White collar crime was first introduced into the language in 1939 in a presentation by Edwin Sutherland to the American Sociological Society; and was defined “…as a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.”
Increased government scrutiny and severe criminal and civil penalties are realities faced by contemporary corporations and their officers, directors and employees. Few areas of the law require more skills across a broad spectrum of disciplines than the representation of clients in federal and state criminal and regulatory enforcement matters. Securing a nationally recognized criminal defense lawyer who has the civil, criminal and regulatory expertise required to achieve successful outcomes at trial, but often more importantly, before charges are filed and investigations become public is imperative.
A white collar crime criminal defense attorney can litigate indicted cases and provide representation in grand jury proceedings and before regulatory agencies, such as the SEC and EPA. A skilled and experienced criminal defense lawyer combines well-honed courtroom skills and expertise in defense of corporations and individuals with sophisticated knowledge in many areas of substantive law, including:
• securities, revenue recognition and public accounting fraud
• insider-trading, Title 15 and CFR securities non-compliance, and Sarbanes-Oxley issues
• mail, wire, tax-related and computer fraud
• trade-secret theft
• environmental and health and safety violations
• antitrust violations
• import-export and money laundering violations
A white collar crime criminal defense lawyer will regularly draw on the expertise of other practice areas in their firm, including Environmental Law, for example, examining environmental compliance counseling, regulatory representation and litigation, including defense of civil and criminal environmental enforcement actions. Likewise, a criminal defense attorney might need to refer to Insurance and Employment Law to litigate on D&O insurance, indemnity, and employment issues facing clients.
A white collar crime criminal defense lawyer will have experience in counseling and representing corporations and individuals in a full spectrum of services and in a broad range of industries and professions, including internal corporation investigations and in defense of criminal and regulatory enforcement actions, In addition, a white collar crime criminal defense attorney will regularly counsel corporate clients concerning compliance programs mandated by state and federal law, and help clients navigate the muddy waters created by parallel civil and criminal proceedings.
An experienced white collar crime criminal defense lawyer will also recognize the importance of negotiations during the investigation, before decisions are made on whether to file criminal or civil-enforcement charges. Their familiarity with the prosecutors’ offices is critical to exploring every avenue possible to avoid such charges. For many clients, the mere filing of highly publicized charges can be devastating. If charges are unavoidable, a white collar criminal defense lawyer should have the experience it takes to either negotiate an appropriate resolution or take the case to trial.
The complexities involved in developing a strategy or achieving a resolution in criminal matters increases exponentially when clients are faced with parallel civil or administrative proceedings. For example, clients in securities fraud cases are often faced with a three-tiered threat:
• filing of civil class actions
• SEC investigations leading to civil enforcement cases; and
• grand jury investigations leading to criminal charges.
An experienced white collar crime criminal defense lawyer will have extensive expertise in the early assessment of a client’s civil, administrative and criminal exposure and in developing a coordinated defense to all three of these proceedings. Knowing from experience that the early strategies developed in response to one proceeding can have serious and unalterable repercussions on the direction and ultimate outcome of the parallel investigations and filings.
Given the complexities and extent to which the laws can affect your business and well-being, does your lack of knowledge about white collar crime cause you to be at risk?
1. I just got arrested for a DUI, can I wait until I go to court to take care of it?
No, it is important that you act quickly after being arrested for a DUI.
If you do not have your DUI attorney apply for a DMV hearing and a “stay” of your driver’s license suspension within 10 days after your arrest your California driving privilege will be suspended. In fact, if you miss this 10 day deadline your license will be automatically suspended thirty (30) days after your arrest.
2. Why do I need to hire an attorney to apply for a DMV hearing and a “stay”?
It is best to have a California DUI attorney make the application for a DMV hearing. It is important to make sure that it is done correctly and also to set the hearing on an appropriate date for the attorney’s calendar. Remember, if the application is not made correctly within 10 calendar days, it will be too late.
3. Can these DMV hearings ever be won?
Yes, these hearings can be won.
However, DMV hearings are a technical area for which you should seek the advice of an experienced California DUI attorney. According to the DMV’s statistics for a recent year, 34% of all people who were suspended for DUI at the time of their arrest kept their driver’s license by requesting a hearing to fight the suspension. However, these hearings are highly technical and won on technical issues. Rarely, if ever, do untrained people representing themselves have success before the DMV. You need to be represented by a criminal DUI lawyer who has a thorough understanding of the laws and cases that are relevant in this area.
4. What will happen to me in the Criminal Courts if I am convicted of DUI?
Part of the reason to hire an experienced DUI lawyer is the wide variety of sentences that can result from a DUI. You can receive anything from probation, a fine and a driver’s license restriction or minimum “weekender work” jail sentence( for a first offense) to increased jail exposure, longer school and the requirement of placing an interlock on your ignition switch (for multiple offenders), to State prison and a driver’s license revocation (for a serious felony).
The sentence depends on a number of factors:
1. Whether this is your first offense.
2. Whether your blood alcohol level is over a certain level.
3. Whether or not there was an accident in your case, or in a case involving an earlier conviction.
4. Whether you are charged with a “speeding enhancement” or other traffic violation.
5. Whether someone was injured in your case.
6. Whether you are on probation or parole or have a criminal record.
Given the wide variety of factors that may go into a criminal sentence it makes sense to consult with an experienced DUI attorney before going to court. Only by speaking with an attorney can you get accurate information about your possible exposure to increased sentencing, and find out what can be done to lessen that exposure.
5. Will hiring an attorney really make any difference?
People often will hear from their friends that it is a “waste of money” to hire a DUI attorney. This is nonsense. People would never dream of doing their own surgery. And yet these same people will walk into a court room and plead guilty without any advice as to their rights or knowledge of the possible consequences.
A well trained lawyer with experience in the area of DUI law can make a difference. A DUI lawyer who specializes in this area can get cases dismissed, reduced or at the very least minimize the harm to the client.
At the very least, most people charged with a DUI need a knowledgeable and experienced lawyer to guide them through this complicated system. In fact, many clients don’t want the embarrassment and hassle of going to court. In most cases, a DUI attorney can make every court appearance without his client ever appearing in court. This includes taking a plea on his/her behalf or appearing at time of sentencing.
6. What happens if my blood alcohol level result turns out to be under a .08% (the “legal limit”)?
Many persons arrested for a DUI make the mistake of “waiting” to find out their blood alcohol before hiring a DUI attorney. They are under the mistaken impression that if the blood alcohol level is under a .08 they cannot be charged with a DUI.
In you the law also prohibits “Driving Under the Influence”. Thus you can be, charged with Driving Under the Influence with a blood level below the .08% level.
7. What are some of the circumstances that may lead to me being charged with a felony?
A DUI charge may be a felony if one of the following is true:
1. You have three (3) or more DUI’s in the past 10 years.
2. You have a prior felony within the past 10 yrs.
3. Someone other than yourself was injured in an accident that you were involved in while driving under the influence.
In most of these cases the Court has the option of reducing the charges to misdemeanors instead of felonies depending on how old the priors and the severity (or lack of severity) of the charges.
10. Why am I charged with two violations that sound like DUI charges on my paperwork, when I only drove once?
These are simply two alternate ways of charging one act:
1. 23152(a) V.C. is the charge of driving under the influence (being an impaired driver), regardless of whether you are accused of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs (even prescription drugs), and regardless if your blood alcohol level was .08% or higher.
2. 23152 (b) V.C. is the charge of driving with a blood alcohol level of .08% or over, regardless of whether you were actually impaired as a driver.
Although this information is not intended to be a guide in the defense of a particular case as each criminal case is different, hopefully it serves an educational purpose.
But according to court records, Sunnyvale police failed to reveal that the victim initially identified another man with the same name as his attacker.
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Bryan Slater said he decided to dismiss the case due to a lack of evidence.
Judge Douglas K. Southard commended the district attorney’s office for dropping the charge.
Jaspal Singh and Balbir Singh are not related. They are Sikhs. For many Sikh men, Singh is a common last name. The name, which means “lion” in Punjabi, was actually mandated as the official surname for all Sikh men by the religion’s founder more than 500 years ago, to show that all men are created equally.
Like in English, where there are many Steves or Toms, first names such as Jaspal are common among Sikhs.
Balbir Singh was beaten by a group of men while attending a Punjabi concert at the center. They fractured his jaw and stole his jacket, an expensive work cell phone and the keys to a limousine he uses to make his living.
An ongoing dispute between Balbir Singh and his former roommate Jagwinder Singh over work and women sparked the fight, according to a police report.
Jagwinder Singh, who pleaded no contest Thursday to charges of unlawful fighting in a public place, told police the two only argued. He was arrested and charged with assault.
Balbir Singh provided an officer with a list of names of people - including for a Jaspal Singh - he thought might have attacked him.
Police pulled driver’s license photos of men with the same names. In a photo lineup Balbir Singh at first identified a different Jaspal Singh as one of his attackers. But officers failed to tell prosecutors of the earlier identification.
Questions about the strength of the case began almost immediately, according to Cameron Bowman, the accused Jaspal Singh’s attorney. An investigator’s interview with Balbir Singh had never been transcribed.
The district attorney’s office has requested Sunnyvale police to review what happened in the case because of the snafu. Sunnyvale police did not return phone calls Thursday.
By Leslie Griffy
Mercury News