Lawyer in US

  While courtroom dramas on television and in the movies give the impression that most criminal legal cases end up in trial before a judge and jury, the reality is that the vast majority - over ninety percent - are resolved through negotiation. These negotiations, which take place between the defense attorney, prosecutor, and judge, result in a plea bargain, a judgment that falls somewhere between the prosecutor's desire for a conviction on all charges and the defendant's desire for a dismissal or finding of not guilty. District attorney's offices and judges are motivated to negotiate plea bargains because there aren't enough courtrooms, prosecutors, judges, and jurors to have all cases go to trial.  https://askcompetentlawyer.com/business-commercial-litigation/   Your defense lawyer has to be able to use this to get you the best possible deal. A plea bargain can take many forms depending on the alleged crime, evidence, and defendant's criminal history. It might be

  Confusion reigns at the Sacramento County Jail after a Sacramento Superior Court judge blocked implementation of a new state law increasing the amount of time credit inmates at the county jail can get for good behavior. Judge Loren McMaster issued the injunction on Wednesday in response to a lawsuit brought by the Sacramento County sheriff's deputies union, which claims that the California Community Corrections Performance Incentives Act of 2009 applies only to state prisons and not county jails. The new law, enacted by the legislature and the governor to deal with overcrowding of California's prisons and jails, was meant merely to modify and expand a previous state law that allowed prisoners, both in the state prison system and county jails, to have their sentences reduced if they met certain good behavior criteria. Under the old law, prisoners were eligible for fifty percent credit, meaning a one day sentence reduction for every two days served. That meant someone sentenced

  The tortured tale of time credits at the Sacramento County jail seems to finally have come to a close. Judge Loren McMaster on Friday ruled against the request by the Sacramento Sheriff's Deputies Association to block implementation at the jail of a new state law increasing the amount of early release time inmates could earn for good behavior. The ruling comes after a hearing that saw the sheriff's deputies association on one side arguing against the new law, and the Sacramento district attorney's office, Sacramento public defender's office, and the state attorney general's office all on the other side arguing for it. Keep in mind that before this new law went into effect January 25, state prison and county jail inmates in California were already able to earn early release if they met good behavior requirements.  https://askcompetentlawyer.com/civil-litigation/  All the new law did was increase the amount of credit that could be earned. (See our previous posts for

  Alternative sentencing programs allow people convicted of crimes to participate in programs that attempt to alter behavior patterns and enhance skills and therefore reduce the likelihood of committing crimes in the future. Though each program has its own way of doing things, typically a judge will tell the convicted person that he can avoid going to jail if he fulfills all of the program requirements, such as counseling, community service, and testing. Failure to meet these requirements will result in expulsion from the program and imposition of the original jail sentence. Sacramento County has a new alternative sentencing program called Ascend. It is like other programs in that it offers something different - and hopefully more beneficial - than typical jail sentences.  https://askcompetentlawyer.com/   The Ascend program is available for certain misdemeanor cases - determined by the judge - and provides an array of self-improvement activities, such as community service, career coun

  Three local police departments have announced that they will be conducting traffic checkpoints the night of Friday, July 13. The Sacramento, Folsom, and Rancho Cordova police departments are all using grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to fund these efforts to check drivers for sobriety, as well as valid driver's licenses. Folsom PD will run its checkpoint from 7:00 PM to 3:00 AM and Rancho Cordova PD will run its from 8:00 PM to 2:00 PM. Sacramento PD has not stated when its checkpoint will begin and end.  https://askcompetentlawyer.com/e-2-visa/  At this point, the precise locations for each checkpoint have not been made public. As always, we advise you to take the steps necessary to keep yourself and others safe if you plan on going out drinking tomorrow night. That means, choose a designated driver, put taxi phone numbers into your cell phone, hire a limo, or take public transportation. Police and prosecu

  The Department of Motor Vehicles has posted on its website a memo that outlines how it will handle the Ignition Interlock Device test programs that will take effect on July 1 in Sacramento, Tulare, Alameda, and Los Angeles counties. [ Click here   to read a summary of the new law's provisions.] The memo states that "The new law - passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2009 -- prohibits an offender from being issued or reissued a driver license by DMV following a suspension or revocation  for any DUI violation  in a pilot county  that occurs on or after July 1, 2010 , until an offender provides proof of IID installation and pays a $45 administrative service fee, in addition to meeting all other reinstatement requirements." Note that DMV is taking the position that the test program applies only to violations that take place on or after the law takes effect on July 1. We will monitor this issue and let you know if this changes.  https://askcompe