Tag Archives: los angeles

Best Criminal Defense Lawyers In Los Angeles, CA

Here is a list of the top rated and best criminal defense lawyers in Los Angeles, CA.

These criminal defense attorneys in Los Angeles, California that we have listed below may also practice other areas of law besides criminal defense as some of the Los Angeles lawyers practice personal injury for example.

Our best lawyers of Los Angeles list below is strictly on their criminal defense reviews and felony court case records. We have located and found the best defense lawyers of Los Angeles based upon their reviews on Los Angeles Yelp, AVVO, Super Lawyers, as well as the US News report about lawyers in Los Angeles, California.  If you are searching to find the best rated criminal defense attorneys in Los Angeles, you have come to the correct place. These are the top lawyers in Los Angeles, CA. When hiring a Los Angeles, CA criminal defense attorney, you should evaluate the experience and fee structure of the Los Angeles attorney. Some offer a free consultation to discuss your case.

Here are the top rated defense lawyers in Los Angeles, CA

  1. Andrew Stein
  2. Anthony A. Arzili
  3. Nicholas Loncar
  4. Arash Hashemi
  5. Daniel R. Perlman
  6. Jerod Gunsberg
  7. Jeff Voll
  8. Tony M Seyfi
  9. James Blatt
  10. Karen L. Goldstein

If you have any questions about hiring a Los Angeles defense lawyers give Wise Laws a call at 800-270-8184 as they currently work with some of these top 10 lawyers.

2018 New Laws For California

1. Vehicle registration fee increase: As part of SB 1, drivers will pay between $25 and $175 more for vehicle registration at DMV. The fee, which goes into effect Jan. 1, is based on the vehicle’s current value, as follows:

  • Vehicles worth between $0 and $4,999: $25 fee increase
  • Vehicles worth between $5,000 and $24,999: $50 fee increase
  • Vehicles worth between $25,000 and $34,999: $100 fee increase
  • Vehicles worth between $35,000 and $59,999: $150 fee increase
  • Vehicles worth $60,000 and higher: $175 fee increase

2. Recreational-use marijuana: The sale and cultivation of recreational-use marijuana will be legal in California on Jan. 1. By the new year, the state will have to have regulations and processes in place to issue permits for adult-use marijuana businesses. The deadline does not apply to county or city municipalities, as per AB 64.

3. Marijuana use in vehicles: Effective Jan. 1, drivers will be prohibited from smoking or ingesting marijuana or marijuana products while driving or riding as a passenger in a vehicle, as part of SB 65.

4. Minimum wage increase: For the second year in a row under SB 3, the minimum wage will increase to $11 an hour, beginning Jan. 1, for more than 2 million workers in California. Under the bill, minimum wage went up to $10.50 an hour in 2017 and will go up again to $12 per hour in 2019. It will increase $1 each year to $15 in 2022. However, Gov. Jerry Brown can halt the increase if there is a negative job growth.

5. Bars and ride-sharing: Calling for a safe ride home could get even easier, thanks to a new law that goes into effect Jan. 1. AB 711 will allow alcohol companies and businesses to team up with ride shares, like Uber and Lyft, as well as taxi services, to give out vouchers or promo codes for discounted rides.

6. Sanctuary state of California: SB 54 restricts the ability of state and local police in California to cooperate with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents. Beginning Jan. 1, law enforcement officers won’t be allowed to ask about someone’s immigration status or hold them for ICE agents, unless that person has been convicted of a crime. In addition, AB 291 prohibits landlords from reporting renters who are in the country illegally.

7. Ammunition sales: Beginning Jan. 1, ammunition purchases must be made in person through an authorized firearms and ammo vendor, as per Prop 63, which was approved by voters in November 2016.Ammunition buyers will be allow for online sales of ammunition, but it must be shipped to a licensed vendor from whom the buyer can pick it up. KCRA talked to the owner of an El Dorado County ammunition store that could close due to this new law.

8. Gender identity on driver’s licenses: SB 179 removes the requirement that people have to choose either male or female on their identification documents. Transgender people will be able to select “nonbinary” as an option if they do not identify as either male or female. This new choice will be available beginning in 2019.

9. Guns banned at schools: AB 424 eliminates a previous policy, implemented in 2016, that gave school administrators the ability to decide whether campus employees with concealed carry permits were allowed to bring their firearms to school. The new law bans firearms on campus altogether.

10. Buses and seat belts: Beginning July 1, anyone riding in a bus is required by law to be properly restrained by seat belts, if the bus is equipped with them. SB 20 also prohibits adults from putting children between the ages of 8 and 16 on a bus unless they are properly restrained by a seat belt or “child passenger restraint system that meets federal safety standards. Violations of this law will be punishable by a fine.

11. High school exit exam: High school students can rejoice at not having to suffer through the lengthy high school exit exam, which California did away with in 2015 in an effort to rewrite it. AB 830 permanently eliminates the exam as a condition of graduation.

12. Baby changing tables in bathrooms: Changing diapers is no longer just a woman’s job, and because of AB 1127, diaper-changing stations will be a requirement in both women’s and men’s public bathrooms. This applies to new construction or restrooms that undergo significant renovations.

13. Rescue animal sales: AB 485 bans pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits unless they are rescue animals. The law aims to prevent California pet stores from selling animals bred in puppy mills and other mass-breeding operations.

14. Job salary history: Under AB 168, employers will no longer be able to ask job applicants about their salary history, compensation or benefits. Employers will also be required to disclose pay scales for a job if the applicants asks for them.

15. Free college: As part of a nationwide push by Democrats to provide free higher education, AB 19 is the first step in that process, waiving the fee for first-time students who enroll full time in California community colleges.

16. Neighborhood voting: In an effort to bolster declining voter turnout, SB 450 replaces neighborhood polling places with elections done mainly by mail. Every voter will receive a mail-in ballot, which they can then take to a drop-off location up to four weeks before Election Day.

17. Car window tinting: Under the previous law, drivers were prohibited from having tint or any other material or display that “reduces the driver’s clear view through the windshield or side windows.” AB 1303allows drivers with a medical condition certified by a dermatologist to tint their windshields, side and rear windows to protect them from ultraviolet rays.

18. Crossing the street: Pedestrians who cross the street while the red hand signal is flashing will no longer be penalized for doing so. Under AB 390, if the flashing red hand symbol appears and there is a countdown to indicate how much time pedestrians have left to cross, walkers are legally permitted to do so.

Super Talkative in Court LEMME TALK TO ALL MY LAWYERS!!!

Suge Knight talked up a storm in court Thursday, begging a judge to let him talk to ALL his lawyers but the judge made it clear — his hands are tied.

The former rap mogul went on a diatribe, the likes of which we haven’t seen since he was arrested on murder charges in January 2015.

Suge was complaining he was not given access to his full team of lawyers and therefore couldn’t adequately prepare for trial. We won’t bore you with the legal mumbo jumbo, but this judge said he didn’t have the power to unleash Suge’s full legal team … another judge has to do that.

It’s interesting to hear Suge … he’s super engaged in the legal process.

Sourced From – http://www.tmz.com/2017/07/06/suge-knight-courtroom-lawyers-murder-robbery-case/

Celebrity developer pleads no contest to Bel-Air mega-mansion charges. But what happens to the 30,000-square-foot estate?

Three years ago, Los Angeles city officials demanded that builders halt work on a colossal mansion in the rarefied hills of Bel-Air.

The massive home being erected on Strada Vecchia Road was bigger and taller than allowed, city prosecutors said. It also included entire areas — bedrooms, decks and a vast IMAX theater — that the city says were never approved.

Neighbors said they feared for their safety, complaining that the hillside above their homes had been dangerously destabilized.

City officials yanked the building permits. Luxury developer Mohamed Hadid was slapped with criminal charges. The case drew international attention with its cocktail of criminal accusations, real estate excess and star power in Hadid, who has appeared on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and whose daughters Gigi and Bella have graced magazine covers.

After more than a year of legal wrangling, Hadid pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charges Tuesday. But neighbors remain anxious about what will ultimately happen to the roughly 30,000-square-foot mega-mansion uphill.

“You still have this horrendous thing hanging over the hillside,” said Joseph Horacek, an entertainment lawyer who repeatedly lodged complaints as the home was under construction, in an April interview at his home. He has nicknamed the unfinished building, which towers over his winding street below, the “Starship Enterprise.”

The question goes to the heart of how L.A. should hold real estate developers accountable. Hadid, who did not appear in court Tuesday, is scheduled for a sentencing hearing next month. City prosecutors want the judge to impose more than a dozen requirements, including hundreds of hours of community service, fines of $1,000 for each of the three charges, and a $250,000 contribution to a community improvement fund.

Read Full – http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bel-air-building-20170530-htmlstory.html

Physician and Pharmacy Help Fuel Demand for Illegal Pain Pills

He would visit the doctor during peculiar hours; between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. on a Saturday or Sunday.

Under the cover of darkness, in a strip mall in La Puente, a man calling himself “Juan” came in search of powerful pain pills and other controlled substances. He didn’t have any identification and he told the doctor he was either drunk or on drugs.

It didn’t matter. He got what he came for.

Dr. Daniel Cham, who was a licensed physician in California at the time, handed “Juan” prescriptions for hundreds of pills including Oxycodone, a powerful opioid, Xanax, a sedative, and Soma, a muscle relaxer.

“Dr. Cham was not practicing legitimate medicine. Dr. Cham was, in the eyes of the law, a drug pusher,” said Ben Barron, an Assistant United States Attorney who prosecuted Dr. Cham who was charged with narcotics trafficking, money laundering, fraud, and making a false statement to authorities.

What Dr. Cham didn’t know was that the patient who called himself “Juan,” was actually an undercover Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detective and that he was secretly filming his interactions with the physician.

During one visit, Dr. Cham asks the undercover agent, “What else do you need?” In response, the detective tells him, “How about some Soma?” Dr. Cham then asks how much he wants. “Let’s go with 3 times a day,” replies the agent.

Dr. Cham also asked the detective how he wanted the prescriptions filled out. “Is it all on one script?” asks Dr. Cham. The detective responds, “Can you make it two again like last time? Can you put the Oxy and Soma together and the Xanax on the other one?”

“Dr. Cham did no physical examination; he would tell the agent what symptoms he should claim to feel,” said Barron. “Dr. Cham demanded 300 dollars cash for a prescription for hydrocodone or vicodin.”

Barron says the doctor would sometimes ask for more money when the undercover agent asked for more powerful pain pills like oxycodone. The prosecutor says that’s typical in these cases. The more powerful the medication, the more money the physician wants in return for a prescription.

Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/Physician-and-Pharmacy-Help-Fuel-Demand-for-Illegal-Pain-Pills-423235214.html#ixzz4hgI92T68
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