Rizio and Nelson California Law Blog

When in trouble – know where to turn

The criminal justice system categorizes crimes by two types for statistical purposes: Part I crimes and Part II crimes. The FBI records the information in the Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Agencies that contribute to this data, such as police departments, submit the information to the FBI once a month. They write, “In 2002, law enforcement agencies active in the UCR Program represented...

Solicitation of a Prostitute

Solicitation of a prostitute is in reference to a person attempting to incite lewd conduct from another person. Solicitation to engage in lewd conduct is characterized by a specific intent to engage in that conduct. Specific intent is intent specifically seeking a particular result. In a prostitution case, the result is an act of lewd conduct. Lewd conduct is the specific intent to sexually arouse,...

Lewd/Lascivious Conduct

While the crime of lewd and/or lascivious conduct is classified as a misdemeanor and is subsequently a somewhat minor charge, a conviction still generally results in a criminal record and the possibility of lifelong registration as a sex offender. For this reason, like all sex crime charges, it must be taken extremely seriously. Prosecutors will generally argue that the accused person committed certain...

PVDMI

With the focus of reducing California’s recidivism rate, and the mandate that the prison population be reduced, a risk assessment system is used to determine if a criminal should be released on parole, or be returned to prison. It’s called the Parole Violation Decision Making Instrument, or PVDMI. According to an article in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)...

California’s Early Prison Release

Effective Monday, January 25, 2010, the new law providing early release for non-violent criminals will allow approximately 6,500 inmates to be set free. Under the new law, which was signed into effect last fall, only those prisoners who have completed educational and vocational programs, and who have been selected as not likely to commit another crime, will be released. The Federal Court had ordered...

Marijuana In The News

When we think about marijuana’s negative connotations, we envision prison cells for drug use, selling marijuana, growing the drug, and maybe even selling or forging prescriptions for it. There rarely come visions of wildfire when we mention the phrase “marijuana problems,” but this can actually be a major concern in the state of California. Case in point: Just this year people have...

Grand Theft Auto in Decline in CA

According to Reuters, September 24, 2009, the rate of auto theft incidences in California is decreasing. This is great news for the victims who have gone through the inconvenience and expense of having their car stolen. One of the programs that has been developed to combat auto theft is VIN etching. The VIN, Vehicle Identification Number, which every automobile manufactured has, is unique for every...

Immigration Laws

These days, America truly is a melting pot for individuals from every nation in the world. However, not all “citizens” of the United States are legal, and immigration laws have come into question on many local, state, and federal fronts in the last few years to combat illegal immigration, especially from Mexico and Cuba. Those who enter the country illegally do so for a variety of reasons....

Arson In California

Arson is very serious Arson is a very serious crime, and can even carry the death penalty in the state of California under certain circumstances. These include, but are not limited to: When the arson causes death to one or more individuals, including emergency personnel Under California’s Three Strikes Law, when there are mitigating factors such as malice aforethought In June of this year,...