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Driving under the influence arrests are significantly on the increase during the past year. In this troubled economy city and State budgets are being balanced on the backs of both the young and old who drink and drive. For that reason it is important that the first thing to do after an arrest is to immediately contact a Los Angeles DUI defense attorney who handles driving under the influence cases in Southern California.

The risks to career, paycheck, bank account and harm to the future by having a criminal records are immense. Often times DUI arrestees believe that a well trained Los Angeles DUI defense attorney costs money. But the truth is, failing to hire an attorney could result in more sever costs in the long run. For example, if your DUI defense attorney is able to lower the charges and plead your case down to a “wet reckless”, the fines are significantly lower then a full DUI. The alcohol awareness course is shorter in duration, thus saving you more money, and in many cases your insurance premium may not go sky high. Thereby, your Los Angeles DUI defense attorney may have paid for himself by the reduced fines and costs.

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A Los Angeles judge allowed a Hermosa firefighter to return to work after he reversed a Civil Service Commission ruling. The judge found that Sheldon Osekowsky, a 22 year veteran firefighter, was improperly fired a Southern California DUI. In 2006 he had been arrested and plead guilty to driving under the influence, a criminal charge. At that time his license was suspended for a year and the Fire Department removed him his position as a driver of fire equipment. After 10 months in a different position at the Hermosa Fire Department, he was summarily fired.

Osekowsky fought the decision all the way through the Los Angeles Civil Service Commission. The Commission ruled against the fireman. It was not clear if the fireman attempted to fight his charges with a Los Angeles or Southern California DUI defense attorney. A well trained Los Angeles DUI attorney can attack the evidence and procedures used by law enforcement. In some cases, fighting the charges can result in a not guilty finding. In many cases,if a person is found not guilty of the DUI charges, he or she will not result in a person loosing their job, pension, driver’s license, and not having to pay the huge fines and fees that are mandated by the courts.

The case was then taken to Superior Court where Judge James Chalfant reversed the Commission’s ruling and reinstated the fireman. The case then went back to the Commission to decide what punishment, short of termination, was going to be imposed. The Commission may impose a 30 day suspension.

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The judge in the Lindsay Lohan Southern California DUI case was given incorrect information resulting in an arrest warrant for her arrest. Judge Marsha Revel was not given all of the information when she signed the warrant. The Los Angeles DUI defense attorney immediately went into court and corrected the error.

When a person is arrested and convicted for driving under the influence in Southern California (DUI), they will be placed on probation for a period of between 3 and 5 years. During that time person will need to comply will all of the strict terms and conditions. If there is a violation, then the person could serve up to 6 months in jail. Judges usually do not impose the full amount of jail time until there are so many violations that they give up on the Los Angeles DUI suspect.

Lohan’s DUI problems began back in May, 2007, when she was pulled over and arrested for her second Beverly Hills DUI. Along witht he DUI arrest, she was also charged with cocaine possession. That charge is a felony, but for a first time offender a top notch drug defense attorney will usually be able to get their clients into a formal drug diversion program.

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After two years of investigation, rapper T.I. plead guilty and was sentenced to just over one year in prison. T.I., whose given name is Clifford Harris, was charged with three felony counts after he was arrested as he received machine guns equipped with silencers.

Originally, he pleaded not guilty. When his attorneys informed him that he could face 10 years in prison for each count, he changed his mind. He plead in October but sentencing was continued to this past Friday, March 27, 2009. During the several months between conviction and sentencing, TI has performed over 1000 hours of community service and completed his reality series.

He will soon turn himself in to prison the face the sentence that he agrees to take. It is important that if a person is arrested or charged with a weapons charge, that a top notch Los Angeles and Southern California weapons defense attorney is contacted right away. Waiting until the charges have been filed or until the first court date can be too late gather evidence to convince the prosecution not to file criminal charges.

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This past Friday the famous former football player-turned-actor Brian Bosworth was arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles. He was charged with two misdemeanors. Each count has a penalty of 6 months in jail and a number of other consequences. It was important that once he was arrested with a Los Angeles DUI, he needed to call his Los Angeles DUI defense attorney Michael Kraut.

It is the job of a top notch Southern California DUI defense attorney to attack the evidence that may be amassed against the DUI suspect. Many people do not realize that a first time Los Angeles DUI can have devastating effects. There are many people who think hiring a Southern California DUI defense attorney is not going to help. But of the consequences of jail time, huge fines of over $1000.00 plus penalty assessments, and suspension of a driver’s license, can have ruin a person’s life. In this tough economic times, a good Los Angeles DUI defense attorney can make the difference between a person going to jail and loosing their job, and being found not guilty of the charges. In addition to the above named consequences, a person convicted of these DUI charges can expect to have to enroll in a very expensive alcohol education class, probation for 3 years and sky high insurance rates. When one looks at the real financial consequences of a DUI, a Los Angeles DUI defense attorney can more then pay for their services in time and money saved.n custody, with a maximum 6 months in jail.

The evidence can be fought based upon the breath machine being faulty or out of calibration, the officer’s personal biases, failure to comply with policies or proce,dures, mistakes in the police reports and other evidence problems.

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United States Attorney General Eric Holder announced that Federal law enforcement will no longer target medical marijuana dispensaries in California that operate legally. That means that Los Angeles and Southern California medical marijuana defense attorneys will have an upper edge. For the first time in the history of the United States, Federal laws are no longer going to be used to prosecute a drug crime. President Obama announced during his campaign that medical marijuana prosecutions would no longer be a priority under his administration.

The new policy has a direct effect on the 13 states that have legalized marijuana laws. Of those 13, only California allows for medical marijuana dispensaries operate legally. Until now, the Feds have not acknowledged the existence of Proposition 215 enacted by the citizens of California in 1996. Also called the Compassionate Use Act, Prop 215, allows for those with a medical need to have a doctor “recommend” the use of marijuana to relieve symptoms.

Under the newly announced policy, the Federal Government will no longer target those individuals that do not violate state laws on marijuana. In order for a dispensary to be legal under California law, and thus immune from Federal prosecution, they must comply with the California Attorney General August, 2008, announcement of compliance as well as other laws.

A dispensary must seek guidance from a Los Angeles based medical marijuana criminal defense attorney in order to make sure that they are not violate the law. If the dispensary can operate legally, then the Feds will leave them alone.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown’s position is that a medical marijuana dispensary must operate as a nonprofit cooperative. That means the marijuana must be grown by cooperative members to be sold without a profit to other cooperative members. Those members must all have a medical necessity for marijuana to treat their symptoms. The member must have a valid recommendation from a duly licensed doctor. The dispensary must be both licensed and pay taxes on its sales as well as provide security for the facility. There are dozens of other requirements that must be put in place prior to a person opening a legal dispensary.

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The Los Angeles based psychiatrist for Anna Nicole Smith surrendered herself to the Los Angeles Police Department on March 16, 2009, to face felony charges. Khristine Eroshevich, 61, turned herself in at the Van Nuys jail early in the morning in an attempt to avoid the press. He bail was set at $20,000.

Ana Nicole Smith’s psychiatrist was not the only person charged by local authorities. Smith’s boyfriend and former attorney, Howard Stern, as well as another of the celebrity’s doctors, Sandeep Kapoor, were charged with unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and conspiracy to commit the crime of prescribing, administering and dispensing controlled substances to an addict. The charges were filed by both the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and the Office of the California Attorney General. Now that they are all similarly charged, it is important for the three of them to hire a Los Angeles drug crime attorney who handles Southern California drug crimes.

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The doctors were also charged with obtaining a prescription by giving a false name or address and doing so by fraud, deceit or misrepresentation. These charges stem from the use of a false name on the prescription in violation of California law. Their Southern California criminal defense attorneys claim that they used a false name in order to protect Ms. Smith from the media.

Stern and Kapoor both turned them themselves in earlier and all three are expected to be arraigned on May 13, 2009. Both of of the crimes are considered moral turpitude crimes, ie: showing poor moral character, all they stand to loose their professional licensees.

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After Chris Brown and Rihanna had their violent encounter on February 8, 2009, in Los Angeles, things may be changing. Initial reports emerged that Rihanna had received a text page that enraged Chris Brown to the point that he became exceptionally violent with the pop star in the Los Angeles Hollywood suburb of Handcock Park earlier this month. News reports are now circulating that the two have reunited as a couple. It is now up to his Los Angeles domestic violence defense attorney to attempt to lower the charges, or have the case thrown out completely.

New organizations are beginning to report that because the two have been seen together, then Chris Brown will not face criminal charges. That cannot be further from the truth. Domestic violence is like no other crime prosecuted in Los Angeles. In almost 80-90% of the cases, the victim and the assailant get back together. The fact that a couple reunite after a violent episode does not mean that the prosecution is powerless to prosecute the crimes that had occurred. In almost all cases a victim in a domestic violence case will refuse to testify or will minimize what actually occurred during the criminal incident. Because the prosecution is aware of these facts, they almost always demand that the police or other investigatory agency, tape record the statements of the victim. That way the victim can be impeached on the witness stand if they “go backwards” on the statements they previously made.

The result to Chris Brown will be most likely seen in the punishment that he receives. He will most likely still be prosecuted for the crime, but if Rihanna tells the court that she was the aggressor or that Chris Brown was merely defending himself from her attack, then the prosecution could decide to drop any charges that they might be considering. If they still decide to prosecute then a top notch Southern California criminal defense attorney would be able to argue that the facts indicate that it was a case of mutual combat, or that Chris Brown was defending himself. If that were to occur then the prosecution would most likely not file criminal charges.

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Early Sunday morning the day that she was supposed to perform at the Grammys, pop star Rihanna was was seen crying and shaken after she and Chris Brown had an altercation in the quiet neighborhood of Hancock Park in Los Angeles.

Police would not identify the woman in the domestic violence incident due to the laws of confidentiality. While Brown made his $50,000 bail, he immediately hired a pre-filing Los Angeles criminal defense attorney to represent his best interests. As often happens in domestic violence cases, the police choose one side and then seek the evidence that will support that position. If all facts are true, Chris Brown could face 9 years in state prison.

Los Angeles Domestic violence is a serious crime. In order for the prosecution to convict him of domestic violence, they must prove that Brown was in a relationship with Rihanna, or that they have children in common, or live together in a sexual relationship. Next they must prove that Brown inflicted a traumatic injury and that he did so not as an act of self defense.

Police will spend a lot of time talking to Rihanna early during the investigation. They will get as many statements from her and her friends and witnesses because as time goes on, most domestic violence victims will become less and less cooperative and many will refuse to testify against suspects in these cases. So the police secretly tape record these statements to later use in court.

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A Los Angeles woman plead guilty to tax evasion after denying and shifting blame for 5 years with Federal prosecutors. Cristina Warthen, 35, admitted she failed to pay income tax on money she earned while running an escort service while she was attending Standford Law School.

She will be sentenced in June, however, it has already been determined that she will pay the IRS over $300,000 and could face a fine that could be as high as $100,000. She will also be ordered to spend one year on home confinement and three years of probation. It is clear that her Los Angeles white collar defense attorney was top notch. If she had been convicted of all of the charges, she could have served many years in Federal prison. Now she will be ordered to send a year in home confinement in a home she shares with her husband, and Ask.com founder, David Warthen.

Because she was being charged with a Los Angeles white collar crime, asset forfeiture laws were triggered at the time law enforcement found substantial cash hidden in her residence. Asset forfeiture laws were enacted to make sure that ill gotten money and property does not remain in the hands of those charged and eventually convicted of a crime.

Newspaper articles in the 80’s were replete with stories of assets that were seized in drug related cases. Soon thereafter, law enforcement began to expand the powerful tool. Items that are commonly seized include cash, cars, houses, property, and in one case a race horse.

Once the property is taken by the Government, it must be maintained. That means that the asset cannot loose its value because of anything the Government does with it. If the Government looses the criminal case, then the asset must be returned to the person or company from which it was taken. In the case of the race horse taken, it was given back almost immediately because the Government would have been responsible for making sure that the horse was fed, trained and cared for like it was at the owners stable.

That forfeiture complaint had said Schultz operated an interstate prostitution business since at least August 2001 — three months after earning her Stanford Law School degree — by charging as much as $1,300 for two hours, $5,000 for overnight and $15,000 for three days to serve clients in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago and Seattle. Her own April 2003 posting to an escort-reviews Web site had said that when she finished her law degree, she “owed over 300 thousand in loans and hated the prospect of being a lawyer for the next twenty yrs.”(sic)

A federal judge dismissed the civil forfeiture action in 2006 as Warthen and the government reached a secret settlement. Prosecutors filed the tax evasion charge against Warthen in September.

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