Law Office of Sara L. Caplan

Today, Co-counsel Lori Jones and I were able to accomplish the impossible in Long Beach Superior Court. After a hard battle we were able to get our clients’ bail reduced from $1,000,000.00 to $100,000.00 based on showing inherent weakness in the prosecution case and substantial support from family, friends and colleagues showing that our clients are neither flight risks nor a danger to the community or to any person. I am really proud to be a criminal defense attorney and participate making justice happen. It was really well deserved in this case.

Today the Los Angeles Times reported that the United States Supreme Court ruled that legal immigrants (lawful permanent residents) who are convicted of having a small amount of marijuana, are not considered aggravated felons under federal Immigration Law, and thus not subject to deportation for simple possession crimes. In a 7-2 decision the Justices said that the Government must show that a defendant sold the drugs or possessed a substantial amount of a drug for the offe...nse to be deemed an aggravated felony for immigration purposes. The terms of the Immigration and National Immigration Act specify that a noncitizen convicted of an aggravated felony is subject to deportation proceedings under Federal Law, regardless if they have been living in the United States legally or productively. The Justices have been weary of minor state crimes being treated as serious felonies. The case at issue involved a Jamaican national who lived in Georgia since 1984. He was convicted as a first-time offender of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute because he had 1.3 grams in his car. He was given probation, but federal authorities held him subject to deportation as an aggravated felon because the offense is a drug trafficking crime under federal law. If a non citizen’s conviction for marijuana distribution offense fails to establish that the offense involved either remuneration or more than a small amount of marijuana, the conviction is not for an aggravated felony under the Immigration and National Immigration Act, said Sotomayor. Any one in deportation or removal proceedings in Immigration Court related to a conviction for a small amount of marijuana which was treated as possession with intent to distribute because the marijuana was found in a car can benefit from this United States Supreme Court ruling. Your deportation or removal case should be terminated because of this case decision.

DEMANDING COMPETENT LEGAL REPRESENTATION There was a disturbing editorial opinion in the LA Times today regarding McJustice or meet em and plead em justice being served in many criminal courts across the country. The opinion mentioned the case of a 17 year old accused of stealing a go-cart who was charged as an adult. He was advised by a public defender to plead to a felony to get probation and pay fines. The court asked if he was satisfied with his attorney. He replied ...that he had never spoken with an attorney. Someone in the court room stood up and said he was the youth’s public defender. The court then ordered the youth to pay the public defender’s attorney fee, even though he never spent any time on this case, nor gave any legal advice. The opinion stated that this is happening more frequently in criminal courts as public defenders’ case loads increase due to budget cutbacks and personnel reductions, while criminal courts are becoming extremely over-crowded with cases. This is not what the U.S. Supreme Court envisioned when it decided Gideon v. Wainwright and ruled that every criminal defendant is entitled to legal counsel. Poor people are even being detained for lengthy periods of time pre-trial if they cannot afford bail, or their public defender’s case load is so full, that their older cases always take precedence. It is so important that everyone realize the serious consequences arising from criminal convictions. These consequences stay with you for life. Expungement, if it is ultimately granted, does not prevent potential employers from seeing that you have a criminal record. Convictions impair employment, college admission, professional licensing, child custody and visitation. Before simply taking a guilty plea in a criminal case, juveniles and adults must be fully advised of all possible pleas and defenses regarding any crime they are charged with, whether the evidence against them is sound or can be legally or factually challenged, whether there are any dispositive motions that can potentially result in dismissal of the charges against them, alternative sentencing options, and anything that can be done to avoid having a criminal record. If your public defender or private attorney simply advises you to plead guilty and does nothing more, you must retain an experienced attorney to fully advise you before it is too late. Once you have entered a guilty plea, it is almost impossible to withdraw it, and the future consequences for you and your loved ones can be devastating. If you are appointed a Public Defender you do not have a choice and you cannot change. However, you can always retain competent private counsel and determine if there is an affordable payment plan to protect your best interests in any criminal proceeding.

Have a happy and safe St. Patrick’s Day, but do not drink and drive. The costs are monumental. Even one or two drinks affects vision, steering, braking judgment and reaction time. The Los Angeles Times reported today that AAA of Southern California calculated the cost of a first offense misdemeanor DUI conviction can be up to $15,647.00 in California, it is even higher for underage drivers facing costs up to $22,492.00. These costs are based on totaling mandated fine...s, penalties, restitution, legal fees and increased insurance costs. Additional costs would involve thousands of dollars of potential expenses for taking off work for a trial, jail time, to post bail, or for personal injury or property or vehicle damage from any crash they caused. The California Highway Patrol and local police will have additional sobriety check points all over Los Angeles area roads and highways. Enjoy yourselves, but if you drink, take a cab, a limo or call Operation Safe Ride (310-868-4730). However, if the worst happens and someone you know is arrested on a DUI charge during this St. Patrick’s weekend, our office is available 24/7 to assist with bail arrangements and legal representation. Our office phone number is 310-550-5877; you can also send text messages to this phone number. Above all, be safe and enjoy your weekend.

Dear Friends and Colleagues, Attached is a link to a newsletter from my office which contains valuable information regarding my law firm, our services and how to respond when detained by police. Please share with friends, colleagues and clients. We have hard copies available if anyone is interested. I hope that the information is useful and informative. Feel free to contact us with any feedback. (BACK SIDE OF NEWSLETTER)

If anyone is interested, I will be interviewed this evening on the Nikki Rich Internet radio show at 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. The link to the radio show is: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theNikkiRichshow It should be an interesting and informative dialogue. If you have time please tune in.

Dear Friends, Family and Colleagues, The Law Office of Sara L. Caplan extends our best wishes to all of you for health, happiness and prosperity in the New Year. It has been widely reported that law enforcement has already implemented extra patrols targeting drunk driving during the holiday season. There are now several checkpoints throughout the Los Angeles area on a nightly basis.... Please do not let anyone drive when they have had too much to drink. Taxis and Operation Safe Ride (310-868-4730) are available around the clock to help get people safely where they need to go. They are much preferable and less expensive alternatives to spending the night in jail, defending a legal matter in court and attending required DMV alcohol programs after being arrested on a DUI charge. However, if the worst happens and someone you know is arrested on a DUI charge during the holiday season, our office is available 24/7 to assist with bail arrangements and legal representation. Our office phone number is 310-550-5877; you can also send text messages to this phone number. Above all, be safe and enjoy the holiday season.

NEWS ALERT 12/06/2012 One day after California Attorney General Kamala Harris advised that compliance with federal requests to detain suspected illegal immigrants for low level crimes is discretionary and not mandatory; Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca reversed his support for this controversial deportation program. Most likely this change will take effect early next year. The new policy applies only for those arrested with misdemeanors who do not have significant criminal records. The Sheriff will no longer hold such individuals for federal immigration detention. However, the Department will still honor federal detention requests for those accused of serious or violent crimes.

MAJOR FAVORABLE IMMIGRATION DECISION Today, I proudly enjoyed one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire 29 years of practicing law. After 8 years of very intense and difficult litigation with the U.S. Government, my client, who is a homosexual, ethnic Chinese and Christian man of Indonesian nationality, was granted the right to remain in the United States on a grant of Withholding of Removal under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. Indonesia is the largest...Continue reading