Criminal Defense

21 Sep How Would California’s Prop 64 Change Drug Law Enforcement?

Posted at 14:28h in Criminal Defense by Natalie Bermudez

Since the Compassionate Use Act (Prop 215) passed in 1996, California has had some of the most lenient marijuana laws in the United States. Under California Health and Safety Code section 11357, possession for personal use (or “simple possession”) of not more than 28.5 grams of...

20 Sep Department of Justice Directs Forensic Trial Witnesses to Stop Claiming “Scientific Certainty.”

Posted at 23:53h in Criminal Defense by Caleb Mason

Last week the U.S. Department of Justice issued directives to all DOJ agencies regarding accurate analysis and presentation of forensic evidence. The directives can be found here. Directive Number 1 provides that agencies must now “ensure that forensic examiners are not using the expressions ‘reasonable scientific...

14 Sep Recent Publications On Free Speech And Best Practices

Posted at 14:33h in Criminal Defense, Litigation by Ken White

This week I have two columns up elsewhere. At the Daily Journal, I wrote about the State of California's constitutionally questionable decision to prevent an artist from showing a Civil War painting at the Big Fresno Fair on the dubious grounds that it violated a...

12 Sep California’s New Electronic Communications Privacy Act

Posted at 15:40h in Criminal Defense by Natalie Bermudez

On October 8, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“CalECPA”), which took effect on January 1, 2016. While not the first digital privacy legislation in the United States, CalECPA has been hailed as a landmark victory for digital privacy. The law...

02 Sep Victory In Trial Of Crucial First Amendment Case

Posted at 00:00h in Criminal Defense by Brown White & Osborn LLP

Brown White & Osborn LLP is thrilled to announce today’s successful result in the pro bono defense of our client Peter Wexler. The United States charged Mr. Wexler with twenty counts arising from his blog posts, claiming that he made criminal threats against an Assistant Director...

23 Jun Brown White & Osborn LLP Wins Judgment of Factual Innocence In High-Profile Criminal Case

Posted at 19:37h in Criminal Defense by Caleb Mason

When a person is charged with a crime, his or her first worry is conviction. When the government charges a defendant, it throws all its resources and authority into putting that person in prison. And it usually succeeds. Most criminal charges result in guilty pleas,...

23 Jun Brown White & Osborn LLP Published In Los Angeles Times, Reason Magazine, FaultLines

Posted at 19:36h in Criminal Defense, Litigation by Ken White

Brown White & Osborn LLP’s lawyers regularly write about criminal justice and civil litigation issues for publications nationwide. Here are three recent examples: Confessions of an Ex-Prosecutor at Reason Magazine, discussing how culture shapes prosecutorial behavior. Brock Turner: The Sort of Defendant Who Is Spared “Severe Impact,” at the FaultLines Blog,...

09 Dec BWO Partner Ken White Guest Posts At Mimesis Law

Posted at 21:42h in Criminal Defense by Ken White

Today I’ve got a guest post at Mimesis Law about how our constitutional rights are interconnected....

09 Dec The Downfall of Dennis Hastert: Lesson in False Statements and Bank Withdrawal Structuring—Not the House Freedom Caucus

Posted at 17:15h in Criminal Defense by Caleb Mason

So you were thinking that Speaker of the House is a cursed position? Enough to make a grown man cry (and cry and cry, and chain-smoke, and quit)? You can now add Dennis Hastert’s troubles to the list of woes besetting Speakers. Hastert, the longest-serving...

13 Oct Government Code Section 1090, Prohibiting Conflicts of Interest, Is Now Even More of a Hazard For The Unwary

Posted at 21:47h in Criminal Defense by Ken White

California Government Code Section 1090 (“Section 1090”) – which prohibits public officials and public employees from “making” public contracts in which they have a financial interest – is notoriously vague, broad, and malleable. The California Legislature recently aggravated those troublesome qualities by expanding Section 1090...