Community Caretaking, Probable Cause, and Marijuana Vehicle Searches:
Impounding Vehicles, the Community Caretaking Doctrine, and Probable Cause Marijuana Vehicle Searches: In an unpublished decision (Blakes v. Superior Court (Nov. 24, 2021) 2021 Cal.App. Unpub. LEXIS 7403), California’s Third District Court of…
The Dream Keeper Fellowship Program
Paying Bad People to Be Good: Okay, I’ve heard it all now. In the September 6, 2021, edition of Newsweek Magazine, there is an article that touts a new program initiated by an organization in San Francisco called “The Dream Keeper Fellowship (the…
The “Weaponing” of Social Media by Law Enforcement
The “Weaponing” of Social Media by Law Enforcement: It is well established that a private citizen has a First Amendment right to videotape public officials, including, but not limited to, police officers while performing their duties in any public…
Profanity and the First Amendment
Editorial by Robert Phillips, Deputy District Attorney (Retired)
Profanity and the First Amendment: Some of us were brought up in an atmosphere where the use of profanity was severely frowned upon, some believing that its use merely reflects a lack…
Sentencing Minors to Life Without the Possibility of Parole
I don’t typically brief sentencing cases, and I’m not an expert by any means on juvenile law, so I’m kind of speaking out of school here. But for those of you who have to deal with those little buggers, I thought you might be interested in the U.S…
A Public Service Announcement for Kern County Criminals
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Legal Updates Publishing Company or Author Robert C. Phillips.
A Public Service Announcement…
Politics, Political Correctness, and P.D. Policies
The San Francisco Police Department’s Police Chief William Scott recently published within his department a directive instructing his officers to “avoid . .” sitting detained subjects (handcuffed or not) on the ground or sidewalk. Chief Scott is of…
Novel Defense Theory of the Year
Benjamin Schreiber was convicted in 1997 of murder in an Iowa state court and sentenced to life in prison. (Source: The Rapid City Journal, Nov. 8, 2018; South Dakota.) On March 30, 2015, suffering from an undisclosed ailment, Schreiber was…
Red Flag Statutes
For anyone who is interested, I have compiled a list of California’s so-called “Red Flag Statutes;” i.e. P.C. §§ 18100, et seq.—on the books since January 1, 2015 (as amended in 1/1/2019)—that deal with court petitions by “immediate family members”…
AB 392: Amended P.C. §§ 196 & 835a, and the Use of Deadly Force
Governor Newsom signed AB 392 (along with SB 230) into law on August 19, tightening up the standards for an officer’s use of deadly force (through the use of firearms or otherwise) from what is “reasonable,” to what is “necessary,” under the…
