Criminal Defense Blog

The Law Office of Brian Michaels would like to thank local law enforcement for again assuming the leadership role here in Southern California in refusing to enforce the latest Los Angeles County Health Department's illogical and damaging recent mask mandate. With the country remaining at a 50 per...

Over the course of the last few months I have been trying to find time, now that my law firm has re-opened to address the vast amounts of research I have conducted over the last year and a half and have asked, encouraged and plead with people in my profession to begin to take a hard look at the e...

This is the product of a full year of research between Attorney Brian Michaels and a small working group of professionals committed to truth. The article is part fact and part theory with a bit of opinion. We will be writing and adding chapters every few days. Feel free to follow along. Or not. B...

Today, we all witnessed one of the most disturbing days in the history of our Democracy. Incited and directed by the sitting President of the United States, the loser in the Federal Election for his re-election Donald Trump, directed, incited, participated in and created nothing more nor less tha...

As the various Covid 19 vaccines begin to roll out of warehouses and onto aircraft for immediate distribution, now is as good a time as any to look forward and see how the implementation of a vaccine might look and the various legal issues surrounding inoculation. Certainly if you have one or mor...

Announcement from the Law Office of Brian Michaels re: Corona Virus  and the courts. As everyone knows the State of California is now on an almost virtual lockdown as a result of the COVID 19 Coronavirus epidemic. Several counties have closed their courthouses completely such as San Diego and San...

What to do if pulled over for a DUI Over my 24 year legal career, first as a Prosecutor and now as a full time DUI and Criminal Defense Attorney I have probably been involved in now thousands of DUI cases including close to 50 jury trials. While many lawyers tend to overcomplicate and oversell th...

Today, in a landmark vote, California became the first state to eliminate completely a cash based bail system. No doubt this is a blow to bail bondsmen throughout the State, many of whom are friends, who have provided freedom for thousands who could not normally afford the cost of bail. My though...

THE BIRD IS THE WORD. ELECTRIC SCOOTERS AND THE LAW. Anyone who lives in the Westside of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Venice, San Diego or several other Metropolitan areas in California are becoming fast aware of the presence of hundreds, soon to be thousands, of motorized scooters, that have taken...

It's that time of the year again and arrests and enforcement for the Coachella Music Festival have begun in earnest. For the last five years the Law Office of Brian Michaels has been representing dozens of individuals annually who have the misfortune of being arrested or cited for a criminal offe...

Re: Sealing Arrest Records in California Just Becamse Easier! Today, Attorney Brian Michaels became one of the first to file a Motion to Seal the Arrest Record of a client under newly enacted statutes that makes it significantly easier for qualified individuals to seal their arrest records perman...

Former top Los Angeles Prosecutor Brian Michaels is proud to finally announce the opening of his Downtown Santa Barbara Office to service the needs of that community. Mr.Michaels is a 1988 graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara and is a proud Gaucho alum. Our office will be handl...

In response to our offices Coachella task force for the 2017 Coachella Music Festival we are seeing a significant upturn in possession related arrests. The bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ran undercover task forces at the venue resulting in what appears to me more arrests this year for po...

Southern California Criminal Defense Attorney Brian Michaels will be opening a Coachella Valley Music Festival legal task force to aid people caught up in the criminal justice system while attending the Coachella Music Festival or Stagecoach Music Festival through May of 2017. Every spring the Co...

The Law Office of Attorney Brian Michaels is pleased to announce the opening of a Branch Office serving the Coachella Valley and greater Riverside County. Former Prosecutor Michaels has over 20 years of experience in the Criminal Courts of Southern California. Our office has served the needs of c...

Recently my office has handled a slew of post conviction proceedings for people that were arrested and convicted of crimes as long as 20 years ago. While we are not sure if this shows an upward trend in enforcement by INS, but it's important a client, who, even with residency status, can be depor...

Mr. Furlong was arraigned today on a new Domestic Violence case involving a former girlfriend. Based on information that was known to us prior to this recent arrest, Mr. Furlong recently learned that the District Attorney had purportedly filed a case against him in December. Contrary to press rep...

Status of Edward Furlong Arrest My office was retained in 2012 to represent Edward Furlong in a pending Probation Violation hearing at the Van Nuys Branch of the Los Angeles Superior Court. He had been placed on Probation as a result of a family law dispute that resulted in an unfortunate plea b...

Unfortunately there is just no clear cut answer as to if or when the City is going to enforce the recently enacted ordinance effectively banning all dispensaries in the City limits. For now, The Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has issued a statement that enforcement is frozen until all...

PREV Next Article NEXT LOCAL 23 Print Comments 3 REUTERS FILE PHOTO The death penalty in California would be abolished if voters approve Proposition 34 on the November ballot. Lorrain Taylor was sitting in her home in February 2000 when she received a devastating phone call that would ...

On the eve of the so called Sunset Ban on all Medical Marijuana clinics in the City of Los Angeles, the presiding Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich issue a letter indicating City enforcement is suspended. According to the Los Angeles Times: "Los Angeles city officials say they will not e...

Last month the Los Angeles City Council voted to severely restrict the number of dispensaries in the City to pre-2008 levels. Continue to check back here for updates on what is going on with enforcement. There are many reports that indicate that the City Council ban has been over turned by the re...

There have been many conflicting reports about what the City of Los Angeles intended to do to enforce it's recently enacted ordinance effectively banning Medical Marijuana Disensaries in the City of Los Angeles. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich yesterday released a formal letter indicating the City...

Posted on April 13, 2012 Every year California adds new penalties for Drunk Driving convictions. The following is a summary of the most common punishments set forth in the CA Judge's Benchguide. It is important to understand that these sentencing guidelines can be imposed, however, there are way...

Medical marijuana patients in Los Angeles can exhale a sigh of relief. At least for now. LA's marijuana dispensary ban, which was set to go into effect in one week, has been temporarily suspended after patients and supporters delivered 50,000 signatures to force a referendum on the ban, the city ...