Until 2019, countless of inmates in California had been serving unjustly long sentences for murder convictions, even though they never killed, attempted to kill, or intended for a person to die. Fortunately, as part of the ongoing criminal justice reform in California, in 2017, the state legislature acknowledged the need…
Gun Law Enhancements Can Result in Lengthy Sentences. LET’S TALK CRIMINAL GUN ENHANCEMENTS (AB1509) Under California gun laws, a sentence for a felony case can be “enhanced” if a gun was possessed or used during the commission of a crime. These laws can extend sentences well beyond the maximum punishment…
CDC Prisoners seeking early release via the granting of parole. LA DA GEORGE GASCON CONTINUES TO MAKE WAVES WITH PAROLE CHANGES Since being sworn in as Los Angeles County District Attorney in December 2020, George Gascon has hardly been out of the headlines. From eliminating sentence enhancements for hate crimes…
NEW LA COUNTY DA PROMOTING SWEEPING CHANGES (GEORGE GASCON) On December 7, 2020, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon was sworn in as the County’s 43rd District Attorney. Following his defeat of Jackie Lacey, a DA who had built a reputation for a “tough-on-crime” approach, Gascon went straight to…
FELONY MURDER RULE RELIEF (SB 1437) On September 30, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 1437. SB 1437 became known as the Felony Murder Rule effectively changing the rules for how California charges felony murders. Prior to SB 1437, California law allowed a defendant to be convicted…
Senate Bill 1437 took effect in January of this year, yet many still challenge whether the new state law regarding felony murder is constitutional. The old felony murder doctrine left countless people locked up in prison, some for decades, for murders they didn’t commit. Essentially, anyone who was an accomplice…
SB 1437 is a senate bill that has been signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, a law that goes into effect on the first day of the new year. What does this mean for convicted felons who are behind bars for a murder that occurred during a burglary, robbery,…
On Wednesday November 18, a 29-year-old Downey police officer was shot to death while sitting in his own car. According to news reports at Fox News, Officer Ricardo “Ricky” Galvez, a former Marine, was in plain clothes and sitting in his own vehicle when two men ran up and opened…
On Friday July 10, Long Beach Police Dept. detectives arrested a man in connection with the July 4th murder of 38-year-old Allen Estes who was found stabbed to death at Anaheim Street and Dawson Avenue. According to news sources, 24-year-old Norman Matthew Perdon, Estes’ former roommate, is accused of the…
Mary Virginia Jones, a 74-year-old Los Angeles woman who has been incarcerated for 32 years in connection with a 1981 murder, was scheduled to be released from prison on March 25, according to a news article at CBS Los Angeles. A judge ruled on Monday that she would be released…