San Jose Criminal Defense Law Blog

A child pornography arrest turned into a violent confrontation this week. The suspect shot at California police officers in an incident that left two deputies and the suspect injured. This prosecution will probably include both child porn charges and allegations of exploiting a child.

Law enforcement officers arrived at an apartment complex to investigate a mother's charges that her boyfriend had pornographic pictures of her children on his cell phone. According to the mother, she discovered pornographic images of her boyfriend having sexual encounters with her two school-age daughters. The boyfriend allegedly told her that he planned to sell the photos online for $50,000 each.

Four people on California's sex offender registry won an appeal against a law restricting where they can live in the state. The statute, known as Jessica's Law, is just one of the harsh penalties that can affect Californians after a sex crime conviction. This ruling suggests that the statute-or at least implementation of its provisions-might be in for a reevaluation.

In 2006, California joined several other states by enacting a statute to define where registered sex offenders are allowed to live. Jessica's Law forbids registered offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of either a school or a park. Designed to keep registered offenders away from areas where they could encounter children, the law can cause big problems for affected people.

The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in a California smuggling case. The court concluded that the government cannot unilaterally deport a defense witness without giving the defendant access to that witness's testimony. The court sent the trafficking case back to the trial court.

United States Border Patrol agents caught a group of people crossing the border from Mexico in early 2010. The agents charged two of the men with smuggling the others into the country. Three of the other detainees singled out one of the men as the group's guide, providing potentially incriminating evidence. The fourth detainee, however, insisted that the defendant did not bring them into the United States.

While looking for poachers near San Francisco, a California game warden stumbled upon a large marijuana growing operation in Marin County this week. California carefully regulates drug cultivation and unpermitted pot farms can give rise to serious criminal charges.

The warden discovered the plantation when he noticed a camouflaged man with a pair of pruning shears. Authorities from a number of agencies, including the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, returned the next morning to raid the operation.

In the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, a child pornography prosecution against another college football is forcing authorities to consider the blurry line between harmless childhood family videos and criminal child pornography. Producing child pornography is an even more serious offense than possession.

The child pornography investigation began after the coach left his phone with technicians for repairs. While working on the phone, the technicians discovered videos of the coach's children. One of the videos depicts his three children nude after taking a bath. The coach's wife insists that the videos only show "typical kids being silly."

Back in early August, Xavier University expelled one of its star basketball players for student conduct code violations after he was accused of sexual assault. The local county prosecutor brought the same allegations before a criminal grand jury. The grand jury refused to indict the player, deciding that the government did not have enough probable cause to even try the college sophomore.

However, Xavier University is standing by its decision to expel him, highlighting the serious reputational harms that can come from sexual assault charges.

We have previously discussed the federal government's attempts to shut down "pot shop" dispensaries in California. The Drug Enforcement Agency recently issued warnings to pot shops in the other states that allow medicinal marijuana consumption. The warnings tell the pot shops to shut down or risk prosecution on drug charges.

In recent weeks, the DEA warned shops in California, Colorado, and Washington. The warnings targeted pot shops located within 1000 feet of a school or playground, giving the operators 30 days to close.

Yesterday, at the start of the final week of its legislative session, the California legislature approved a bill to protect drug users who seek medical help from prosecution. The bill, AB 472, would create an exception to drug possession laws in an attempt to reduce overdose deaths.

Although possession or drugs and drug paraphernalia is a serious crime in California, the bill would carve out a large exception. Possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia would not be a criminal offense while the possessor is seeking or receiving medical treatment. A person could go to a hospital without fearing that hospital staff would turn him or her over to the police.