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San Francisco Criminal Lawyer Blog

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DMV may use blood test results to suspend licenses even if there is a violation of  blood test regulations

WILLIAM LEE GERWIG, JR., Plaintiff and Appellant, v. STEVE GORDON, as Director, etc., Defendant and Respondent. (Cal. Ct. App., Feb. 19, 2021, No. D076921) 2021 WL 650274  Summary: When the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) holds an administrative hearing to consider whether to suspend a driver’s license, it can usually…

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1437 proceedings: At prima facie stage trial court should not determine facts to dismiss the petition

People v. Duchine (Cal. Ct. App., Feb. 9, 2021, No. A157980) 2021 WL 447105, at *1 Summary: John Allen Duchine was convicted of first degree murder in 1987. In 2019, he filed a petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1170.95,1 [Senate Bill 1437 (S.B. 1437)] with a declaration asserting…

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Decision of Court of Appeal is part of the Record of Conviction in a 1170.95 Hearing

People v. Clements (Cal. Ct. App., Feb. 4, 2021, No. E073965) 2021 WL 388834, at *1 Summary: In 1989, Jody Ann Clements solicited her ex-husband and her boyfriend to assault her 16-year-old brother who then two killed the brother by stabbing him and bludgeoning him with a rock.  A jury…

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Trail Court Must Evaluate Prosecution’s Reasons for Exclusion of Black Jurors

People v. Collins (Cal. Ct. App., Feb. 2, 2021, No. F076883) 2021 WL 343935  Summary: Collins was convicted of two counts of murder as a result of driving while impaired On appeal, he claims that  the trial court erred in denying his motion to challenge the prosecutor’s excusal of a…

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Lifers entitled to habeas relief for excessive incarceration must serve parole period

In re Palmer (Cal., Jan. 28, 2021, No. S256149) 2021 WL 279621, at *1   Summary: The California and federal Constitutions bar the infliction of punishment that is grossly disproportionate to the offender’s individual culpability. (U.S. Const., 8th Amend.; Cal. Const., art. I, § 17.) The courts, “as coequal guardian[s]…

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A limited waiver of the 60-day deadline for a preliminary hearing must be enforced

Favor v. Superior Court of San Bernardino County (Cal. Ct. App., Jan. 13, 2021, No. E075340) 2021 WL 118005  Summary: The right to a preliminary hearing within 60 days of arraignment “is absolute absent a defendant’s personal waiver.” (Ramos v. Superior Court (2007) 146 Cal.App.4th 719, 729, 53 Cal.Rptr.3d 189.)…

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2021-22 Governor’s Budget Summary for The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)

CDCR incarcerates people convicted of violent felonies, supervises those released to parole, and provides rehabilitation programs to help them reintegrate into the community with the tools to be drug-free, healthy, and employable members of society. The Budget proposes total funding of $13.1 billion ($12.7 billion General Fund and $345 million…

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California Supreme Court: CDCR must make nonviolent offender parole consideration available to inmates convicted of  registerable sex offenses

In re Gadlin Supreme Court of California. December 28, 2020 — P.3d —- 2020 WL 7690154  Proposition 57- nonviolent felony parole consideration In 2009, a three-judge federal district court panel ordered the CDCR “to reduce the prisoner population to 137.5% of the adult institution’s total design capacity.” (Coleman v. Schwarzenegger…

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