Fresno Criminal Lawyer Blog

ABC News reports that an alleged gang member led Fresno Police on a high-speed chase that ended with a crash.

The 29-year-old man allegedly drove away from a police officer who was making a traffic stop recently.

Those who are once convicted of gang activity can never again shake that reputation, no matter what they do. And the scary thing about Fresno gang crimes is that being labeled a "gang member" in California is so easy. There is a list of 30 criteria for being a gang member.

Among them is wearing clothing of a certain color, even if you have no idea it could be related to a gang, "associating" with a known gang member, even if it means just receiving a piece of mail from someone or being seen in public with a documented gang member -- even if the person doesn't know the gang member is, in fact, a gang member.

This vague criteria is constantly under attack by Fresno Criminal Defense Attorneys, yet lawmakers have been resistant to changing it. Gang crime has been a problem in California, more than any other state, for years. And, in an effort to try to cut down on the crime, politicians simply raise the penalties and try to make labeling someone as a "gang member" more far-reaching. Sadly, it sometimes ensnares non-gang members who don't deserve the bad reputation.

According to the news account, the man was being pulled over by police for a traffic stop, though the article doesn't explain why the officer had probable cause to make the stop in the first place. If it was simply because the officer recognized the driver as a gang member, that wouldn't be a lawful stop. There must be a reason, such as swerving, running a stop sign or having a broken tail light before an officer can make a stop.

ABC News reports that after the driver pulled away, the chase reached up to 100 mph and the SUV the driver was operating eventually crashed 10 minutes into the chase after hitting a pick-up truck.

The driver of the SUV was injured and taken to the hospital, while the pick-up truck driver received minor injuries. The SUV also contained one passenger, who suffered minor injuries, as well. The news station reports that the man allegedly threw a loaded hand gun out the window as he drove off.

If the man had a prior felony conviction, it's certainly possible that he was nervous about carrying a weapon, because that would be illegal. And he may have known the outlandish penalties that a person who has a past as a gang member can receive, even if new charges have no connection to a gang. That may have led to the chase in the first place.

These allegations must be fought aggressively in court. Making a past mistake shouldn't mean that a person must live with it forever, with extreme penalties and harsh sanctions that can radically alter a person's life.

Continue reading "Fresno Gang Member Allegedly Leads Police on Chase That Ends With Crash" »

ABC News recently reported that police stopped a van in Southwest Fresno, which led to the arrest of three gang members.

Gang charges in Fresno can carry steep penalties because California lawmakers have enhanced penalties so much in response to gang-related violence. But what these laws have done is gone too far. People who receive mail or who have communication with a known gang member or even wear clothes of a certain color can lead to police determining you are part of a gang. The law is vague and allows for many interpretations, which is why hiring an experienced Fresno Criminal Defense Attorney is so critical early on in the process.

Once associated with a gang in a court of law, the designation can be virtually impossible to shed.

According to the story, a van carrying eight people was pulled over because two weren't wearing seat belts. Let's stop right there. Police officers aren't stupid. They can recognize people who have committed crimes in the past and they have been known to monitor them even though profiling practices have been criticized.

It may be difficult to determine that out of eight passengers, two weren't wearing a seat belt. With people crammed together inside a vehicle, even the trained eye may not be able to make that determination on a vehicle traveling 45 to 50 miles per hour.

The article goes on to state that the driver had a suspended license and after searching the vehicle, police found two loaded guns under the seats. Two men were charged for the weapons and a woman faces a charge for allegedly possessing a small amount of crack cocaine.

For one, it's unclear why police felt probable cause to search the van. If their initial stop was based on the fact that they spotted people not wearing seat belts, that's one thing. But even if the driver had a suspended license, what prompted them to feel the need to search the vehicle for weapons or drugs?

Simply having a criminal record, gang-related or not, doesn't mean police can search the vehicle, especially if the initial stop was based simply on a minor traffic infraction. And with eight people packed into a vehicle, proving who possessed the guns may be a tricky obstacle for the prosecutors assigned to this case.

In situations where several people are inside a vehicle, police must have solid proof that the weapons, drugs or illicit materials actually belong to the person they are charging. Simply riding with a group of friends doesn't mean a person should be charged with a crime if unknowingly, there is something illegal inside.

These matters and more must be addressed by a Fresno attorney intent on protecting the rights of those who are accused. An arrest is no proof that a person has committed a crime, despite what the news media or public thinks. Holding law enforcement and prosecutors accountable for their decisions and actions is absolutely necessary and must be done by challenging evidence, police reports and eyewitness accounts.

Continue reading "Fresno Police Stop Van, Arrest 3 Gang Members" »

The Fresno Bee recently reported that police arrested seven people in connection with alleged violent graffiti taggers.

Tagging crews are considered by some to be a gateway to gang activity; juveniles frequently participate in these groups. But juvenile crimes in Fresno have serious consequences and can have long-term ramifications. Hiring an experienced and aggressive Fresno Criminal Defense Attorney is critical to protecting the rights of young teenagers in trouble with the law.

According to police, they also seized three weapons as part of their operation. Forty officers from three agencies searched 34 locations resulting in the seven felony arrests. Three of the arrests were for probation violations, three for warrants and one for possession of a sawed off shotgun.

According to the newspaper report, it's unclear how the arrests were related to tagging. And the newspaper article doesn't state how old the defendants are.

In Los Angeles, officials there recently arrested eight members of an alleged tagging crew that authorities believe are responsible for more than 1,600 pieces of graffiti vandalism throughout Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Under California law, any organization whose primary focus is carrying out criminal activity is considered a gang and given all the focus on gang activity throughout California, it doesn't take much to fit that definition. You can be linked to a gang even for receiving mail from a known gang member.

And under the law, penalties can be enhanced for crimes committed related to gang activity and can turn sentences from months into years and years into decades, if not properly defended in court.

Tagging crews and many gangs are known for attracting young people. And that's why many teenagers are accused of committing crimes. But those arrested as a juvenile shouldn't take these charges lightly. Some consider juvenile charges no big deal, but they have long-term implications.

For one, teenagers charged with a crime can be disqualified from earning scholarships, getting into college and serving in the armed forces or even being able to get a job.

Being charged as a juvenile is much more advantageous than being charged as an adult. The criminal justice system seeks to punish defendants who are convicted, while the juvenile justice system seeks to rehabilitate teenagers in order to stop them from committing crimes in the future.

The system does this by making them participate in work camps or serve time on community service rather than being sent to prison, where they are housed with hardened criminals.

But being prosecuted as a juvenile is no sure thing just based on age alone. The state has the discretion many times to charge a teenager as an adult, depending on the circumstances. That's why hiring an experienced Fresno Criminal Defense Attorney is so important. Being able to talk with prosecutors and lobby on behalf of a defendant can mean the difference in how the case proceeds.

Continue reading "Fresno Police Arrest Seven in Tagging Crew Operation" »

According to ABC News, police recently arrested seven people, some of whom are allegedly gang members, and charged them with operating chop shops.

Theft and gang-related charges in California can be severe, but hiring an experienced attorney who can guide you through sometimes overwhelming criminal justice system can be invaluable. Fresno Theft Attorneys are always available for a free consultation.

According to the news report, police received an anonymous tip directing them to a house in Central Fresno, where police allegedly watched men strip a car. After moving in, they found more cars and more parts that led them to an East Central Fresno house.

Theft charges in Fresno can range from shoplifting to carjacking and the penalties can vary as well. In extreme cases, a defendant can be sentenced to years in prison, followed by years on probation. They may also have to pay restitution, which is money paid back to victims for stolen goods.

But what's interesting about the story is that all told, seven men were charged with auto theft. Police said some of the men either have gang ties or previous auto theft charges in their past. Authorities hope to use gang enhancements to keep them from being released from jail due to overcrowding.

California's prisons and jails are overcrowded and the U.S. Supreme Court recently ordered the state to release some 30,000 prisoners over the next three years because the conditions causes cruel and unusual punishment for inmates, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

So, what police hope to do in this case is convince a judge these men shouldn't be released because they may have ties to gangs. In California, a defendant's sentence can be increased if they have a history of gang-related crime.

California Penal Code 186.22 states that defendants who commit crimes associated with a street gang can be sentenced to anywhere from two to 10 years on top of the punishment they receive for the crime. Other California gang laws provide for stiffer punishment for alleged gang members.

All of this shows the need for experienced criminal defense representation at every step of the proceeding. Gang crimes are strictly enforced in California. If a judge is convinced a defendant is part of a gang, even a loosely affiliated gang not known for violence, he or she will have justification for sending someone to prison for a long time.

Unfortunately, it is very easy for police to convince authorities a person is involved in a gang. They typically rely on 30 criteria to classify someone as a gang member. For instance, receiving mail from a known gang member is one. So is being photographed with someone who is flashing a gang sign or even wearing clothes of a certain color. These standards are low, but the consequences are high.

Gang enhancements in California are part of the reason why the prisons and jails are so overcrowded. The standards for proving a person is in a gang are so low, yet the possible prison terms are so long. Whether a person is charged with simply working on a vehicle or being involved in a bloody shootout, hiring an experienced defense lawyer is the most important step.

Continue reading "Fresno Chop Shop Raid Nets Seven Arrests" »

A 33-year-old man wanted on charges of robbery and assault in Clovis has been arrested by police, the Fresno Bee reported.

The defendant is one of four men believed to have attacked a man at a Clovis residence in November, according to police. The defendant, who police say is a wanted parolee, was found and arrested at a South Argyle Avenue apartment. He was booked into Fresno County Jail on suspicion of armed robbery, kidnapping and assault.

In other news, a 35-year-old man is facing charges of burglary in Visalia.

Police say the victim reported returning home shortly before Christmas and finding two men trying to ransack his house on West Country Avenue in Visalia. The men drove away in a white Honda Accord but the victim reported the license plate number to police.

A Fresno criminal defense attorney should always be called to handle robbery or burglary charges. How a defendant is charged can have a major impact on a case. Robbery and burglary are distinct crimes that each carry their own sentencing guidelines upon conviction. Robbery, which generally implies violence or the threat of force to a person who is at home at the time of the theft, is a more serious charge.

Whether a gun was used and whether a person was injured in the commission of a theft crime can also impact how a defendant is charged. Gang enhancements may also increase the potential penalty.

And frequently innocent parties are unfairly charged with receiving stolen property or obstruction of justice in connection with a theft crime and the subsequent investigation. In short, the state can charge you with whatever it wants. It's what you are convicted of in a court of law that matters. Your attorney will thoroughly review your case and help you decide upon the best course of action. Sometimes fighting a charge at trial is the best bet for protecting your rights. In other cases, challenging evidence or seeking a reduction or dismissal of the charges may offer the best outcome in your particular case.

Continue reading "Theft, burglary and robbery charges best left to experienced Fresno defense attorney" »

Five suspects are facing gang charges after being accused of being members of the Bulldogs street gang in Fresno, the Monterey Herald reported.

A Fresno gang defense attorney should always represent juveniles or adults facing gang charges in Fresno or the surrounding area. In some cases, gang enhancement can lead to a longer prison stay if convicted. In other cases, a life sentence is possible. Fresno juvenile defense attorneys must be particularly vigilant in fighting any allegations of gang association. Once such an association is made, it can lead to stiffer penalties for gang crimes in the future and can make it that much more difficult to fight the allegation of gang involvement in the event of future criminal charges.

Gang enhancements are frequently abused by law enforcement and prosecutors and can significantly impact the potential penalty for a crime. The law makes it illegal to be involved with a street gang, a neighborhood gang, a motorcycle gang or other group engaged in criminal activity. However, there are more than 30 different criteria prosecutors can use to allege you are affiliated with a gang. Wearing clothes of a certain color, or being affiliated or photographed with someone who is affiliated with a gang can be enough to get charged with a gang offense.

In this case, the three are charged in Salinas on a 28-page complaint, alleging a multicounty crime spree. They are facing 17 felony counts, including vehicle theft, robbery, resisting arrest and attempted murder of a sheriff's deputy. Authorities allege they stole a Lincoln Navigator on Sunday in Fresno and drove to Pacific Cove, where they are charged with fleeing from a traffic stop. Two instances involved gunfire over the next several hours as they made their way down the coast.

San Luis Obispo deputies opened fire on the vehicle, flattening the tires and wounding the driver. The defendants range in age from 21 to 32 and are being held on bail as high as $1.6 million. Several of the defendants face the possibility of life sentences if convicted of the attempted murder of a man sleeping in his car in Big Sur.

All of the defendants have been charged with gang enhancements.

Continue reading "Gang charges in Fresno require aggressive defense for juvenile, adult defendants" »

Eighteen defendants were arrested on gang charges in Fresno, including 11 wanted on murder charges in Fresno County.

CBS47 reports hundreds of officers and dozens of law enforcement agencies targeted the homes in the southeast area of the county.

Fresno defense lawyers must frequently defend clients against gang charges by overzealous prosecutors. Gang enhancements can lead to harsher punishments and are usually considered "strike" crimes under the state's Three Strikes Law. The state has more than 30 different criteria it can use to charge someone as a gang criminal.

Of course, charges do not get more serious than murder. But we have discussed before the shaky nature of such cases when arrests are made as part of a large sweep. Law enforcement and state prosecutors get their day on television -- months later, when many of the cases are dropped or drastically reduced, little or nothing is reported.

The reality is that the state did not suddenly make 11 murder cases, unless it is relying upon unnamed informants, jailhouse snitches or other questionable evidence. Frequently, investigators hope such mass arrests prompt at least some of the defendants to begin talking to authorities. Often, the best evidence against a defendant is statements made to police after arrest.

In such cases, in fact in all cases, we urge you to remain silent and invoke your right to an attorney. At this stage in the process, you are not going to talk yourself out of trouble and whatever you do say could conflict with your defense strategy down the road.

You have the right to remain silent: Use it.

During the arrests, police also reported seizing 20 pound of marijuana, a grenade launcher and a grenade, as well as 30 other weapons.

Continue reading "Gang charges, murder cases in Fresno require experienced and aggressive legal representation" »

About 6 months ago, a lady came to see me because she had read my page on gang offenses on this website and thought that I might be a good match to represent her grandson on some very serious charges. She had already hired an attorney who she wasn't unhappy with, but felt as though she needed somebody who really knew what they were doing in the criminal arena. Her grandson was standing accused of some heavy duty offenses, four counts of attempted murder to start. Later that would turn into 14 counts, four counts of attempted murder, gang enhancements, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, multiple charges of assault with a semi-automatic weapon and first degree residential burglary. Really, other than a completed homicide, the case could not get more serious.

Well to cut to the chase, I decided to take on the challenge and represent this young man. In the course of our investigation, and much credit goes to my investigator Robert O'Day and Searchlight Investigations, we discovered several witnesses who were willing to testify to the truth- that my client was several hundred feet away from where this incident occurred and where the shots had been fired at the victim.

Despite some hesitance on the part of some of our witnesses, we eventually had our day(s) in court. Today, we saw that justice is still alive, the court decided that due to the state of the evidence, the charges against my client, and the other two kids who were charged, could not be found to be true beyond a reasonable doubt. The juvenile petition was not sustained and my client was set free. It will probably be one of those trials that I will look back on after my career is over, with pride that wrongs were righted and, just maybe, we helped save that young man's from a lifetime in California's penal system.

Tonight I'll sleep a little bit better knowing that our constitution isn't quite dead yet and it still may be possible to get a fair trial in this country. To be honest, sometimes I get jaded by what I sometimes jokingly refer to as the "criminal injustice system." One day I was in court and this prisoner turned to me and said to me: you know why the call it justice don't you? I said, "no, why?" In response, he said, "because its just-us." Well, today, perhaps, that may not be the case.

Last week, a Fresno father who allowed his son to get a tattoo of a dog's paw was sentenced to six years in prison. The story unfolded when Enrique Gonzalez' 7-year old son begged his dad to let him get a tattoo. Enrique's friend, Travis Gorman, who was already giving Enrique a tattoo, tattooed a small dog's paw (a symbol of the Fresno bulldog street gang) on Gonzalez's son. From this seemingly innocuous event, a criminal trial and general uproar would ensue. Incredibly, the Fresno DA's office charged Enrique Gonzalez with aggravated mayhem (intentionally disfiguring his son) for the benefit of the bulldog gang.

It is important to note that aggravated mayhem carries the potential of a life sentence with the possibility of parole (see Penal Code §205). Generally, mayhem is charged where a person has been seriously disfigured, for example a stab wound to the face would qualify for such a charge. The law specifies that "permanent disability or disfigurement of another human being" or depriving "a human being of a limb, organ, or member of his or her body" qualifies under the law as aggravated mayhem. However, it seems that the prosecution of this case was a clear example of the "war on gangs" going overboard.

This case did not seem to support anything more than a felony or misdemeanor prosecution in this case for possible child abuse (Penal Code §273(d)). Unfortunately, as a Fresno Gang Crime Defense Attorney, I've experienced the hand of injustice when it comes to prosecution of gang offenses.

A case in point is a case I had several years ago, where a young man was accused of being a member of the Hoover Crip Street Gang due to the fact that he was wearing an orange shirt. As a Fresno criminal lawyer, I defended this young man after the arresting officer claimed that it was common knowledge that members of the Hoover Crip Street Gang wear the color orange.

With that scant bit of information, the Fresno County District Attorney's office added several gang enhancements to the criminal complaint. While these gang enhancements were ultimately dropped, it served up a reminder of the fact that gang prosecutions can go way over the line. Working as a Fresno Criminal Defense Lawyer, I've seen many instances of overzealous prosecution when it comes to gang crimes. And I think that is exactly what took place in this case.

Whatever happened to common sense? Six years because some father made an idiot decision to give his son a small tattoo? While clearly lacking in rudimentary common sense, it was far from being a crime where someone should be carted off to the State pen for six years. Also, how about us the tax payers? Are we really served by having to provide room and board for Enrique Gonzalez while he sits in prison for the next six years. That I think is the real crime. Maybe the Fresno DA's office should be prosecuted for wasting our money and our resources by putting Mr. Gonzalez in prison for the next six years.

Continue reading "Fresno Tattoo Case Ends with Dad Getting Stiff Prison Sentence" »

The Mercury News reports that five teenagers have been arrested in the stabbing death of a 17-year-old boy at a birthday party.

In this case, as many as 10 kids are expected to be arrested in connection with the stabbing. A Fresno juvenile defense lawyer should be called in immediately to represent any teenagers arrested in this case. Investigators will likely arrest everyone they can get their hands on, threaten those that don't cooperate with criminal charges, and charge those that do cooperate based on their own statements. Those who failed to stop the stabbing could be blamed for participating in it. In such cases, the criminal charges can be just as serious as the person ultimately charged with the teen's death.

Additionally, these teens could be charged as adults and end up with strikes on their record.

According to the sheriff's department, the boy was stabbed multiple times during an argument among a group of males outside a party for a teen's 15th birthday. About 150 people were in the rural home outside Kerman at the time.

The sheriff said the suspects are gang members and all of them are 15 or 16. The department reports that investigators are searching for five more suspects and additional arrests are possible.

Those facing gang charges in Los Angeles can face increased penalties and will likely face a strike conviction. Authorities use 30 different criteria to determine if a person is involved in a gang, including association with other known gang members.

Being affiliated with a gang through criminal charges can have long-term consequences that follow a teen well into adulthood. The only defense is an aggressive offense.

Continue reading "Fresno juveniles face gang charges after fatal birthday party stabbing" »