CONSENT SEARCH UNDER A PROMISE OF LENIENCY
The Fourth Amendment provides that law enforcement cannot conduct a search of property or person without a valid warrant. Any warrantless search is unlawful and should law enforcement arrest you...
View ArticleWHEN IS A LAW ENFORCEMENT DETENTION UNLAWFUL?
A law enforcement officer can perform a temporary investigative detention of an individual only when the officer can articulate specific facts, which considered in light of the circumstances, provides...
View ArticleAN ATTEMPTED ROBBERY AT FASHION ISLAND ENDS IN MURDER
A New Zealand couple’s vacation in Southern California ended in tragedy. The couple, a prominent businessman in New Zealand and his wife were visiting Newport Beach’s iconic outdoor shopping mall...
View ArticlePROBABLE CAUSE TO SEARCH A VEHICLE REQUIRES OBJECTIVE FACTS
You’ve been stopped by the police for speeding. Can the officer search your vehicle without your consent? The answer is yes and no. Yes, the officer can search your vehicle, without your consent, if...
View ArticleFake Watermelons Filled with Methamphetamine Seized at the Border
Here’s a recipe for the stupid criminal files: Fill large packages – about watermelon size – with methamphetamine. Form each package into a watermelon shape and cover each package with a wrapper that...
View ArticleThe Firefighter Arsonist
Low risk, minimum custody status inmates in California may be eligible to serve all or part of their incarceration as a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) employee. The...
View ArticleELDERLY PAROLE PROGRAM
California Penal Code section 3055 provides that inmates who have been incarcerated for 20 years or more and are over the age of 50 or those incarcerated for 25 years or more and are over the age of 60...
View ArticleSometimes You Eat the Bear, Sometimes the Bear Eats You
Perhaps going down as one of the most inventive and also one of the stupidest insurance fraud crimes in recent memory, a group of scammers filed several insurance claims for damage to their three...
View ArticleWARRANTLESS SEARCH OF CURTILAGE IS OFTEN A VIOLATION OF PRIVACY RIGHTS
“[A]t the very core” of the Fourth Amendment “stands the right of [an individual] to retreat into his [or her] own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion.” (Silverman v. United...
View Article“BIRTH TOURISM” SCHEMES OPERATING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In the United States, birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in 1898 in the case, United States v. Wong Kim...
View Article