San Jose Criminal Defense Law Blog

On Wednesday morning at about 7:00 o'clock a political consultant in Alameda heard a loud pounding at the front door. While his wife, a correspondent with CBS News, was upstairs nursing the couple's seven month old daughter, he went to answer the door. Peering out the window he saw four guns pointed at his face.

The law enforcement officers pulled him outside and pinned his hands behind his back. The husband explained who he was and that his wife was upstairs, and that she was a news reporter. He said that gave the officers pause as they likely knew that they were expecting to make an arrest for marijuana cultivation. At some point they realized that they had raided the wrong house.

Prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office have said that they plan to continue moving forward with a criminal prosecution against a suspect accused felony money laundering despite a judge's order that set aside five previous convictions against the suspect. The suspect had faced six federal criminal charges but the jury deadlocked on the final charge. The prosecutors have indicated that they intend to attempt to continue prosecution against the suspect on all six charges.

The judge who set aside the convictions explained that his own faulty instructions to the jury tainted the outcome of the trial. The prosecutors may also seek an appeal of the judge's ruling to set aside the conviction. Regardless of whether they appeal, they now say that they plan to retry the suspect on all six counts.

While two suspects remained in federal custody in San Jose, they missed their arraignment on state charges related to child pornography. As is often the case when someone has been charged with these types of charges, there is the potential for both a state and federal investigation and charges. As illustrated by this case, authorities and prosecutors at each level may not even be aware of the proceedings in the other venue.

The case arose after a federal investigation into one of the defendant's activities was initiated in May. Law enforcement official seized phones, cameras, computers as well as other electronic devices and literature during the investigation. After being initially taken into custody as a result of the federal investigation, the defendant was released on $100,000 bail. While out on bail, he was arrested along with the other defendant by the local police force.

A San Jose police officer has been arrested on charges related to suspected child sexual molestation. The charges include accusations of unlawful sexual activity with a 15-year-old and 17-year-old boy. A grand jury indicted him on Wednesday and he was arrested later in the afternoon. An arraignment is expected to be forthcoming.

The officer had served as a campus officer at Leland High School from 1996 through 2007. The San Jose Police Chief indicated that they are concerned that there may be additional victims who have not yet been identified. He urged anyone with similar allegations or any other information to contact the police immediately.

The San Jose Courthouse is being used as part of a sting operation by the Santa Clara Sheriff's Office. The sting targets individuals who have had their license suspended due to a drunk driving arrest. If the individual's license is revoked, deputies are ready to catch them if they try to drive home from the courthouse. The courthouse sting coincides with a special DUI enforcement initiative.

During the courthouse sting, a deputy inside the courthouse would make a note of individuals who have pled no-contest to DUI charges or, for some other reason, had their license suspended or revoked. The deputy would then contact deputies outside with a description of the individual.

A 77-year-old San Jose chef who has been a prominent figure in the local culinary scene for decades, was sentenced to ten months in prison and three years of probation for possession of child pornography. Prosecutors had alleged that he had used a PayPal account to make five purchases of pictures of underage females. The offences allegedly occurred in 2006 and 2007.

The chef pled no contest to the charges. He will also be required to register as a sex offender and complete 300 hours of volunteer work. The court will allow him to serve the prison time using electronic monitoring.

In an effort to minimize the harshness of penalties imposed on juveniles, the Supreme Court of the United States prohibited the death penalty for juveniles back in 2005. In 2010, the Supreme Court also ruled that juveniles could only spend life in prison without parole for crimes that involve murder. 

The U.S. stands alone in locking away teenagers for life without parole. Currently, there are 2,500 teenagers looking at spending the rest of their lives behind bars in the U.S. 

The popular television show Dateline: To Catch a Predator aims to catch people who engage in sex crimes with underage individuals, typically girls. This type of show presumes the guilt of the alleged predator and then sets up them in a sting type of situation to prove that they are guilty. Thankfully, this is not the way the U.S. judicial system works.

In the U.S. criminal justice system, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. This means that the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person did, in fact, commit a crime.