Recent Posts in Criminal Defense Category

Numerous members of the "Manson Family" are seeking parole from California state prison after serving decades in prison for their notorious string of brutal murders. The followers of Charles Manson committed the murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in a two-night rampage that terrorized the city of Los Angeles, California, in August 1969. The Manson family members were initially sentenced to death following their conviction at trial, only to have their sentences commuted to life in prison when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down death penalty laws in 1972.

Since that time, Manson family members Susan Atkins, Charles "Tex" Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten have repeatedly been described as model prisoners who have accepted responsibility for their crimes. Susan Atkins is terminally ill with cancer and Charles "Tex" Watson is an ordained minister.  Parole boards, however, continue to reject their bids for release, and a debate rages over whether the four should ever be freed. Atkins, California's longest-serving female inmate requested a "compassionate release" from the California Board of Parole Hearings in July. She has terminal brain cancer, doctors say. The board unanimously denied her request.

By her own admission, Atkins held Tate down as she pleaded for mercy, and stabbed the eight-months-pregnant woman 16 times. In a 1993 parole board hearing, Atkins said Tate "asked me to let  her baby live ... I told her I didn't have any mercy on her."  After stabbing Tate to death, Atkins scrawled the word "pig" in blood on the door of the home Tate shared with her husband, film director Roman Polanski, who was not home at the time. Three of Tate's house guests were also slain, as was a teenager who was visiting the home's caretaker in his cottage out back.

Atkins' release was opposed by Tate's sister, Debra, Los Angeles County prosecutors and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others. However, the former prosecutor who won her conviction, Vincent Bugliosi, said he supported Atkins' request for release based on her medical condition.

Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Robert M. Bernstein addresses what it means to aid and abet a crime or conspire with another to commit a crime. If one is charged with being an accessory, aiding and abetting a crime or conspiring with another person to commit a crime, under California Criminal law they may be charged with the underlying crime itself. If someone assists or aids another in the commission of a crime which furthers the accomplishment of that crime, that person may be charged with aiding and abetting the crime. Under California law if you aid and abet another in the commission of a crime you may be imprisoned for the full penalties of the underlying crime. For example, if John were to ask Tom to drive him to a Bank so that he may rob the bank and Tom does so, but does not enter the bank himself and simply waits in the car, he may still be charged with bank robbery. In fact, if John were to use a weapon and kill someone while robbing the bank, Tom could be charged with murder although he never entered the bank himself.

Conspiracy criminal charges are different then aiding and abetting. To be charged with conspiracy under California criminal law, the actual crime does not have to occur. Someone may be charged with conspiracy to commit a crime if they agree with another person to commit a crime and take any steps in furtherance of that agreement, even though the actual crime may never have been carried out. For example, if John were to ask Tom to help him commit a robbery and John agrees to help by purchasing supplies to be used during the robbery - then he is guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery. Even if the robbery never occurs, it is a serious crime in itself to conspire to commit a crime and may be punished by a state prison sentence.

Robert M. Bernstein is a Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney. Below are some of the websites where you can find more information about criminal defense in Los Angeles:

http://www.california-law.org/ - Criminal Defense Lawyer

http://www.lawhitecollardefense.com - White Collar Crimes

http://www.ladrugcrimedefense.com - Drug Crimes

http://www.robertbernstein.com - Sex Crimes Lawyer

http://www.domesticviolencefirm.com - Domestic Violence

http://www.lafederaldefense.com - Federal Crimes