Spiegel Law Group

As you may know, Roger Clemens was charged with lying to Congress concerning his use of steroids. The trial is now underway, and has created something of a media frenzy. What you may not know is the special place San Diego has in the history of steroid use in United States professional sports. Apparently, the San Diego Chargers hold the distinction of being the first professional sports team in the United States to use anabolic steroids as part of their training program.

The year was 1963, and the Chargers had just finished with a poor 4-10 record the season before. Coach Sid Gillman brought in a new addition to the team and to pro football – what he described as a “strength coach.” The coach was Alvin Roy, who proceeded to hand out pills to the players. The pills were Dianabol, an anabolic steroid with the generic name methandrostenolone. It was legal, and had not been banned by any athletic organization, including the AFL. It seems that it also did wonders for the team. That year, the Chargers won the AFL championship, the only San Diego professional sports team to win a championship before or since.

In the ensuing years, steroid use has been banned in organize sports, and in 1990, President Bush signed into law the Anabolic Steroid Control Act, making the unauthorized use of the drug illegal under federal law, with violators subject to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Since that time, numerous additional laws have been passed to control the use of steroids on the state and federal level.

Interesting history, but what we really wanted to talk about was Roger Clemens, who, by the way, is not on trial for using steroids, but for perjury. What Clemens, the winner of seven Cy Young awards, is alleged to have done is lie about his use of the drug and related matters during a Congressional investigation of steroids in 2008. Perjury is a pretty serious offense, punishable by up to five years in federal prison. It consists of a sworn statement, made with knowledge of its falsity, which is material to the proceeding in which it is made. If the statement is false but not material, the crime is called false swearing or false declarations.

What we wonder about is why someone would put himself in a position like Clemens is alleged to have done. If you’re asked a question under oath and the answer may be incriminating, the Fifth Amendment protects you. It does seem that in many cases it’s the cover-up, and not the crime itself, that gets people in trouble. Remember Richard Nixon and the Watergate fiasco? He was so bent on covering up a crime that he didn’t even commit, that he went to extraordinary lengths to stonewall, and that led to his downfall as President. More recently Martha Stewart tried to delete emails which she believed might show she was guilty of insider trading. But she was never even charged with insider trading; rather, she was ultimately convicted of obstruction of justice and making false statements to the government.

If there is a lesson here, it’s that the cover-up often leads to more serious consequences than the crime that someone is trying to hide. If you have been charged with a crime, don’t make it worse than it already is. Contact an experienced San Diego criminal lawyer to protect your interests.

Spiegel Law Group
109 West C Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 338-0022

You’ve probably seen the show Bait Car on truTV. The basic plot is that an attractive automobile is left on the street with the keys inside, usually in an area known for car thefts. The car is equipped with a shutdown and lock system that allows police to cut the engine and/or prevent the occupants from exiting by remote control. In addition, the inside of the vehicle contains video cameras and an audio feed, permitting the police to monitor the occupants. It’s an undercover sting operation of course, and anyone unlucky enough to think about stealing the car, or even taking it for a joy ride, is in big trouble, or so it would appear.

Recently, according to the L.A. Times, one of the Los Angeles bait car sting cases was the subject of some interesting testimony in court. The suspect in the case happened upon a Cadillac Escalade with the keys in the ignition and with the motor running. He got into the car and drove off, but didn’t get very far, when he was apprehended by sheriff’s deputies who had watched the whole drama unfold on camera. The suspect was arrested for auto theft, and proceeded to make a number of incriminating statements to the lead detective in the case.

The case went to court earlier this month, and under oath, the detective stated that he had given the suspect his Miranda warning (right to remain silent, right to counsel, etc.) by reading those rights from a card in his notebook. In fact, an unedited version of the tape of the sting revealed that the detective was lying – he never read the suspect his rights at all. Based upon this revelation, charges against the defendant were dropped.

The reason we bring this up is not so much to point out that people do testify falsely under oath in court; in fact, it happens on a regular basis, even among those sworn to uphold the law. Rather, we wanted to provide our readers with an example of a prosecution which, on its face, looked like a “slam dunk.” The entire series of events was on film, and the prosecution was buttressed by incriminating statements directly from the defendant’s mouth. Despite the seemingly airtight case, the charges were dropped, and the suspect was released.

We focus on this because it illustrates an important principle for those facing criminal charges. No matter how much the cards may seem stacked against you, there are avenues to explore which may result in the dismissal of charges. If you have been charged with a crime, contact an experienced San Diego criminal attorney to defend your rights.

Spiegel Law Group
109 West C Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 338-0022

We always thought punishment in the legal system came after conviction, and that prior to a conviction, all defendants were presumed innocent. Well, not in California, at least with respect to DUI offenses.

If you’re an adult arrested for DUI in California, and your blood alcohol content (BAC) is greater than .08, or if you’re under 21 and the test shows a BAC of more than .01, or if you refuse to take a breath test, the police will take away your driver’s license on the spot. You will then be issued a temporary license good for 30 days, along with a notice of a DMV hearing to determine whether your license will be suspended prior to your court case being heard. You have the right to contest the suspension, but in order to do so, you need to request a hearing within ten calendar days. If you fail to do so, your license will automatically be suspended for at least four months.

We’ve been telling everyone who will listen that it is essential that you contact an experienced dui attorney to assist you as early as possible in the process. We’ve also been saying that if you’re properly represented, it is possible to prevail in the administrative process. Well, some interesting statistics were published this year that support our conclusion.

We’ve just reviewed the 2012 Annual Report of The California DUI Management Information System, published by the DMV. It’s chock full of statistics and graphs, runs 162 pages, and will make your head spin if you’re not careful. But we focused in on some very interesting figures for 2010, the last year covered in the report. They involve the number of administrative “per se” license suspensions by DMV, and the number of people who then lost their licenses after being convicted of DUI. Here’s what we’re talking about:

• A total of 183,743 licenses were suspended or revoked by DMV prior to court their court cases being heard.
• After conviction in court, licenses were suspended/revoked in 168,059 cases.

What that means to us is that DMV administratively suspended or revoked a total of 15,584 licenses of people who were never convicted of DUI, and whose licenses were not suspended as a result of their court case. Another way of saying it is that over fifteen thousand people were effectively found guilty before being proved innocent. That’s what we call turning the system on its head.

For those who cling to the notion that fighting an administrative license suspension is futile, the statistics show otherwise. If you have been charged with DUI, contact an experienced San Diego DUI lawyer immediately after your arrest.

Spiegel Law Group
109 West C Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 338-0022

A woman was sentenced on April 25 to burglary. Her crime – stealing books and DVD’s worth thousands of dollars from libraries in several local towns, including San Diego. She admitted that she later sold some of the stolen merchandise on eBay. She was sentenced to three years of probation.

So why was she charged with burglary? She stole the books, so why not theft. And it looks like she robbed the libraries blind, so why not robbery. Well, there are differences among the three charges, although there is some overlap; more importantly, if you are charged with one of these theft offenses, the penalties differ substantially. We examine below three related offenses, and while we have not attempted to exhaust all the possible examples of each, the gist of those offenses can be set forth as follows:

• Theft. Sections 484-502.9 of the California Penal Code define theft. What is says, essentially, is if you steal the personal property of another person, you’re guilty of theft. The statutes go on to say that there are two classes of this crime – petty theft (up to $950 of value) and grand theft (over $950). But the statutes are not easy to understand. They consist of over 16,000 words, and cover offenses like theft of services, as well as numerous arcane provisions, such as carrying off someone else’s sheep carcass. But the bottom line of the crime of theft is that it’s what most of us equate with stealing. The penalty for petty theft is a fine up to $1,000, six months in the county jail, or both. Grand theft includes the possibility of a year in jail, but there are exceptions, such as theft of a firearm, for example, which can land you in state prison for up the three years.
• Burglary. Burglary is defined in sections 458-464. The essence of a burglary charge is entering into any dwelling or other structure with the intent to commit theft. Thus, while burglary is categorized generally as a theft offense, you don’t have to be successful in stealing anything to be convicted of the crime. Burglary is also defined by degrees: if the home is inhabited, the charge is first degree burglary, and the punishment is up to six years in prison; in all other cases, it’s a second degree burglary, which is punishable by up to one year in county jail.
• Robbery. Stripped to its basics, robbery, which is set forth in sections 211-215, consists of stealing property from and in the presence of a person, against his or her will, either by force or by placing that person in fear of injury to himself/herself, to a member of the family, or to someone who is in that person’s company at the time. Like burglary, robbery is divided into degrees. First degree robbery includes a number of specific circumstances. For example, it may be charged where the act takes place in a residence, or where the person being robbed is performing duties as a bus driver or taxi driver. It also includes robbery of someone who has just used an ATM, or which takes place in the vicinity of an ATM. The statutes go on to state that unless the robbery falls into one of the many first degree categories, it is second degree robbery. The penalties for second degree robbery include imprisonment for up to five years, and for first degree robbery, you can land in jail for up to nine years.

What these laws demonstrate is that the severity of the punishment increases as the activity gets closer and closer to the victim. Petty theft, and even grand theft, carry relatively lighter sentences that the other crimes we’re discussing. Burglary, which may involve breaking into someone’s home, carries a stiffer penalty. And robbery, especially when it involves confronting someone in their home, results in even more severe consequences.

How Can Experienced San Diego Criminal Lawyer Help?

Getting back to the library theft, it is clear from the laws we explained above that the woman, who apparently was only charged with burglary, could have been charged with multiple counts of petty theft, or perhaps grand theft, along with burglary, and if convicted, she could have been sentenced consecutively on some of those charges, resulting in substantial jail time. She was, however, permitted to plead guilty to burglary, and was sentenced to probation – no jail time at all.

We don’t know the specifics of the initial charges she faced, nor do we know why she received what looks like a fairly light sentence. But there are lessons here, and those lessons are twofold: first, when charges are formulated by the prosecutor, there is usually a great deal of leeway in what offenses are included. Hiring an experienced attorney to represent you as early in the process as possible is advisable, even if it means obtaining a lawyer during the investigative stage of a case, before charges are filed; second, deals can be struck with the prosecutor in most cases in which the charges, the sentence, or both, can be reduced through the negotiating process.

If you have been charged with a theft offense of any type, an experienced San Diego criminal lawyer can help. At SLG Law Group, our attorneys are experienced in representing clients charged with theft and theft-related crimes. We know how the prosecutors put their cases together, we are skilled negotiators, and we are not afraid to recommend to our clients that they take a case to trial where it is in the client’s best interest to do so. Call us for a free consultation.

Spiegel Law Group
109 West C Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 338-0022

In San Diego an across California, there are many people that are on probation for various misdemeanor crimes, ranging from DUI, to theft, to drug offenses, etc. The probationary term for these crimes varies, but what doesn’t vary is that fact that most all of them are able to terminate that probationary period early.

Many people convicted of DUI, theft, drug possession, or any other misdemeanor offense in San Diego or anywhere in California do not have the benefit of a criminal lawyer to make them aware of their ability to terminate probation early. Probation of a DUI in San Diego is 5 years, where as probation for other misdemeanors is 3 years. Any good San Diego criminal lawyer will tell you that this period really only needs to be 2.5 years and 1.5 years respectively.

So long as the person convicted of the misdemeanor has completed all of the terms of probation, AND has gone through at least half of the probationary period, they can bring a motion before the court asking to have their probation terminated. While this motion is certainly not guaranteed, the percentage of these motions that is granted is extremely high.

I would recommend consulting with a San Diego DUI or criminal lawyer, or a lawyer in whatever county you reside in, to determine if you are eligible for this type of motion and whether you would have a high chance of success. Anyone who is on probation knows that the time period is long and getting off early may only be a quick motion away!