IT'S NOT THE LAW, IT'S THE JUDGE

Recently i handled a suppression motion in a San Gabriel Valley court.  [can't reveal the name of the judge if i want to continue to practice law in this county:)]  The basis of the motion was that the client was sitting in his car on a public street in the middle of the day, minding his own business.  A deputy sheriff drove down the street because there was supposedly illegal activities going on from time to time at the house in front of which the client was parked.  When the deputy drove by the client supposedly looked surprised, then slouched down in his car altho still in view.  The deputy and his partner contacted the client, asked for a driver's license, and asked what he was doing there.  Supposedly he said he was waiting for a friend, but couldn't name the friend or where the friend lived.  Client was then ordered out of the car, and was placed in the police vehicle.  He was subsequently asked if the deputy could retrieve his registration from the car, and supposedly he said yes.  The deputy found contraband in the glove box while looking for the registration.

i objected to the search on the grounds that the police had no right to take the client out of his car and place him in the police vehicle.  He had not committed any crime at that point, so the detention in the police vehicle was illegal.  The judge ruled that it was legal to put him in the police car, and the retrieval of his registration was therefor also legal, and denied the suppression motion.

I have a very good friend who is a judge in Los Angeles who hears suppression motions all the time.  When I explained the fact pattern i have just described, my friend the judge said without a doubt he would have ruled that placing the client in the police car was an unlawful detention, and anything that happened thereafter was illegal.  He would have granted the suppression motion.

MORAL:  It's not the law that matters, it's the judge who hears the case that matters.  Forget law school...make friends with as many judges as possible.

Certificates of Rehabilitation

California law permits individuals who have been convicted of felonies, no matter how serious, to obtain a Certificate of Rehabilitation subsequent to being released from probation or prison as long as they have been crime-free for the required period of time.  Formerly the required period was five years.  However, under the newly enacted Penal Code 4852.22 the waiting period has been changed to allow a trial court hearing the request to grant a Certificate of Rehabilitation prior to the five year period "in the interests of justice". Obviously a very strong showing must be made to convince a trial judge to truncate the waiting period.

There are a number of reasons for obtaining a Certificate of Rehabilitation.  One important reason is that a pardon from the Governor of California can only be obtained when a Certificate has been granted. Additionally, the Certificate reinstates all civil and political rights that are suspended when an individual has been convicted of a felony, such as voting rights or the ability to obtain a business or professional license. But please note that the Certificate does not reinstate the right to possess a firearm or in most instances to avoid the registration requirements for sex offenders.

As might be expected, obtaining a Certificate of Rehabilitation is best accomplished with the assistance of an experienced criminal defense lawyer.

Marijuana Dispensaries

 Operating a marijuana dispensary is all the rage these days.  However, a marijuana dispensary is not running a normal retail outlet.  First of all, getting the product involves a difficult legal problem.  Once you have a source of marijuana, you have to get it to the store.  It is illegal to transport marijuana in California, especially significant quantities which are necessary to maintain reasonable inventory.  So if you order some pot and the person bring it to the store gets stopped, searched, and arrested, he cannot claim the defense that he was delivering the marijuana to a dispensary.  So unless you are growing pot in the back room of the shop [not a bad idea, incidentally], getting inventory is not so simple as calling fedex.

The next problem, which was featured in the Los Angeles Times recently, is what to do with the cash generated from the pot sales.  Banks are very reluctant to accept cash deposits from marijuana dispensaries, since they are concerned about money laundering statutes and other potential criminal liability.  Obviously the owner of the shop could employ an intermediary to make deposits under the name of a legal business, but the intermediary would also run the risk of money laundering charges.  Presumably a small operation would not be very vulnerable to prosecution, but if your business is successful the feds might take a look at your operation and potentially seek prosecution for money laundering.  So the more money you make the more exposure you would have...not a very nice way to do business.  But the rewards from operating a marijuana dispensary are quite significant these days, so the problems involved might very well be worth it. 

Mortgage Fraud

As a result of the recession of 2008, there has been a tremendous upswing in prosecutions ofr mortgage fraud.  Millions of homeowners found their equity in their home reduced to a substantial negative amount, causing the banking industry to initiate millions of foreclosures.  A cottage industry sprang up where lawyers, accountants, and numerous unscrupulous entrepeneurs offered their services to assist the homeowners avoid foreclosure.  Some of the mortgage "experts" were legitimate, but many others were scamming the desperate homeowners.  Often these "experts" would use fraudulent documents to convince the homeowners to pay substantial fees to help avoid foreclosure, or in many cases they would induce the homeowners to sign grant deeds which they would then record, make a settlement with the financial institution, and then take ownership of the property.   Other scams were also utilized, limited only by the creative criminal minds of the "experts".

sometimes innocent people would also attempt to ameliorate the drastic legal consequences of foreclosure, but make some negligent mistake in preparing the complex documents involved in these procedures.  Mortgage fraud prosecutions are very sexy for prosecuting agencies, and it is not uncommon for such innocent people to end up victims of the criminal justice system.  Any individual who suffers such injustice should definitely hire an experienced lawyer to fight a mortgage fraud prosecution.