Here are current phones numbers of self-help groups/programs which might be of help to your clients:
– Alcoholics Anonymous
(213) 387-8316
– Battered Wives and Help for Batterers(Forte Foundation)
(818) 788-6800
– Because I Love You
(Parent Support Group)
(213) 659-5289
– Children of the Night
(818) 908-4470
Keep This On Hand for the Midnight Phone Call
If your client ends up in jail, you may get a frantic midnight phone call. If that person is a celebrity, the situation could be even more delicate.
Here is a helpful list to keep at your home and office to make sure that everything is covered:
– Urge your client to stay calm. Assure them that you or an experienced criminal defense attorney will help them.
– Advise them to maintain a polite, well-mannered demeanor with the police. It won’t help to antagonize anyone.
– Advise them to resist asking for special treatment.
– Get your clients location and booking number.
– Get the name and phone number of a family member.
– Advise your client not to make any statements before consulting further with you or with an attorney who is experienced in dealing with the matter at hand.
– Assure your client that if you are not the appropriate criminal defense attorney, you will contact someone who is.
– Advise your client of the name and number of a good bail bonds-man. (Feel free to call us for a reliable referral.)
Tip Your Client: A Little Knowledge May Diffuse a Dangerous Situation
Advise Your Clients:
It is critical to contact an experienced criminal defense attorney immediately upon being contacted by any individual involved in law enforcement. Never wait to see what develops or hope that it just goes away.
Carrying a firearm within the interior of a vehicle is legal only if the firearm is unloaded and not concealed.
If stopped for “driving under the influence” in Los Angeles, you are not required to take any field sobriety test (touch the nose or walking a straight line). However, you are required to submit to a chemical test.
Not to make any statements to the authorities at the scene of an accident or arrest. You may not realize how your statements can be used against you. Situations such as these call for a lawyer who will deal with the police most cautiously.
Any involvement in a hit and run is an involvement in a crime. You should call an attorney for criminal advice immediately.
The entertainment industry is a fertile field for fraud. Between the psychological attraction of fame and fortune and the undeniable opportunities for talented people to make large sums of money, which they may have difficulty keeping track of, Hollywood abounds withcrimes of fraud. Unfortunately, much of it goes unreported.
Since avoiding these situations is often preferable to reporting them, here are some of the rackets, cheats and scams to warn your clients about and hopefully some ways to prevent them:
Embezzlement. Unfortunately, “creative types” tend to disengage themselves from the details of their financial affairs, placing equal amounts of trust and temptation at the feet of one person. That person is often called a “Business Manager.”
Robert Youngdahl, Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney for the Major Fraud in the Entertainment and Motion Picture Division, reports that fraud is more often brought to light during recessionary times.
The situation often arises where an attorney has a client in a spousal or child support hearing who is called to testify as a witness regarding their ability to pay their wages in substantiation of support payments. Recent cases have shown that it is prudent to advise one’s client of his rights against compelled self-incrimination, as established by the Fifth Amendment and the ramifications of perjury because the family court has no legal obligation to issue such warnings during the proceedings.
Authority was established in People v. Berry, C.A. 4th No. D0114717 (91 Daily Journal D.A.R. 6604), where it was held that a family court does not need to inform a parent in family court of his Miranda rights before testifying.
In that case, the father, Michael Berry, was in a child support modification proceeding where his payment was reduced and set to be taken from his wages. At a later hearing, he testified under oath that the money was being taken from his pay although the County had no record of receiving it.
When testimony showed that those statements were false, he was subsequently tried and convicted for perjury. He appealed claiming that his appearance on an “Order to Show Cause” created a duty on the part of the court to advise him of his Fifth Amendment rights before he testified. He contended that since any testimony that showed noncompliance with the original order might subject him to contempt proceedings, the family court review hearing should be considered the equivalent of a criminal matter.
However, since there were no circumstances present that would have indicated to a judge that Berry was giving anything but truthful testimony, it was held that the court was under no duty to advise Berry of his Fifth Amendment rights.
Since precedent has shown that traffic court will favor radar over an alleged violator’s testimony, it is no wonder that few people even attempt to contest a radar traffic ticket.
However, there is now a new strategy for fighting these tickets – a strategy that is guaranteed, especially in some Los Angeles courts. According to Vehicle Code Section 40802, a speed trap – which is illegal – is defined as “as any section of highway where a radar device is used when there is no engineering and traffic survey conducted within five years prior to the date of the alleged violation.”
In other words, in order for a radar device to be legally used, an engineering survey of the roadway must have been conducted within the last five years. If not, then the court cannot receive any testimony regarding the violation.
The last speed survey for some Los Angeles areas was done June 1, 1986, therefore, at the present time, no testimony can be taken regarding those tickets.
In a story that illustrates that even our most trusted and accomplished citizens are not exempt from committing crimes, an 18-year-old Irvine Eagle Scout arrested last month on suspicion of stealing iPods, cash and cigarettes from vehicles pleaded guilty to sevenmisdemeanor theft counts in court last week and was sentenced to 60 days in jail. Carter Andrew Sudeith will begin serving his time on Monday, July 28th and will serve 3 years probation upon his release.
Sudeith was arrested on June 18th, just hours after his high school graduation, police said. He was dressed in black and had a backpack full of stolen good that he had taken from unlocked cars in the school parking lot. He eventually pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor counts of petty theft and one misdemeanor count of possession of burglary tools.
Petty theft is a crime a crime in which an individual knowingly steals another person’s property that amounts to no more than $400. Depending on the circumstances of the theft crime, it can either be labeled a petty theft, a grand theft, or a burglary. Other serious theft related crimes include misuse of public funds, counterfeiting, first degree burglary, second degree burglary, embezzlement, bribery, receiving stolen property, and theft of artwork. Although most theft crimes have standard penalties, the jail term and/or fine may be drastically increased depending upon the situation.
When is A Juvenile Tried as an Adult?
If a minor is over 16 years old at the time of the commission of an offense, the Juvenile Court may have a hearing to decide if the minor should be prosecuted in juvenile court or adult court. In court, these five criteria determine if the juvenile will be found “unfit”: