January 8 2016 in Case Results, Theft
A 21-year-old woman was recently alleged to have stolen a laptop case cover and keyboard from a local university bookstore in California while she was waiting for a friend. The woman was therefore charged with shoplifting with the total value of the stolen items just under $120. Immediately after h...
January 4 2016 in Media Coverage
New laws within San Diego may allow legalized marijuana cultivation for the first time ever. Cultivation would be regulated through the city, most likely with a temporary moratorium. Jessica McElfresh said, “It would provide clarification to the entire population of the city of San Diego where peo...
December 30 2015 in Federal Marijuana Issues, Legal Blog, Marijuana Charges, Medical Marijuana
In California, medical marijuana patients have a good chance of being able to continue treatment while on parole or probation. In fact, the law states that a prisoner can even request to use marijuana while in jail—but how often these requests are granted is difficult to ascertain. Your ability ...
December 29 2015 in Assault, Case Results
A night of drinking with friends resulted in a California woman in her mid-20s being charged with felony level assault. A few hours later, the woman began searching for her car in the urban setting and called over to her friends once she found her vehicle. Out of nowhere, a drunk man ran out of his ...
December 14 2015 in Criminal Convictions, Drug Crimes, Federal Marijuana Issues, Legal Blog, Marijuana Charges, Misdemeanor
Law enforcement agencies will usually choose to open narcotics investigations into suspected dealers or distributors—they rarely investigate mere drug use. Since police departments and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) have limited resources, they in most cases investigate people who are suspected...
December 4 2015 in Drug Crimes, Legal Blog, Marijuana Charges
Governor Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 1449 into law on October 1, 2010. The bill was one of several legislative initiatives about marijuana introduced in the wake of the 1996 Compassionate Use Act (CUA), which made the use and cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes legal. Under the CUAâ...
November 19 2015 in Asset Forfeiture, Legal Blog
Civil asset forfeiture occurs when the authorities confiscate the property of people whose property may be connected to criminal activity — even if they themselves are never charged with a crime. Intended as a means of draining resources from criminal organizations, civil forfeiture has become a l...
November 4 2015 in Criminal Convictions, Legal Blog
In place since 1994, California’s three strikes law imposes a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life on people who have committed three felonies. Despite its name, the three strikes law also imposes additional penalties on people facing their second felony charge. In 2012, California voters passe...
October 19 2015 in Criminal Convictions, Drug Crimes, Federal Marijuana Issues, Legal Blog, Marijuana Charges
This year, there has been an explosion of hospital visits related to the use of synthetic marijuana. Usually, a few hundred patients per month come to emergency rooms across the US after becoming ill from consuming synthetic marijuana. But since April of this year, there have been thousands of visit...
October 16 2015 in Media Coverage
Governor Jerry Brown recently signed several bills into law that will regulate how cannabis is grown, transported, and sold throughout the State of California. KPBS spoke with Jessica McElfresh about these new laws. "It created a great deal of confusion among law enforcement," Jessica said. Click he...
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