Departing from prior precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Friday that in order for law enforcement to collect a substantial amount of information from a cell phone provider about one of its subscriber’s whereabouts by using cell phone tower location information, the government must first apply for a search warrant. In Carpenter v. United States, No. 16-402, Chief Justice John Roberts, writing … Read More
Petitions for a Certificate of Rehabilitation & Governor’s Pardons
We are sometimes asked what can be done to clean up a person’s Record of Arrests and Prosecutions, more commonly called a criminal record or RAP sheet. The answer, as it often is with legal questions is: It depends. In the vast majority of cases, once convicted, a criminal defendant is placed on probation. Upon successful completion of probation, that … Read More
998 Offers: Tricky Business
Janssen Malloy LLP attorney and partner Michael J. Crowley previously wrote about a particular litigation tool, the California Code of Civil Procedure section 998 offer to compromise, linked to here. A recent decision by the California Second District Court of Appeal underscored why parties in litigation should seek the advice of experienced counsel when such an offer has been made in … Read More
Successful Trial Results in Mendocino County Easement Case
Toward the end of 2017 Janssen Malloy LLP attorney David Nims represented a longtime client of the firm in Mendocino County Superior Court in a civil case. Recently, Judge Jeanine Nadel issued the decision of the court in favor of the client, the owner of a significant amount of timberland in Humboldt and Mendocino Counties. The case was brought by a … Read More
Trial Preference in Civil Cases Based on Felony Conduct
California Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) section 36 provides a mechanism for certain civil litigants – the elderly, minors age 14 or younger bringing a wrongful death action, or the terminally ill – to have the court schedule their trial within 120 days. Janssen Malloy LLP partner Michael Crowley previously wrote about the procedure here. A lesser known provision of that … Read More
New Law Strengthens Miranda for Minors 15 and Younger
This past year the California Legislature passed SB 395, which is designed to protect youth aged 15 or less from the pressure of custodial questioning by law enforcement and, in reality, from themselves. Under existing law, the same Miranda rights and standards for waiving those rights apply whether the person in custody is a 14- or 40-year-old. Effective January 1, 2018, this … Read More
Litigation as an Investigative Tool in Special Circumstances
Generally when people think about civil litigation – lawsuits – they think about suing some known or at least identifiable individual or entity. The paradigmatic example would be a motor vehicle accident in which John Smith runs a red light, hitting your vehicle, causing you property damage and injuring you. Perhaps, in that scenario, your attorney might file suit against … Read More
Timber Trespass
Last week I wrote about trespassing neighbors, whose activities, structures, commercial activity, or personal property encroach onto your property. This week I am covering what happens when a neighbor – either negligently or intentionally – crosses onto another landowner’s property and cuts down a tree or trees. California, like many other states, see this as a particularly offensive civil wrong, … Read More
The Trespassing Neighbor: An All-Too-Common Issue Among Rural Landowners
As a real property attorney, I receive numerous calls from owners of property in Humboldt, Mendocino, Del Norte, and Trinity Counties about neighbors who are trespassing or encroaching on their property, wondering what they can or should do about it, especially if cannabis is involved. The first thing a landowner should know is that “self help,” such as tearing down a … Read More
Maybe Not So “Inevitable” After All – First District Court of Appeal Says “No” to Prosecution’s Claims of Inventory Search and Inevitable Discovery
One of the most common motions a criminal defendant and his or her attorney might bring is a motion to suppress evidence that was illegally obtained by law enforcement in violation of the defendant’s constitutional protection against warrantless, unreasonable search or seizure. This constitutional right is guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. Instead of seeking and obtaining a search warrant from … Read More