Sexual grooming is a deliberate and systematic manipulation by an offender to build an emotional connection and/or a trusting relationship with a minor or their family to enable sexual abuse or exploitation. This trick is usually a step-by-step process...
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal civil rights law that bans sex discrimination in any school or education program that receives federal funding. This law requires colleges and universities to establish a formal policy that...
A robbery offense, in California, happens when you feloniously take another person’s property from their possession, the control of another person, or from another person’s immediate presence. This happens against the person’s will, and can be...
California Penal Code Section 1203.4 describes expungement as a post-conviction legal procedure that grants you the right to withdraw a guilty or no-contest plea and to get an official dismissal of your case. This mechanism is an important stepping...
When a minor is arrested for a violent crime in California, the legal process proceeds rapidly and can have life-altering consequences. The juvenile justice system is designed to promote rehabilitation rather than punishment. However, in serious or...
In California, eyewitness testimony can make or break a prosecution's case. Although forensic evidence, such as DNA or fingerprints, can be considered the gold standard, most cases, such as robbery or assault, are based on a witness's clear memory....
An arrest warrant is a court order authorizing law enforcement to apprehend a suspect and present him or her to the court to respond to alleged criminal activity. It is a formal mechanism of coercive power in action against a particular individual...
California expungement is a post-conviction legal practice provided for by Penal Code Section 1203.4. The law permits the petitioner to withdraw a guilty or Nolo Contendere plea or to dismiss a guilty verdict and have the underlying charges against the...
