Los Angeles County Criminal Lawyer Blog

The Ventura County Star reports the sheriff's department has used the state's DNA database to solve a 2009 vehicle burglary.

Ventura criminal defense attorneys know that DNA evidence is not all it's cracked up to be on TV shows like CSI. For starters, state labs are often overwhelmed and getting evidence tested can take months. And, for the most part, the technology has only been used in cases involving violence, like rape and murder.

Yet, with each passing year the number of cases increases as more and more samples are added to the system. If defendants needed another reason to fight a criminal conviction, keeping their DNA out of the state database would certainly be high on the list.

In November 2009, a Moorpark man reported his vehicle had been broken into -- the sheriff's crime lab collected a blood sample on shattered glass. That sample has reportedly been linked to a 52-year-old Moorpark man whose profile was already in the database.

He was arrested March 12 -- about 18 months after the crime -- and booked into Ventura County Jail.

Proposition 69, the "DNA Fingerprint, Unsolved Crime and Innocence Protection Act" was passed in 2004 and now permits a DNA sample to be collected from all felony offenders and certain misdemeanor offenders, according to the California Department of Justice.

As of the end of 2010, more than 1.7 million samples had been entered into California's DNA database. They are also made part of the Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS), the national database of criminal DNA samples.

And many of those being flagged as previously unknown defendants in unsolved crimes find themselves facing far more serious charges than the charge for which they were convicted and ordered to submit a DNA sample.

Of those whose DNA profile has been linked to a murder, rape or robbery, 25 percent had their profile submitted to the database for a drug offense and 18 percent for property crimes. Throw in certain DUI convictions, fraud and other criminal convictions, and only 39 percent had been convicted of an underlying violent crime.

Continue reading "DNA Database Another Reason to Fight Felony Charges in Ventura County" »

As a veteran drunk driving defense lawyer in Ventura and Santa Clarita, Dan Kann reminds you to celebrate St. Patrick's Day responsibly and call if you need help.

California authorities as far away as Lamorinda are bracing for the four-day weekend kicked off by Thursday's St. Patrick's Day celebrations. The Patch reports some law enforcement agencies plan to get in on the festivities by conducting sweeps for offenders with outstanding DUI warrants.

What began as a religious holiday has gradually become a secular celebration of Irish culture. And, while St. Patrick's Day is an official national holiday in Ireland, the Irish have little on the Americans when it comes to celebrating; the holiday has become one of the biggest days for beer consumption in the United States and among the busiest days of the year at bars and restaurants.

Checkpoints and saturation patrols will be the orders of the weekend for most law enforcement agencies; the California Highway Patrol also reports increased emphasis on stopping and arresting drunk drivers.

Unfortunately, such emphasis often leads to unfair arrests or charges in marginal cases. Additional patrol units also often means desk officers or auxiliary or reserve units on the street, which increases the risk that a motorist will be stopped and charged with drunk driving by officers without the necessary knowledge and training.

Perhaps most importantly it means lots of car stops -- with or without probable cause. An officer needs sufficient reason to pull you over and sufficient reason to ask that you perform field sobriety and breathalyzer testing. When such probable cause is lacking, an experienced DUI defense attorney in Pasadena or Encino can fight to have the charges reduced or dismissed.

A California Administrative Hearing also needs to be requested within 10 days in order to fight to retain your rights to drive.

Law enforcement is encouraging everyone to have fun and stay safe:

-Know how you are going to get home before heading out to celebrate.

-Designate a sober driver and leave your car keys at home.

-Use a taxi, phone a friend or use public transportation to ensure that you get home safe.

-Call 911 to report drunk or impaired drivers.

-Don't let someone you know drive while intoxicated; take steps to make sure they have a safe ride home.

Continue reading "St. Patrick's Day Increases Risk of DUI Charges in Pasadena, Ventura and Los Angeles" »

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is urging authorities to crackdown on motorists who drive under the influence of drugs, after what the government says is a sharp rise in serious and fatal crashes attributed to such cases.

Those facing DUI drug charges in Southern California should immediately contact a DUI defense lawyer in Ventura, Pasadena or the surrounding area. Such charges are frequently defensible. Authorities can charge you with just about anything -- it's what you are convicted of that matters.

DUI charges in Los Angeles can result in jail time, the loss of your driver's license, job loss, probation, mandatory treatment, and thousands of dollars in fines, court costs and increased insurance premiums. State statistics show about 1 in 4 of those charged with drunk driving in California are not convicted.

There are many ways to attack a DUI charge, including probable cause for the stop, the proper administration of field sobriety tests or breathalyzer examinations, and the training and experience of the officers involved. Driving under the influence charges involving drugs are even harder for authorities to prove because of the length of time a drug may remain in a defendant's system -- for instance, marijuana can remain behind for as long as a month after consumption.

The government reports 1,000 instructors and 6,000 officers in 46 states have graduated from the government's Drug Evaluation and Classification Program. The program allegedly trains an officer to determine whether there is probable cause to suspect a motorist is under the influence of drugs. This is nothing more than the subjective opinion of an officer as to a defendant's guilt. Since it is the officer's job to gather evidence of your guilt, such opinions are as worthless as the results of field sobriety tests (surprise, you fail!) As such, they should always be vigorously contested in a court of law.

Medical marijuana patients and those who are on prescription medication may also suffer undue consequences as a result of questionable arrests by overzealous law enforcement officers. Government data found, of those tested, 1 in 5 drivers killed in car accidents in 2009 had drugs in their system. Though the government is quick to acknowledge that the presence of drugs does not mean a driver was under the influence at the time of the crash.

"Every driver on the road has a personal responsibility to operate his or her vehicle with full and uncompromised attention on the driving task," said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. "Today's report provides a warning signal that too many Americans are driving after having taken drugs, not realizing the potential for putting themselves and others on the highway at risk."

While a strong correlation exists between BAC levels and crash impairment, the same correlation has not been proven in cases in which a driver tests positive for drugs, Strickland acknowledged. As we have already stated, the effects of a drug may have worn off days or even weeks before a driver is involved in an accident.

Continue reading "DUI/Drug cases require aggressive defense in Ventura, Encino " »

The arrest of 22 defendants on gang charges in Ventura County targeted alleged members of the Colonia Chiques, an Oxnard street gang, the Los Angeles Times reported.

While more than 1,400 street gangs exist in Southern California, the Colonia Chiques gang is Ventura County's largest and dates to the 1970s. As such, there are many, many juveniles and young adults who are either members, friends of members, or acquaintances of members. What young defendants and their parents too often fail to realize are the legal consequences of being associated with a gang. Once so associated, gang enhancements can increase the penalties for all types of crimes. And strike crimes can follow a young person into adulthood. Being photographed with a known gang member or even wearing the wrong color clothing may be enough to bring gang-related criminal charges. In each case, such charges should be handled by an experienced Ventura criminal defense lawyer.

The Ventura drug trafficking charges in this case allege members distributed methamphetamine, heroin and crack cocaine. Twelve defendants face federal criminal indictments. Fourteen others face state charges through the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Two of the defendants face life sentences because of prior convictions. Most of the others face 5 to 40 years in federal prison if convicted.

The Ventura County Star reported the effort was part of a larger crackdown on gang activity in Southern California. Five dozen members of the 38th Street gang were arrested in Los Angeles in February and 14 members of the Riverside street gang were taken into custody in December on drug trafficking and other criminal charges.

Participating law enforcement agencies included the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the Ventura, Simi Valley and Santa Barbara police and sheriff's departments.

Continue reading "Gang Cases allege Drug Trafficking in Ventura County" »