California Blog - Page 19

Answer: It depends. The “marital privilege” (also known as the “spousal privilege”) is one of the more complicated California evidentiary privileges. This is because it is actually two privileges: the spousal testimonial privilege, and the confidential marital communications privilege. The spousal testimonial privilege means that your current spouse can refuse to testify in a court …

In November of 2012, over 80% of California voters voted for Proposition 35–an initiative that greatly increased fines and prison sentences for California human trafficking under Penal Code 236.1 PC. Among other things, Prop 35 introduced a possible life sentence for defendants convicted of sex trafficking of a minor through force or fraud (the previous …

Many Nevadans still don’t know that Clark County has an ordinance prohibiting conducting business in a public right-of-way. Fifteen Clark County business license agents patrol the Strip sidewalks in search of offenders. The typical peddler sells water bottles for a dollar to thirty tourists, but some vendors sell various other items such as alcohol and …

We all know the police generally must get a warrant before they can search someone’s home and seize property. This means going before a judge and demonstrating “probable cause” that criminal activity is taking place at the location. But judges have wide discretion in granting search warrants, and the criminal activity in question can be …

One of the most common questions DUI clients ask me is, “What if they didn’t read me my rights?” This question is generally posed in a way that clearly suggests that the client believes he or she has their smoking gun to get out of the problem they have recently got themselves into. There is …