A Los Angeles man was sentenced to 36 months of probation in Sonoma County Superior Court on October 12th, 2016 in connection with the death of his lifelong friend while wakeboarding out on Lake Sonoma earlier this year. The defendant, 30-year-old Andrew Scheff, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of operating a recreational vessel with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or more, while a concurrent misdemeanor boating under the influence charge was dismissed. According to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office, prosecutors found that there was insufficient evidence to prove that boating under the influence caused the …

Getting Clients into Military Diversion Have you ever heard of Veteran’s Court? Some people have, but even fewer people have heard of the Military Diversion Program. Diversion is a concept that was all but done away with back in the late 1990’s . Back then, if you were arrested for a drug crime, you could agree to waive time for 18 months to three years, remain crime free and complete an outpatient drug program in order to get your case dismissed. Since 1997, the deferred entry of judgment (DEJ) program replaced the drug diversion program. The big difference between the two programs is …

No I don’t Want Prop 36 When I can get Diversion Drug cases these days are interesting. If the case does not involve sales or possession for sale, it will normally be a misdemeanor. When I speak to a prosecutor about settling the case, prosecutors often suggest “Prop 36” as a settlement. I bite my tongue and suggest that my client appears to be “DEJ” eligible. This week I actually had a prosecutor look at me and say, “Do you think that’s enough for your client” suggesting the client should have more intensive therapy instead of the 20 week outpatient program …

I had lunch today with a few colleagues who do criminal defense. We started out talking about the election and the possibilities of simply sailing away to some sort of paradise. At some point a younger attorney in the group asked if any of us had ever handled a BUI case. Of course. Boating under the influence is not so common here in inland Los Angeles County and is often more prosecuted in areas where there is a heavy recreational boating community. Lake Havasu comes to mind as a place that sees a lot of this sort of thing. But it also …

San Fernando Valley Criminal Defense and DUI Lawyers Jeffrey Vallens and Ross Erlich Have Relocated In the olden days I would have called up my printer and had formal announcements printed up which “announce” my move. I would then actually stick the announcements in envelopes and mail them to everyone I know or at least to everyone who I think might care that we moved. In the digital era, it seems that printed announcements are no longer necessary, but I do want people to know that after 9 years at the old location we moved about a mile down the …

I was in CCB* Tuesday on a motion to reduce a felony to a misdemeanor and expunge an old felony conviction for a client. When I first met the client, I told him that there is a right way and a wrong way to run this motion. The wrong way is to fill out the form and mail it in to the court with the $120 filing and wait and see what happens. In fact, a few years ago, another lawyer had been paid by this client to do this very same thing. That lawyer’s requests were denied, mine were granted. Why …

It took over a year, but I finally civilly compromised another vandalism case. My client and his friends were out smashing mailboxes, light fixtures and even a couple car side view mirrors. The third and final victim finally cashed my check and signed off on the civil compromise. What does this all mean to my client? It means no probation, no fine, no jail or trash pickup duty, no driver’s license suspension and no conviction. That’s right: a conviction for vandalism can cost you your driver’s license for at least a year. How did I do this? Under California Penal …

When Darkness Reigns, by Philip R. Dunn A couple months ago I rented a new office in the Conejo Valley in order to better serve my Ventura County clients. The office is located near the Thousand Oaks Auto Center at 141 Duesenberg Drive, Suite 10, in Westlake Village. I had the opportunity to rent space from a veteran criminal defense lawyer named Philip Dunn. Like many of the great defense attorneys, Phil started his career as a public defender in Ventura County with the likes of Tim Quinn and others great defenders of the Constitution. When I started talking to …

How to Deal with an Emergency Protective Order or Criminal Protective Order in Domestic Violence Cases If you have been arrested for domestic violence there is a good chance there will be an emergency protective order issued immediately after your arrest. There will most likely be a Criminal Protective Order which will follow you during the pendency of your criminal case and during probation, should you be convicted of a crime. An Emergency Protective Order is a short term order, normally valid for 5 to 10 days, issued by a judge based upon a declaration of police saying that some …

I have often said that the majority of my cases involve substance abuse, financial pressures or relationship troubles. Many involve more than one of these issues. More and more lately, my clientele seem to be effected by significant mental health issues. I’m not a doctor but sometimes it can be easy to tell when a client has a problem and it is often very hard to deal with it. Sometimes however, it’s not so easy to tell. I was referred a client recently from a local judge. The client is facing a second DUI with a high blood alcohol and multiple traffic collisions. At …