San Francisco & Bay Area Criminal Defense Lawyers

Summarized beautifully in this blog: http://justsecurity.org/12219/scotus-cell-phone-searches-digital/

California Penal Code §1203.4a provides that an individual convicted of a misdemeanor, who is not granted probation and who is not serving a current sentence for any offense may withdraw his plea of guilty or nolo contendere for the misdemeanor after one year has passed from the imposition of the judgment. During the one year the individual must have served and complied with the sentence of the court. After the imposition of the judgment the individual must also have “lived an honest and upright life and . . . conformed to and obeyed the laws of the land.” Under §1203.4a the individual will be eligible to be released “from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense of which he or she has been convicted.” The California Court of Appeals in People v. Hamdon , 225 Cal.App.4th 1065 (2014) interpreted that “all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense” did not include California penal code § 290, which requires mandatory sex offender registration. The ...

Last week the Supreme Court of California ruled on whether a defendant can bring an “un reasonable self-defense” claim based on his delusional mental state at the time of the murder . In People v. Elmore the Court refused to give the jury an instruction of voluntary manslaughter based on an imperfect self-defense. The California Supreme Court Majority stated that, “California cases reflect the understanding that unreasonable self-defense involves a misperception of objective circumstances, not a reaction produced by mental disturbance alone.” The majority went on to give a definition between misperception and a delusion: “A delusional defendant holds a belief that is divorced from the circumstances. The line between mere misperception and delusion is drawn at the absence of an objective correlate.” In the instant case, the court concluded that the defendant Elmore was acting on a delusion devoid of any correlating facts when he attacked the victim. The facts of the case were as f...