Friday, May 28, 2010

H&S 11350 Possession of a controlled substance

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this division,
every person who possesses (1) any controlled
substance specified in subdivision (b) or (c), or
paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of Section 11054,
specified in paragraph (14), (15), or (20) of
subdivision (d) of Section 11054, or specified in
subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 11055, or specified
in subdivision (h) of Section 11056, or (2) any
controlled substance classified in Schedule III, IV,
or V which is a narcotic drug, unless upon the written
prescription of a physician, dentist, podiatrist, or
veterinarian licensed to practice in this state,
shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this division,
every person who possesses any controlled substance
specified in subdivision (e)of Section 11054 shall be
punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not
more than one year or in the state prison.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in this division,
whenever a person who possesses any of the controlled
substances specified in subdivision (a) or (b), the
judge may, in addition to any punishment provided for
pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), assess against
that person a fine not to exceed seventy dollars ($70)
with proceeds of this fine to be used in accordance
with Section 1463.23 of the Penal Code. The court
shall, however, take into consideration the defendant'
s ability to pay, and no defendant shall be denied
probation because of his or her inability to pay the
fine permitted under this subdivision.
(d) Except in unusual cases in which it would not
serve the interest of justice to do so, whenever a
court grants probation pursuant to a felony conviction
under this section, in addition to any other
conditions of probation which may be imposed, the
following conditions of probation shall be ordered:
(1) For a first offense under this section, a fine
of at least one thousand dollars ($1,000) or community
service.
(2) For a second or subsequent offense under this
section, a fine of at least two thousand dollars
($2,000) or community service.
(3) If a defendant does not have the ability to
pay the minimum fines specified in paragraphs (1) and
(2), community service shall be ordered in lieu of the
fine.

Possession of a controlled substance can be a difficult
case to win/fight. The list of controlled substances
is fairly long and includes both legal and illegal
substances. The legal substances are included if you
do not have a proper prescription for certain types of
professional.

Punishment for this offense can include up to three years
time in custody, both state or local. There are also
options for a drug diversion program if this is your
first offense. Probation may be granted depending on the
circumstances of your offense. Probation will include
a fine unless you are unable to pay it (in which case
you can likely do community service instead).

A lot of what happens in these types of cases depends on
how the officers discovered the controlled substance and
if you knew the controlled substances were in your
possession (which is a difficult proposition to fight if
it was in your pocket or in an easily reached spot).

Thursday, May 20, 2010

PC 415 (public disturbance)

Any of the following persons shall be punished by imprisonment
in the county jail for a period of not more than 90 days, a fine of
not more than four hundred dollars ($400), or both such imprisonment
and fine:
(1) Any person who unlawfully fights in a public place or
challenges another person in a public place to fight.
(2) Any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another
person by loud and unreasonable noise.
(3) Any person who uses offensive words in a public place which
are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.

PC 415 can be tried as a misdemeanor or as an infraction. Ideally
you get the misdemeanor knocked down to an infraction, but this is
not always the case.
Unlawfully fights generally means that there was no consent to the
fight or that the individuals involved in the fight did not agree
to the conduct. For (2) malicious and willful the person must have
intended to disturb the person and did it for an "evil" purpose.
For (3) offensive need not be swear words but words intended to provoke
a violent response from the victim.