THE TERRY STOP – “STOP AND FRISK” DETENTION You’ve seen it in the movies and on TV shows: The police approach a person on the street or tell them to get out of a vehicle after a traffic stop and command the person to submit to a frisk. In my…
Articles Posted in Constitutional Rights
WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS WHEN POLICE WANT TO QUESTION ME IN CALIFORNIA
YOUR RIGHTS WHEN THE POLICE STOP AND QUESTION YOU If a police officer stops you in a public place and begins asking you questions, what rights do you have? (Note that this post does not apply to a DUI stop. For information on your rights if you are stopped for…
False Confessions and Interrogation Tactics
INTERROGATE UNTIL THEY CONFESS In 1989, a female jogger was brutally assaulted and raped when she was jogging through Central Park. Five males, ages 14 to 16 at the time, were arrested and confessed to the crime. They were tried and convicted in two separate trials. They became known as…
USE OF JAILHOUSE SNITCHES IN CALIFORNIA
The police regularly use confidential informants to gather information about criminal activity. The use of confidential informants is legal and an important tool in law enforcement’s tool box. But the practice of recruiting jail house informants is often illegal. So what’s the difference? Most people in jail are represented…
Is A Search Warrant Required to Access Cell Phone Records In California
“THE STINGRAY” STING Daniel Rigmaiden might have seemed a bit crazy to his attorneys. He was arrested in 2008 after he was caught in his elaborate and meticulous scheme filing fraudulent tax claims while living “off-grid” in the woods. He couldn’t understand how the authorities found him; he operated on…
OFFICER MISCONDUCT AND THE PITCHESS MOTION
OFFICER MISCONDUCT AND THE PITCHESS MOTION You are driving late at night and your eye catches flashing red lights in your rearview mirror. Your mind races—you were driving at the speed limit, didn’t run any stop signs or the like—why was the officer stopping you? You pull over and the…
CALIFORNIA ENDS GRAND JURY HEARINGS IN FATAL POLICE SHOOTINGS
CALIFORNIA ENDS GRAND JURY HEARINGS IN FATAL POLICE SHOOTINGS California is the first state to announce that it will ban grand juries in the preliminary determination on whether a law enforcement office should face criminal charges after killing someone in the line of duty. The reasoning behind the ban, which…
Former Jailed Suspect Blames Bad Investigation and DA
Osiris Abenoja is bringing a claim against the DA’s office and Garden Grove Police for keeping him in jail for over three months while they figured out they had the wrong guy. Abenoja was accused of robbing four banks in Anaheim, Garden Grove and Fullerton as the “Armed Clown Bandit”.…
City of Los Angeles to pay out $30 million for LAPD civil rights violations
On Wednesday, Los Angeles City Council agreed to pay nearly $13 million to people injured or mistreated in a 2007 May Day melee in MacArthur Park–bringing the total money spent over the last two weeks to settle lawsuits alleging LAPD misconduct to more than $30 million. However, the L.A. Daily…
I have a notice for an arraignment in Orange County Criminal Court- What does that mean?
If you have been arrested for a criminal charge in Orange County, your first appearance in court is called an “arraignment.” At an arraignment, a judge or magistrate informs a defendant what charges are being brought against him and what constitutional rights a defendant has- such as a right to…