Probation Violations

Most criminal convictions in California require defendants to serve probation as a part of their sentence. An alternative to serving a full term of incarceration, probation is actually a supervised, conditional release that California judges often impose instead of, or in addition to, jail time.

Compliance with all the terms and rules of the imposed probation is not negotiable. Failure to comply with court mandated probation can result in a charge of probation violation that could mean you’ll not only be returned to jail to serve  the remaining time on your jail sentence, but you may also have to serve additional jail time for the probation violation. Read the rest of this entry »

What Happens if I Get a DUI in California?

For the average San Francisco citizen, their first (and hopefully only) encounter with a criminal charge is a DUI arrest. By no means to be taken lightly, a DUI can affect your life in ways you probably never dreamed of. However, keeping your head about you and finding an experienced DUI attorney like Michael Ross, is probably your best bet for a good outcome in your case.

Most DUI arrests occur after a person is pulled over for an unrelated traffic violation or after an accident occurs. At the time of the pull-over where someone is suspected of DUI, the officer who stopped you will often conduct a field sobriety test. If you fail the sobriety test, the officer will then place you under arrest and take you to jail. Unless you are belligerent, the officer may not physically restrain or handcuff you, but don’t be alarmed if you are restrained. In some California counties restraining an arrestee is standard procedure, regardless of the circumstances. Read the rest of this entry »

When to Search for a Lawyer if a Loved One has been Arrested

There are few things more upsetting than learning that a loved one has been arrested. The natural impulse is to first get the person out of custody – usually by arranging for bail – as soon as possible. This is usually a mistake, resulting in the payment of an unnecessarily high bail premium, and perhaps exhausting any funds that will be required for legal representation in court. Read the rest of this entry »

The Perils of Do-It-Yourself Internet Law

There is an unmistakable trend revealing itself in growing numbers of new cases: the “Instant Internet Lawyer.” This term refers to a growing corps of do-it-yourself amateur attorneys who believe that a few hours of web research, aided and abetted perhaps with discussions with total strangers on blogs, they are qualified to handle their own legal matters. Internet or no Internet, the old rule still applies: a person who handles his or her own legal matter has a fool for a client. Read the rest of this entry »