Law Office of Andrew Bouvier-Brown

Now, after you read this article, you may wonder: who are the people forcing the Sheriff to keep employing a deputy who tried taking an upskirt photo of a woman in court, then flat-out lied about it to investigators? Who are the people forcing the Sheriff to keep employing a deputy who brazenly lied on his official reports about whether his colleague slammed a person's face into concrete? They are the men and women of the Civil Service Commission. Their names: Dennis F. Hernandez, Naomi Nightingale, Steven Afriat, John Donner, and Z. Greg Kahwajian, President. They are unelected political appointees, and they are making it incredibly difficult to implement even the most basic of reforms within the LASD.

As of January 1, 2016, it is unlawful for police to seize information from a cell phone without first obtaining a warrant. However, the issue isn’t exactly settled, as the courts must determine what the legislature meant by the specific language used in this new law; it has serious implications for any case where the police seize information from a cellular phone or similar device.

I'm going to just go ahead and note that for whatever else he was-- and 'deeply homophobic' is high on that list, to be sure, as well as 'callously myopic on questions of cruel punishments and sentencing'-- Justice Scalia was also a wildly important figure in redefining certain key aspects of criminal procedure. He change the course of the criminal trial process in ways that made the system more fair and reliable. He was not well-liked by progressives, and I don't argue that he should be, but he also did some very important work in re-asserting the meaning of the Confrontation Clause and the Fourth Amendment freedom against search and seizure. May he rest in peace, and may the people he may have hurt in his life find comfort.

Whoa. I know these issues better than most, and even I'm stunned.

As they typically do, the federal government has figured out a way to continuously ramp up the pressure on the target of their criminal investigation. In this case, however, the target of their investigation is the man who used to essentially run the entire Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Paul Tanaka. Mr. Tanaka has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Now the highest-ranking official yet has come out and simply acknowledged that everything transpired just as the FBI and ...DOJ have alleged, and that he flat-out lied under oath during federal trials in an incredibly dumb, last-ditch effort to get out of trouble. Former Captain William Carey admitted his role and made it quite clear that he will be testifying in a manner which utterly condemns Mr. Tanaka. All signs point to Mr. Tanaka continuing to hold out and deny, deny, deny. Or perhaps the federal government will simply not be interested in anything other than a public trial and conviction... it may be that no deal is even on the table. Time will surely tell. One essential note: the man who has now admitted to actively participating in a criminal cover-up operation and then LYING ABOUT IT REPEATEDLY UNDER OATH used to be the guy who was responsible for all of the LASD's internal investigations of its own deputies' misconduct. That's right: THE GUY WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THE INTEGRITY of the LASD admits to being a liar who actively participated in cover-ups of the most serious nature.

This story may seem particularly galling or audacious to the general public. People should know, however, that this kind of tactic, and the arguments being advanced by the lawyers for these officers, are not in the least bit unusual. Any time officers are suspected of wrongdoing (and ESPECIALLY when the officers have charged the civilian they wronged with criminal misconduct, and are acting as part of the prosecution team), obstruction, obstruction, delay, and obstruction are the chief order of business. The law is largely designed to enable these sorts of tactics. It can be maddening for anyone on the other side of this secrecy-enabling cover-up machine, but we do our best to fight through it.

The Fourth of July is a great day to honor my colleagues in the public sector. Thank you all for the tireless zeal you display on behalf of those people our Constitution demands that we protect most carefully.

BREAKING NEWS: Wow. Three convictions. Amazing. Just amazing news.

My colleague Jerod Gunsberg wisely reminds us to read and listen to the incredibly insightful Bryan Stevenson, perhaps the most important voice I've ever had the chance to hear speak in person. So that's he's not alone in that effort: please, friends, read this. It's important.

Can the police require me to show my identification? http://ow.ly/309NU4

Madrona Marsh Preserve, a Local Gem http://ow.ly/2YjLgr

Prolonged Detention? Here’s How to Handle It http://ow.ly/2XKNGM