Blog: Litigation

A bench warrant (“BW”) issued in California does not expire. It remains in effect until either: the subject of the warrant dies, or the warrant gets cleared. In California, a person can clear a BW by either: appearing in court before the judge, or possibly having the party’s attorney appear in court on his behalf. …

“Dismissed without prejudice” is a term in civil and criminal law meaning that a case is dismissed, but the prosecutor or the petitioner is not necessarily precluded from re-filing the case at a later point. By contrast, a case dismissed with prejudice is finally over and cannot be reopened or re-filed. In civil cases dismissed …

Yes. A judge can deny bail if an offense is punishable by death, if there is a parole hold, or if there is a public safety exception. The “public safety exception” allows preventive detention. It applies to certain classes of felonies and felony sexual assault offenses. If the charge is for any other offense, bail …

If someone is charged with a felony in California, a preliminary hearing is an examination of the evidence to determine: whether a crime has been committed; and whether there is “sufficient cause” to believe the accused committed it. Sufficient cause means that after hearing the evidence, a person of ordinary caution or prudence would believe …

Defendants in California can no longer be required to “pay back” public defender fees unless they ultimately get convicted in the case.  Senate Bill 355 stops courts from ordering that exonerated defendants repay public defender or court-appointed counsel regardless of the outcome at trial. Of course, defendants are contractually-bound to pay private attorneys under the terms …