Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

A recent case out of Michigan shows that sloppy police work must be considered when a Los Angeles criminal appeals lawyer is reviewing a case.

Whether cases of robbery or murder, an experienced lawyer will be able to look at all aspects of a case, from the investigation to the arrest to the conviction.

Not all errors in a Los Angeles criminal appeal require a new trial, but collectively they can. And, in rare situations, the mistakes made by defense lawyers, prosecutors or judges can be so severe that charges must be dropped altogether.

Wheeler v. The City of Lansing was a case based around a home invasion robbery investigation headed by a police officer and a sheriff's deputy in 2008. The two had been trying to solve who was responsible when they found a man who was alleged to have knowledge about some of the cases.

He told them that Wheeler, the girlfriend of a suspect, had in her apartment property from several home invasion robberies. The man took the officers to the apartment and pointed to the building number and the unit and pointed out a snow shovel in front that identified the unit. The officer looked up and noted the street name as Mapletree Court.

While the two officers went to a prosecutor to try to obtain a search warrant, another officer doing surveillance on the apartment obtained a key from the manager, who confirmed that Wheeler lived at the unit in question.

A prosecutor typed up the affidavit, but only one of the officers signed the affidavit, even though both provided information. The warrant stated that officers were looking for personal property from 19 home invasions even though the affidavit only described two home invasions that the informant admitted to participating in. Despite the discrepancy, the search warrant was signed.

After the SWAT team busted into the apartment, they came out with cameras, a power cord for a laptop, jewelry, a 19-inch television, a laptop, video game consoles and a bill addressed to Wheeler and one to her boyfriend. The warrant had sought much more property, not including big screen TVs, guns and computers that weren't found.

Wheeler filed a lawsuit against the officers and the police department, alleging that her constitutional rights were violated. She claimed she was subjected to unlawful search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment, among others. She also claimed that her address is Endicott Court, not Mapletree Court.

Attorneys for the officer who didn't sign the affidavit claimed he should be entitled to "qualified immunity" because he didn't physically seize any items and because he didn't sign the affidavit. He passed the buck to the prosecutor and judge who signed the warrant.

Among other issues discussed in its opinion, the appeals court reversed the decision by the lower court that granted qualified immunity for the officer who provided facts for the search warrant, but didn't sign it.

While this is a civil lawsuit, many of these same facts could have been brought up during the criminal case as well as during an appeal of the criminal charge. At any rate, officers will sometimes get so caught up in the chase of finding a suspect that they mislead judges on affidavits -- intentionally or not -- or fudge facts to get the judge to sign off.

This can lead to charges being dropped if discovered by a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney. If not, an appeals lawyer is there to pick up the pieces and ensure that everything is reviewed properly to ensure a defendant's rights are upheld.

Continue reading "Wheeler v. The City of Lansing Shows That Police Actions Should Be Scrutinized in L.A. Criminal Appeals" »

The Los Angeles Police Department reports that it has cleared nearly two-thirds of the backlogged rape test kits found in a 2008 city audit and expects to clear the remaining 4,500 by the summer of 2010. In a scandal that made the national news, a 2008 city audit of the LAPD discovered a backlog of 12,000 unprocessed rape kits, 200 of which had been awaiting testing for more than 10 years, putting them past the prosecution statue of limitations.

Rape kits are used to collect physical evidence of sexual assault, including DNA, from a victim's body after an assault. Timely processing and analysis of rape kits is critical to identifying and convicting rapists, particularly repeat offenders, before they assault another victim. The DNA processed in rape kits is often the only method of positively identifying an attacker or exonerating someone falsely accused. Earlier this year, DNA analysis delayed because of LAPD's backlog led to the arrest of a serial rapist/murderer the police have been hunting since the 1970s.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), a victim's rights advocacy that helped uncover the backlog, has made an example of LAPD's poor handling of the problem to give the issue a national forum. LAPD is not the only law enforcement agency dealing with a backlog of rape kits. Poor administration, lack of funding and the failure or inability of law enforcement to prioritize DNA testing in rape cases are cited as common problems leading to testing backlogs. Two new bills have been introduced in the California legislature that would improve law enforcement's ability to process rape kits throughout the state.

Rape is the most serious of the sex crimes prosecuted in California. Illegal sexual activity includes rape, child abuse, child molestation, sexual assaults, sexual battery, indecent exposure, statutory rape, date rape, prostitution, solicitation, pornography and sodomy. Penalties for conviction of rape and other sex crimes are severe and life changing. Offenders can be required to register with local police as sex offenders which can severely limit housing and employment and ostracize offenders from the community. If you are charged with rape or any California sex crime, it is critical that your immediately seek counsel from an experienced criminal defense attorney like Stephen Rodriguez in Los Angeles.

While a few sex crimes such as indecent exposure and solicitation for prostitution are usually charged as misdemeanors, most sex crimes in the state of California are charged as felonies and vigorously prosecuted by special Sex Crimes Units in the District Attorney's office. If contacted to represent you early enough, a knowledgeable criminal defense attorney like Stephen Rodriguez may be able to minimize sex offense charges against you.