule was issued lowering the cost of California bail and even assigning no costly bail to those arrested for misdemeanor and low-level felonies. This effort is intended to keep people with lesser crimes safe from exposure by not having them sit in prison while they await their court date.
Some say that prosecutors are not complying with the bill or working around it which has led to many who were eligible for release, still waiting in jail. Those who are convicted of violent and serious felonies such as murder or assault with a deadly weapon and those charged with sexual assault crimes do not qualify for Zero Bail provisions.
Additionally, the following crimes will also not benefit from Zero Bail:
- Resisting an executive officer
- Protective or stay away order violation
- Domestic violence
- Restraining order violations for violent threats or harm against the protected party
- Stalking
- Driving under the influence
- Driving under the influence and causing injury
- Any offense requiring registering under Sexual Assault Type Offenses – 290(c)
- Felon in possession of a firearm
What Is The Controversy Over Zero Bail?
Those that are proponents of Zero Bail believe that the intent of the rule is to protect the population from COVID-19, even those who have been arrested. However, there are cases where prosecutors are engaging in tricky tactics to either completely ignore the rule and simply not comply or are upping the charges to higher crimes that don’t qualify for Zero Bail.
For example, those who are arrested for minor stealing are seeing several California district attorneys elevating the charges to felony looting. Felony looting excludes the individual to obtain Zero Bail. Individuals that should be eligible for Zero Bail are not being fairly represented and even charged with much higher bail than necessary.
The opposition argues that arresting defendants who know they won’t go to jail, just go back out on the streets and continue to commit more crimes. Officers are continually in a cycle of arresting individuals and then after they are released, having to arrest them multiple times because they are not detained.
This is not only discouraging for law enforcement but also puts the public at an increased risk of being victimized. It also causes those who have already been victimized to feel like they have been forgotten by the police.
Where Can You Find A Criminal Defense Lawyer In Los Angeles?
If you have been convicted of a low-level crime and need legal representation that will fight to protect your rights, the aggressive and experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys at the Manshoory Law Group, APC will help you see the most favorable outcome.
The California criminal defense attorneys at the Manshoory Law Group, APC have extensive experience helping our clients lower their charges or eliminate them.
Call the Manshoory Law Group, APC anytime day or night at 877-977-7750 to discuss your situation with one of our resourceful Southern California criminal defense attorneys.
May 17, 2020
Will a DUI Affect My Immigration Status?
The rules for legal immigration to the United States are strict. Because the United States has an abundance of law-abiding people waiting for approval to legally immigrate and they don’t want to import individuals who will cause problems, breaking the law has consequences.
While it would certainly be better to understand the DUI and immigration consequences before you decide to drink and drive, compounding the mistake by not seeking legal assistance isn’t wise. Understanding a DUI and immigration status implications of being charged is important to consider right away. Your defenses may dwindle if you delay.
If you are planning to apply for citizenship, you must provide details about your entire criminal history, including charges that are dropped or dismissed. Failure to disclose the full and complete information on your N-400 application can lead to dismissal or outright rejection of your application. So, being arrested for a DUI can affect your immigration status.
The N-400 application asks, “Have you EVER been arrested, detained, or cited by the police or any other law enforcement officer?” If the answer is yes, you will be required to bring documentation of the disposition of every instance to your interview for all arrests and detentions, even if the records were expunged or a plea bargain reduced the charges. The copies must be original certified copies to avoid delays.
Crimes of moral turpitude are significant when it comes to immigration matters. Recklessness has been deemed a “culpable mental state if it entails a conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk posed by one’s conduct.” (26 I&N Dec. 464 (BIA 2015) Choosing to drive while the ability to drive is impaired by alcohol has been deemed reckless behavior in more than one case.
Can a DUI Effect on Green Card?
If you were planning to apply for naturalization, you’ll want to wait for five years after being charged with a DUI. Although your criminal history over the past five years is the primary consideration when you apply for naturalization, your entire criminal history must be disclosed.
If your green card renewal period is within the next few years, you should consult an immigration attorney for advice.
Also, if your DUI involves serious bodily injuries that result in your being sentenced to more than six months in jail or prison, the DUI effect on green card can be serious.
If this is not your first DUI, or you have other charges associated with the DUI or even unrelated charges, removal proceedings may begin as the result of the DUI.
Being charged with an “Under 21 DUI” has more serious DUI and immigration consequences than a DUI at older ages since California has a “Zero Tolerance” law for underage drinking. Because consuming alcohol when you are underage is illegal, your driving does not have to be impaired for you to be charged. Testing positive for any alcohol in your system is sufficient to be charged with an underage DUI.
Can You Get Deported for a DUI?
If you have a green card, driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs can you get deported for a DUI if you panic and flee the scene of an accident where you caused serious bodily injury or death. If you aren’t involved in an accident associated with your DUI, the DUI effect on your green card will be non-existent unless you’re a habitual drunkard.
If you are not a permanent resident, the law can get you deported for a DUI not involving a felony conviction, or result in re-entry being denied, or refusal to renew a visa.
A conviction under Section 101(a)(48) of the Immigration and Nationality Act defines a “conviction” broadly. It is important to have experienced help. DUI and immigration consequences are complex topics that require knowledge of someone with experience in these matters.
Your plea and the charges you’re convicted of can affect your visa or lead to you being deported. Hiring a Los Angeles DUI attorney to assist you with the charges is important to the outcome of your case.
Apr 17, 2020
Definitions of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation
Human trafficking can involve forced labor and involuntary servitude without sexual exploitation; however, this article focuses on aspects of technology and human trafficking that involve sexual exploitation. Sexual exploitation involves sex trafficking by force, fraud, deception, the force of threats, abduction, abuse of power, or coercion that involves a commercial sex act.
18 U.S.C. § 1591 calls for a life sentence for sexual exploitation crimes involving minors under age 14; 40 years for crimes involving minors over 14 and under 18 years old. Sexual exploitation of adults is charged under 18 U.S.C. § 1589 with punishment beginning at 20 years and increasing up to life sentences if death occurs, kidnapping is involved, or aggravated sexual abuse is attempted or occurs.
Sexual exploitation typically involves forced prostitution, pornography, or stripping. It is important to note that human trafficking does not require transporting someone across the county, state, or international borders.
What is Online Human Trafficking?
Just like honest businesses, human traffickers find online recruitment and marketing efforts more efficient than other methods of finding victims and customers.
Human trafficking online begins with a lie. Messages to vulnerable people quickly help traffickers identify those who are willing to engage in further conversations with strangers on the internet. Children who post about trouble with their parents can be easy prey.
How Do Human Traffickers Use Technology?
Technology and human trafficking are paired with each innovation. Illegal operators adopt new technology quickly from chat rooms and smart phones to video surveillance and money transfer and bitcoins. Human trafficking technology can be used to identify potential victims and facilitate connections between customers. Early adopters adopt human trafficking technology before lawmakers and enforcers understand how they fit together.
Criminals use human trafficking online technology for a variety of purposes including:
- Maintaining anonymity while conducting criminal activities
- Move cryptocurrency and other anonymous financial transactions
- Recruit victims
- Access information that facilitates in identifying and abducting victims
- Sell victims for sex
- To sell recordings or live streams of victims in sex acts
- Monitor victims with video surveillance
- Coerce victims with threats of exposing recordings
- Advertise the availability of their victims for sexual exploitation
Not all technology used for human trafficking is done online. Tracking devices have been placed on automobiles that allow traffickers to follow unsuspecting victims to provide opportunities to kidnap them.
How to Protect Yourself From Human Traffickers
Being vigilant and aware, trusting your instincts, and being prepared to defend yourself are all important ways you can protect yourself. Manage your internet settings to restrict your posts from being seen by anyone other than your friends and set your location settings to private. Be mindful of how much information you give away. Data aggregation technology allows someone to find the location and other private details that feel safe to post on their own, but in combination with other posts, make you easy to find. For example, the date of your prom and homecoming game can be used to identify your school.
Trust your instincts. Lonely people and those with desperate financial needs can make easy targets. Don’t trust solutions that come too easily without independently verifying the information.
Some traffickers will learn about your troubles online and then meet you in person, seemingly by chance, dangling a solution that is a trap. Overseas jobs, farm labor and modeling jobs, and other “opportunities” are used to entice victims. Big profits can be earned from trafficking victims. Perpetrators can be male or female. They are motivated by money, not sex.
Use caution. Be prepared to defend yourself and call out for help if you feel threatened. While it is not always necessary or desirable to travel or shop with friends, not being alone is safer than being alone. Also let someone know where you’re going and when you expect to be home, even if you live alone.
Keep your faculties about you. Using mind-altering drugs and alcohol increases the risk of abduction.
If you plan to meet someone from the internet, to buy or sell something or to date, meet in a public place and send their photo to someone who is expecting it. Having their photograph can help law enforcement if the worst occurs.
Call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) at 1-888-373-7888 for assistance.
Are you being accused of a sex crime? Contact a Los Angeles sex trafficking Lawyer to learn your options. Begin your search to find an experienced sex crime lawyer in Los Angeles by calling (877) 977-7750.
Mar 27, 2020
How are Crime Trends Changing During the Pandemic?
Every day living in the world of coronavirus, the things that are happening are almost unreal. All aspects of life are affected, including crime. As millions are self-quarantining, ordered to stay home, and advised to practice social distancing, America’s largest cities are seeing a drop in the crime rate.
As stores and restaurants close down, public spaces are no longer crowded, and public transportation is being used less, there are fewer people out and about, vulnerable to crime. Three of the largest, most populated cities, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago report that since the pandemic changed how we operate in society, they have seen a drop in crime.
According to Dermot F Shea, New York City’s police commissioner, most crime has lessened. Burglary and assault crimes have decreased in the city by 25%. Sex crimes were also on the decline by nearly 50%.
In Los Angeles, there was also a drop in crime by 5.6% from where the crime rate was the previous year. The Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti told CNN that what is happening in LA is that crime is going down while peoples’ generosity is increasing.
Police captain Jiff Rinaldo echoed the same trend in Buffalo, New York. As businesses closed down the crime also followed with decreased occurrences. Rinaldo explains that one reason is that much crime takes place around commerce. In the absence of commerce, crime naturally falls. Daily arrests have dropped from a normal 20 each day to 2 per day under the new coronavirus circumstances.
In Chicago, it was the same story. There were 201 arrests made on Friday a couple of weeks before everything started to shut down. The following Friday there were only 60 arrests. According to Charlie Beck, the Interim Chicago Police Superintendent, the arrest numbers are at a historic low.
What Has Happened to California Crime Trends?
In 2017, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) reported that there was a rise in violent crime by 1.5%. However, the statewide rate is fairly low when compared to the crime rates of the late 1960s. In 2017, though, the property crime rate decreased by 2.1% from 2016.
The state is not homogeneous, every region has its own unique crime rates. The South Coast, for instance including Imperial, Orange, San Diego, and Ventura Counties had the lowest violent crime and the lowest property crime in 2017. San Joaquin Valley had the highest violent crime rate that year.
There were many counties, approximately 33 out of 58 had an increase in violent crime in 2017. In 19 of those counties, the rise in violent crime was extreme at over 10%.
In 26 of the 58 counties property crime decreased in 2017. In nine communities including Kern, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara, there were significant decreases in the property crime rate by over 10%.
Where Can You Find A Criminal Defense Lawyer In Los Angeles?
The aggressive Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys at the Manshoory Law Group, APC are here for you when you have been arrested. It is best you do not speak with the police before you consult with an experienced California criminal defense attorney from the Manshoory Law Group, APC. Our team will build a solid defense strategy for you.
Call the Manshoory Law Group, APC at 877-977-7750 to discuss your situation with one of our resourceful Southern California violent crime defense attorneys today.
Mar 19, 2020
What Is a Hit and Run Car Accident?
Hit-and-run accidents occur when a driver causes property damage or personal injury to another person or their property. Property damage extends beyond hitting another vehicle.
Damaging your neighbor’s mailbox without stopping to let them know is a hit-and-run accident. Hitting a pedestrian or cyclist and fleeing the scene is also a hit-and-run accident. Running over a stray animal is also a hit-and-run accident if the driver doesn’t stop and attempt to notify the owner.
Now that we’ve answered, “What is a hit and run accident?” let’s look at the laws and penalties for hit and run accidents.
What are the Hit and Run Laws?
In California, Vehicle Codes 20001 – 20004 describe the requirement to report accidents and the penalties for failure to report accidents as prescribed by the Vehicle Code. The code differentiates between accidents involving property damage and those involving injury or death.
Vehicle Code 20001 requires the driver to stop immediately and comply with the requirements of Vehicle Codes 20003 and 20004.
Failure to comply with the requirements of hit and run laws can result in imprisonment for up to one year unless the accident caused death or a serious and permanent injury in which case imprisonment of up to four years may be ordered upon conviction.
Vehicle Code 20001 also allows for fines between $1,000 and $10,000.
An additional sentence may be added if the person is convicted of violating Penal code §191.5 (Gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated) or Penal code §192 (Vehicular manslaughter).
Permanent, serious injury is defined as an injury that causes permanent loss of function or the loss of an organ. For example, an accident that requires the removal of a kidney would be considered a serious injury.
A car hit and runs require the driver to provide the other driver and law enforcement officers with their current name, address, vehicle registration number, as well as the names and addresses of injured passengers under Vehicle code 20003 and 20004. Fleeing hit-and-run accidents is one of the top DUI mistakes made by drivers.
What is the Penalty for Hit and Run Car Accidents?
Two main factors determine if the hit and run driver is charged with a misdemeanor or a felony:
- Whether the accident involves serious bodily injury or death, or
- Whether the accident occurs during the commission of a crime
If a driver flees an accident that occurs during the commission of a crime or one that causes serious injury or death, it will be a felony.
If the accident only involves property damage, the hit-and-run charges will be a misdemeanor, and additional ways to resolve the situation may be available.
Penal Code 1377 allows the driver to make a compromise and pay restitution to the party who suffered property damage after their car hit and runs from the scene if the injured party agrees to the compromise and complies with Penal Code 1378 and acknowledges that satisfaction for the injury has been received.
A felony conviction for a hit-and-run accident is a crime of moral turpitude that can have a negative effect on your ability to work in industries requiring honest behavior and on immigration status and naturalization proceedings.
Does Car Insurance Cover Hit and Run Accidents?
The answer to this question can be complicated. If you don’t carry the right type of coverage, you may not be able to recover damages.
If a driver hits your car and flees, you can file a claim to pay for the property damage to your vehicle under your collision coverage and under MedPay and Uninsured/Underinsured for bodily injury. However, you cannot file under uninsured or underinsured for property damage or bodily injury if law enforcement doesn’t determine the identity of the hit and run driver who hit you or damaged your property.
Make note of as many details as possible about the accident. Details help law enforcement find the driver who fled the scene of the accident. If you are being charged with a hit-and-run accident, contact a Los Angeles DUI lawyer to assist with your defense and explore your options.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is considered a hit and run in California?
A hit and run in California occurs when a driver involved in an accident, whether it causes property damage, injury, or death leaves the scene without stopping to provide their name, address, vehicle registration, and insurance information. This applies even if you hit an unoccupied car, a mailbox, or a cyclist.
Is a hit and run a felony or misdemeanor in California?
A hit and run in California occurs when a driver involved in an accident, whether it causes property damage, injury, or death leaves the scene without stopping to provide their name, address, vehicle registration, and insurance information. This applies even if you hit an unoccupied car, a mailbox, or a cyclist.
What should I do if I’m charged with a hit and run in California?
Do not make any statements to law enforcement before speaking with an attorney. A criminal defense lawyer can evaluate the evidence, challenge the identification of the driver, negotiate reduced charges, or explore restitution agreements that may resolve misdemeanor cases without a conviction.
Can a hit and run charge be reduced or dismissed?
Yes, in some cases. For property-damage misdemeanors, California Penal Code 1377 allows a compromise where the driver pays restitution and the victim agrees to drop the charges. An experienced attorney may also challenge witness testimony, surveillance footage, or the prosecution’s ability to prove you were the driver.
How long does California have to file hit and run charges?
For misdemeanor hit and run, the statute of limitations is generally 1 year. For felony hit and run involving injury or death, the state typically has 3 years to file charges. However, if the incident involves vehicular manslaughter, different statutes may extend that window, so acting quickly with legal counsel is critical.
