Reputation.Resources.Results

Many times when a person is pulled over by the police in his or her automobile, the police will search the vehicle the person was driving without a warrant, and without permission. Today we will talk about warrantless vehicle searches.

Arizona’s new sealing statute is a powerful way for people who have been charged or convicted of many common offenses, to be able to say “no” in many instances. But the statute is riddled with exceptions and limitations. Use care when petitioning, and even if granted, use care when answering applications for certain types of jobs. I hope this helps.

Diversion is a recognized court procedure, common in Arizona, but that is discretionary, and controlled entirely by the prosecutor, but that when offered and completed allows you to have all criminal charges entirely dismissed

In Arizona, “Aggravated Assault” charged under ARS § 13-1204 is a Class Four Felony, and in some cases with mandatory prison.  Today, we’ll discuss some of the most common  types of Aggravated Assault.

This blog discusses how in a typical criminal case such as a DUI or domestic violence police misconduct even if not resulting in grievous misfortune  can sometimes provide a helpful remedy  for the criminally accused.

According to the Government up to 95 % of all criminal cases in the United states are resolved through plea bargaining.  In fact, in one recent study  only 2% of federal criminal defendants went  to trial, and most who did were  found guilty.

Many people are surprised by how outsized the consequences some misdemeanor convictions can be. The “collateral” consequences—meaning all those hidden administrative, licensing, employment, custody-related, lifestyle related consequences that you don’t think even exist.

For thirty years two federal laws prohibited all those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses, and  also those not convicted or even charged with any crime but subject to domestic violence “restraining orders” from ever possessing firearms

Criminal records of arrests, even where charges are dismissed, and almost all convictions, even for minor offenses, can and do follow a person for years, impacting professional lives. Arizona as most you are probably aware by now is one of the states that does not generally offer true expungement of most adult criminal convictions and heretofore provided only limited relief for wrongful arrests where charges were dismissed, or where the matter involved only possessory amounts of marijuana

A preliminary hearing is the ostensible first stop in the system of supposed checks and balances embedded in the concept of criminal prosecution and justice . The thinking is—when a person is charged with a serious crime—any felony—the criminal justice system isn’t going to simply take the word of the police officer[s] doing the arrest (in misdemeanors that’s the case). Because felonies are so serious there should be at the least, a brief hearing after release before a “neutral and detached” magistrate, to kind of check the work of the police officer—to independently review in summary fashion the initial evidence gathered.