Gordon Thompson
6/20/16 The Exclusionary Rule is a constitutional law principle which says in its basic terms that prosecutors should not be able to use evidence at trial which the police obtained illegally in violation of a person’s constitutionally guaranteed rights. The idea is the rights would mean nothing if the police could ignore those constitutional rights…
6/17/16 In Arizona, a DUI involving prescription medications can be charged as DUI impairment to the slightest degree (28 A.R.S. § 1381.A.1) and driving with a controlled substance in the person’s body (28 A.R.S. § 1381.A.3). An affirmative defense to the A.3 charge is that the person was using the drug in accordance with the…
6/17/16 Photo enforcement for Speed and Red Light violations are still authorized under Arizona state law. Summons for violations can be issued under Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, usually by personal service or by alternative service specifically authorized under 28 A.R.S. § 1602. To be valid under 28-1602, the service must be: …sent by…
6/16/16 While legislation has been introduced by Arizona Congressman Ruben Gallego which seeks to aid noncitizen US military veterans who have been deported for relatively minor crimes in returning to the US, House Republicans recently offered a proposal to ban beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, from serving in the military…
6/15/16 Kids will be kids is a meaningless phrase in today’s society. In bygone times kids “got up to mischief”; today, kindergartners are being charged with assault and sexual harassment. About 10 years ago, my legal assistant’s 10-year-old son was threatened with arrest out of a local Valley school for having a scout survival tool…
6/14/16 In Simpson v. Miller, Nos. 1 CA-SA 15-0292, 1 CA-SA 15-0295 (Consolidated), two defendants are charged with multiple counts of sexual conduct with a minor who is under fifteen years of age. They are being held in custody under the provisions of 13 A.R.S. § 3961.A, which provides in part: A person who…
6/14/16 If you have been convicted of DUI Alcohol in Arizona, you have been ordered to install an ignition interlock device (IID) for a period of at least one year (first-time offenders in non-accident cases may be eligible for a deferment of the final 6 months of the IID period if, before the time of…
6/10/16 In Peruta, et al. v. County of San Diego, No. 10-56971 (6/9/16) the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled there is no right in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution to carry a concealed weapon in public. Under California law a person may apply to a County Sheriff or a Municipal…
6/9/16 Even an act as simple as riding a bike can run you afoul of the law, whether State or City, if you are not familiar with it. As busy and fast-paced as our Valley traffic is, it is important to know the rules and regulations which apply to bicyclists in Arizona, whether you ride…
6/9/16 In Williams v. Pennsylvania, U.S. Supreme Court, no. 15–5040. (6/9/16), the defendant was charged with murder. The then-prosecutor approved the trial assistant district attorney’s request to seek the death penalty and the defendant was convicted and sentenced to death. That district attorney later became the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The…