At a hearing Thursday, February 28, 2019, to determine whether two female inmates will get a jury trial for alleged maltreatment in custody, a federal court judge expressed “profound skepticism” about nighttime activity at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin in Alameda County. According to a story on n...
The Latest News, Posts, Articles, and Media Appearances from Tully & Weiss
New Law on Police Transparency Passes Final Hurdle in CA Supreme Court
A law mandating greater transparency for law enforcement officer personnel records, signed by former Governor Jerry Brown in September of last year, has survived a legal challenge in the California Supreme Court and is free to be implemented. At issue was the scope of the law, introduced as Senat...
Charges Dropped against Heidi Lepp in Marijuana Case
The Davis Vanguard by David Greenwald, March 5, 2019 Heidi Lepp will not have to return to court after all. Ten days after a jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case where Ms. Lepp was charged with two felony conspiracy charges, prosecutors decided that they lacked the evidence needed to...
Man Receives $21 Million After Serving Nearly 40 Years for Murders He Didn’t Commit
Time is money, as the saying goes. The phrase doesn't usually refer to nearly 40 years spent behind bars for a crime you didn't commit, but a California man will receive $21 million, or just over $2 million a year, for the time he unjustly spent behind bars. Craig Coley is now 71 and has been inc...
Can Brain Scans Predict Your Risk of Committing a Crime?
You've been convicted of a violent crime. You walk into the courtroom for sentencing and see a scan of your brain projected on the big screen. A neuroscientist is on the stand circling an area of the scan with her laser pointer. “You can see here,” she says, “that the defendant is 100% likely to ...
San Francisco Wipes Out More Than 9,300 Marijuana Convictions
California legalized recreational cannabis more than two years ago, but thousands of people still have felony pot convictions on their records. This affects their ability to find employment, attend school, and obtain loans or housing. On February 25, 2019, San Francisco District Attorney George G...
Supreme Court Rules State and Local Government Subject to Excessive Fines Clause
The days of states and municipalities relying on civil forfeiture to make ends meet may be coming to an end. In a rare unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on February 20th that the Constitution's prohibition on excessive fines, as per the Eighth Amendment, applies to state and local go...
Is the Decrease in Cash Bail Leading to More Incarceration?
Criminal justice advocates touted the end of cash bail as a way to remedy the fact that poor people had to stay in jail while the affluent went free. While the idea was good in theory, now that many states have abolished cash bail, it turns out that another factor is keeping the poor behind bars ...
Hung jury in reverend’s trial
Yuba County DA to decide if prosecutors should retry case against self-proclaimed Rastafarian church leader Appeal-Democrat by Rachel Rosenbaum, February 21, 2019 After two and a half days of deliberation, a Yuba County jury could not agree on a verdict in the marijuana conspiracy case against ...
Customers Use DNA Databases to Discover Relatives – The FBI Uses Them to Discover Suspects
Whether it's 23andMe, Ancestry.com or another online DNA database, people are flocking to these sites. They want to learn more about their ethnic heritage and discover distant – or in the case of adopted individuals, close – family ties. However, those interested in their personal, familial histo...
Reverend’s Fate is Now in Jury’s Hands
Appeal-Democrat by Rachel Rosenbaum, February 15, 2019 Jurors are now deliberating two felony conspiracy charges against Rastafarian church leader Heidi Lepp. After hearing closing arguments from the prosecution and defense, jurors will now decide whether they believe Lepp is guilty of conspiri...
Yuba County DA rests case against reverend
Trial of Rastafarian church leader continues; arrested after foothills Appeal-Democrat by Rachel Rosenbaum, February 13, 2019 Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday against a Rastafarian church leader and the defense called an expert in medical marijuana. After two days off, the trial against ...
Tacoma to Pay Nearly $2 Million for Withholding Records from Fired Police Officer
It's no surprise that often times cops and civilians are not tried and processed with the same rules and public exposure. The Brady doctrine was established in 1963 after Brady v. Maryland requiring the prosecution turn over all exculpatory evidence (evidence that might exonerate the defendant) t...
Charges Thrown Out After Security Camera Focuses on Defense Notes
A man on trial for misdemeanor assault and trespass charges in Washington's San Juan County had his case thrown out after the sheriff used a courtroom security camera to zoom in on defense and juror notes. The man's public defender says her client's civil rights were violated right in the courtro...
Closing Arguments in the Marijuana Conspiracy Case of Heidi Lepp
The Davis Vanguard by David Greenwald, February 16, 2019 Heidi Lepp, a Rastafarian church leader, is facing two felony conspiracy charges for allegedly running an illegal operation to cultivate and sell cannabis. If convicted she could face up to three years' imprisonment. These charges stem f...
A holy woman or a scam artist?
Trial of self-proclaimed Rastafarian reverend begins; arrested after foothill pot grow shooting Appeal-Democrat by Rachel Rosenbaum, February 6, 2019 Yuba County prosecutors want jurors to believe that Heidi Lepp's Rastafarian church was a scam. The defense wants them to believe that she's a re...
Florida Deputy Fired for Falsifying Narcotics Evidence
Possession of substantial amounts of heroin can get a person sent to prison for a long time. Possession of large quantities of laundry detergent? Not a crime. A Florida deputy has been terminated from his job and 11 people were released from county jail because of the phony evidence the deputy, S...
False Domestic Violence Charges Recanted by Deondre Francois’ Ex – Or Maybe Not
Domestic violence is a serious offense, but false claims – and there are many – ruin lives. That's what Florida State quarterback Deondre Francoisis going through right now. He's been dismissed from the football program after his former girlfriend, Diamond Lindsay, accused him of abuse. Then, one...
Family of Slain Stephon Clark Files $20 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit
The death of Stephon Clark made national headlines last year after the 22-year-old unarmed black man was killed by Sacramento police officers while in his grandparent's backyard. Police later claimed they mistook his cellphone for a weapon. On January 28, his family – parents, grandparents and tw...
Forget Roses for Valentine’s Day – Give Cannabis Instead
Disclaimer: The legal information below is meant specifically for those living in California under California Laws. These statements are accurate at the post date but may change as time goes on. Please always research and understand the recreational pot regulations and consume responsibly/legally...
Prisons Nationwide are Collecting Inmates’ Biometric Voice Information
You may use biometric voice information for some of your online account authentications. You know the drill – repeat a phrase several times so the computer captures it and you can log into your accounts simply by stating your name or other information. Across the country, prisons are collecting v...
Smaller Police Departments Getting Rid of Body Cameras – High Costs Alleged
Police body cameras were supposed to ensure transparency and also serve as a deterrent to officers who might otherwise brutalize a suspect. They were supposed to win public trust. To some degree, such cameras have fulfilled these promises, but the technology isn't cheap. Now, some smaller police ...
Cover Up Rejected in Laquan McDonald Death, But Police Killer Sentenced
Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald on October 20, 2014. Almost exactly four years later, Van Dyke, 40, was convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery – a count for every bullet fired at McDonald. On January 19, 2019, Van Dyke ...
A Year Later, Still No Answers for Family of Bijan Ghaisar
Last year, Bijan Ghaisar died ten days after the National Park Police in Virginia opened fire and shot the unarmed 25-year-old motorist four times in the head at point-blank range after a minor collision. A total of nine shots were fired. Since the shooting on November 17, 2017, neither the Park ...
Court Rules Against Government Forcing Mass Fingerprinting for Phone Unlocking
On January 10, 2019, Magistrate Judge Kandis Westmore of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied a search warrant for an Oakland property. Her ruling has far-reaching effects because the warrant had to do with a Facebook extortion crime, in which the victim was told...