http://www.financealley.com en-us editorial@financealley.com Battered Women’s Syndrome Battered woman syndrome (more commonly called “BWS” or “Intimate Partner Abuse and its Effects”) describes a pattern of psychological and behavioral symptoms found in women living in abusive relationships. (BWS occur... http://www.financealley.com/article_96054_18.html 25th October 2006 Refusals When a person has been lawfully arrested for a DUI, they are mandated to take a chemical test. If a person refuses, his or her license will immediately be confiscated by the law enforcement officer pursuant to their authority to do so in orde... http://www.financealley.com/article_61347_18.html 08th June 2006 Legal Requirements of Roadblocks: The Ingersoll/Palmer factors The Supreme Court of California rendered a decision on the premiere California roadblock case, Ingersoll v. Palmer, in 1987. This decision set the standard for how law enforcement agencie... http://www.financealley.com/article_61345_18.html 08th June 2006 Roadblocks: What types of Roadblocks allowed? Roadblocks have been established to be "seizures" under the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment states that a person should be free from unreasonable searches and seizures of their person and their b... http://www.financealley.com/article_61344_18.html 08th June 2006 Roadblocks: How are they justified in light of the Fourth Amendment? Aren't these warrantless searches and seizures, and therefore unreasonable? A roadblock, also known as a sobriety checkpoint, is a temporary stop-point operated on a public road, wh... http://www.financealley.com/article_61343_18.html 08th June 2006 Roadblocks: What is the means to challenge a roadblock we believe to be illegal? It is well-established law that searches and seizures are unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, absent individualized suspicion of wrongdoing. There are very few exce... http://www.financealley.com/article_61342_18.html 08th June 2006 Sentencing Alternatives: Alcohol and Drug Rehabs Incarceration in the county jail offers no rehabilitative benefit for the DUI offender. Unfortunately, some people have addiction problems to alcohol that are simply not addressed with being punished b... http://www.financealley.com/article_61341_18.html 08th June 2006 Sentencing Alternatives: Caltrans Freeway Cleanup Instead of sitting in the county jail as the result of a DUI conviction, DUI offenders can be sentenced to work on a Caltrans Freeway Cleanup crew as a term of their probation. The number of hours req... http://www.financealley.com/article_61340_18.html 08th June 2006 Alternative Sentencing: Community Service Where the court has the ability to sentence the DUI offender to a term of incarceration in the county jail, the court may choose to allow the defendant to serve the hours that would have been spent in county j... http://www.financealley.com/article_61339_18.html 08th June 2006 Sentencing Alternatives: Electronic Monitoring Electronic monitoring, also known as "house arrest" allows the convicted DUI offender to stay at home instead of being incarcerated in the county jail. There are many types of electronic monitoring d... http://www.financealley.com/article_61337_18.html 08th June 2006 Sentencing Alternatives: Ignition Interlock Devices When someone is convicted of a DUI, the court may require that a person convicted of a first offense violation of Section 23152 or 23153 to install a certified ignition interlock device on any ve... http://www.financealley.com/article_61336_18.html 08th June 2006 Sentencing Alternatives: SCRAM SCRAM is an alcohol monitoring program that is intended for the multiple DUI offender who would otherwise be facing mandatory incarceration. Instead of incarceration, some courts will allow the DUI offender to partici... http://www.financealley.com/article_61335_18.html 08th June 2006 Sentencing Alternatives: What kind of sentencing alternatives are available in DUI cases? The penalties for conviction of a DUI are harsh and include large fines, jail time, and mandatory alcohol education classes. Conviction for multiple DUIs only i... http://www.financealley.com/article_61334_18.html 08th June 2006 Sentencing Alternatives: Sober Living Environments Sober living environments are a way for the DUI offender to avoid being incarcerated. Where a person has had multiple DUIs, or has a drug or alcohol problem that has not responded to past attempts at... http://www.financealley.com/article_61333_18.html 08th June 2006 Indecent Exposure California Penal Code Section 314 defines indecent exposure and the punishment. Section 314 reads in part: "Every person who willfully and lewdly, either: 1. Exposes his person, or the private parts thereof, in any public place... http://www.financealley.com/article_61332_18.html 08th June 2006 Intro Sex crimes are punished harshly in California. The resulting convictions may result in having misdemeanors and felonies on a person's criminal record. Punishments range from incarceration in county jail up to one year to imprisonment in the sta... http://www.financealley.com/article_61331_18.html 08th June 2006 Lewd Act with a Child under 14 A lewd or lascivious act is defines as any touching of the body of a child under the age of 14 years with the specific intent to arouse, appeal to, or gratify the sexual desires of either party. The touching can be again... http://www.financealley.com/article_61330_18.html 08th June 2006 Oral Copulation Oral copulation refers to the act of touching the mouth of one person with another person's sexual organ or anus. The definitions of oral and copulation are: "oral" meaning of, relating to, or belonging to the mouth, and " copulation "... http://www.financealley.com/article_61329_18.html 08th June 2006 Pimping/Pandering Prostitution is related to "pandering," which means to procure another person for the purpose of prostitution. The following activities constitute pandering: � Procuring another person for the purpose of prostitution. &#61... http://www.financealley.com/article_61328_18.html 08th June 2006 Prostitution Prostitution is illegal in California. Prostitution means to engage in sexual conduct for money or other consideration. A conviction for prostitution is a misdemeanor, resulting in a conviction for disorderly conduct. California Penal... http://www.financealley.com/article_61327_18.html 08th June 2006 Rape Rape is defined in California Penal Code Section 261 as an act of sexual intercourse (actual penetration of a woman's vagina with the man's penis) with someone other than a spouse, carried out without consent and accomplished through force, threat... http://www.financealley.com/article_61326_18.html 08th June 2006 Sexual Battery Sexual battery is defined in California Penal Code Section 243.4(a), which reads in part: "Any person who touches an intimate part of another person while that person is unlawfully restrained by the accused or an accomplice, and i... http://www.financealley.com/article_61325_18.html 08th June 2006 Sodomy Sodomy refers to anal copulation by a man inserting his penis into the anus of another man or a woman. If accomplished by force, without consent or with someone incapable of consent, sodomy is a felony in the same way that rape is. California d... http://www.financealley.com/article_61324_18.html 08th June 2006 Solicitation of Prostitution Solicitation of prostitution refers to a person trying to obtain lewd conduct from another person. Solicitation to engage in lewd conduct requires specific intent to engage in that conduct. Specific intent is that intent ... http://www.financealley.com/article_61323_18.html 08th June 2006 Spousal Rape It is a crime in all 50 states, and federal lands, for a husband to rape his wife. Spousal rape refers to sexual acts committed without a person's consent and/or against a person's will, when the perpetrator is the woman's husband or ex-h... http://www.financealley.com/article_61322_18.html 08th June 2006 Statutory Rape Statutory Rape laws are based on the premise that until a person reaches a certain age, that individual is legally incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse. Thus, it is a crime for an adult to have sexual intercourse with a person ... http://www.financealley.com/article_61321_18.html 08th June 2006 Using Megan's Law Information to Commit a Felony Megan's Law allows law enforcement agencies to collect information about sex offenders, notifying the public about sex offender's who pose a risk to the public. The California Department of Justice (DO... http://www.financealley.com/article_61319_18.html 08th June 2006 Who is Required to Register under Megan's Law The following persons are required to register, according to California Penal Code Section 290: (1) any person who, since July 1, 1944, has been or is convicted in any court in California or in any f... http://www.financealley.com/article_61318_18.html 08th June 2006 Suppression Motions Suppression motions are a valuable tool in a DUI case because when evidence can be excluded, the prosecutor's case is weakened. Suppression follows the rule of law that evidence secured by illegal means and in bad faith cannot be i... http://www.financealley.com/article_61317_18.html 08th June 2006 Burglary Burglary is the crime of breaking and entering into a structure for the purpose of committing a crime. Contrary to what most people believe, a burglary need not necessarily involve theft. Burglary applies to any crime, such as assault or sex... http://www.financealley.com/article_61316_18.html 08th June 2006 Embezzlement Embezzlement is the crime of stealing funds of property of an employer, company, or government. It may also mean money or assets held in a trust account. It is the illegal transfer or money, or property, which is diverted from the employ... http://www.financealley.com/article_61315_18.html 08th June 2006 Extortion Extortion is the act of obtaining money or property from a victim by threatening, intimidating, or by false claim of right. An example of false claim of right may be where a person impersonates an official government official, like an IRS ... http://www.financealley.com/article_61314_18.html 08th June 2006 Forgery Forgery is the crime of creating a false document, altering a document, or writing a false signature for the illegal benefit of the person making the forgery. This includes improperly filling in a blank document, like an automobile purchase co... http://www.financealley.com/article_61313_18.html 08th June 2006 Fraud Fraud is generally defined as the intentional use of deceit, a trick or some dishonest means to deprive another of his/her/its money, property or a legal right. Quite often there are several persons involved in a scheme to commit fraud and each ... http://www.financealley.com/article_61312_18.html 08th June 2006 Grand Theft Grand theft involves the theft of goods or services valued above $400 and may be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year. A felony is punishable by i... http://www.financealley.com/article_61311_18.html 08th June 2006 Grand Theft Auto Grand theft of an automobile occurs when someone takes another person's car without permission, with the intent to permanently deprive them of it. Grand theft requires that the property stolen have a value over $400. Grand theft auto... http://www.financealley.com/article_61310_18.html 08th June 2006 Intro Theft crimes encompass a number of different crimes. Essentially, theft is the taking of another's property without their consent, with the intention to permanently deprive them of it. Theft crimes generally require specific intent. Specific... http://www.financealley.com/article_61308_18.html 08th June 2006 Petty Theft, and Petty Theft with Prior Theft is the act of stealing goods. Petty theft involves stealing goods or services worth $400 or less and is charged as a misdemeanor for first time offenses. Where the value of goods stolen is less than $50... http://www.financealley.com/article_61306_18.html 08th June 2006 Receipt of Stolen Property Receiving stolen goods is generally buying or acquiring the possession of property knowing that it had been obtained through theft, embezzlement, larceny, or extortion by someone else. The crime is separate from the crime o... http://www.financealley.com/article_61305_18.html 08th June 2006 Robbery Robbery is a felony, punishable by a term in state or federal prison. Robbery is the direct taking of property, including money from a person through force, threat or intimidation. "Armed robbery" involves the use of a gun or other weapon whic... http://www.financealley.com/article_61304_18.html 08th June 2006 Three Strikes The Three Strikes law significantly increases the prison sentences of persons convicted of felonies who have been previously convicted of a violent or serious felony, and limits the ability of these offenders to receive a punishment other... http://www.financealley.com/article_61303_18.html 08th June 2006 Domestic Violence Domestic violence is generally defined as physical abuse against someone who lives in the home, or someone the person is married to (or dating) or used to be married to (or used to date), or someone they have had a child with. A "dat... http://www.financealley.com/article_61302_18.html 08th June 2006 Assault The California Penal Code, Section 240, defines assault as "an unlawful attempt, coupled with a present ability, to commit a violent injury on the person of another." Assault is either the threat or attempt to strike another, whether successful... http://www.financealley.com/article_61301_18.html 08th June 2006 Assault on Police and Firefighters Where a crime is committed against a police officer or firefighter, the punishments are usually increased. The requirement is that the assault on the police officer, otherwise known as peace officers, or firefighte... http://www.financealley.com/article_61300_18.html 08th June 2006 Assault with a Firearm Assault with a firearm is governed by California Penal Code Section 245. Assault with a firearm is an aggravated assault in which the defendant, with a firearm, threatens a person with death or serious bodily injury. An aggrava... http://www.financealley.com/article_61297_18.html 08th June 2006 Assault with Weapon other than Firearm There are many means of assault with a deadly weapon other than firearms, which are generally defined as those weapons capable of producing great bodily injury. For example, stun guns, knives, bat, hammer, mac... http://www.financealley.com/article_61296_18.html 08th June 2006 Battery The crime of battery is governed by California Penal Code Sections 242 and 243. Battery is defined as "any willful and unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another." (PC 242) Battery is defined as "simple" battery and batte... http://www.financealley.com/article_61295_18.html 08th June 2006 Hit and Run Hit and run is generally defined as a criminal act. It is the failure of a driver of a vehicle, involved in a collision, to stop and give their name, license number, and other information to the injured party, a witness, or law enforcement... http://www.financealley.com/article_61294_18.html 08th June 2006 Intro: Violent Crimes Crimes of violence vary in terms of their classification and their punishment. They may be misdemeanors, felonies, or wobblers. Misdemeanors are those crimes which are only punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment in the county... http://www.financealley.com/article_61293_18.html 08th June 2006 Kidnapping The felony crime of kidnapping is generally defined as the taking of a person against their will, or from the control of a parent or guardian through violence, force, threat, or intimidation. The act of kidnapping often involves other cri... http://www.financealley.com/article_61292_18.html 08th June 2006