San Jose Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Johannes Meserle was convicted last week of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Oscar Grant. The trial was moved from the Bay Area to Los Angeles so that Meserle could get a fairer jury pool. As most people now know, Mesrele was an Oakland BART police officer who shot Mr. Grant why he was on the ground and handcuffed. The defense was that Meserle thought he took out his taser and only accidentally used his firearm that resulted in Mr. Grant's death.

The killing and now the verdict (which was the lowest crime the jury could come back with) has sparked anger in the black and latino communities, especially in the Bay Area and San Jose. Groups of protests and some light rioting took place in San Jose, but the bulk of this activity occurred in Oakland. Of course this anger is understandable, but from a criminal defense point of view, Meserle had a great defense team. His lawyer sent the jury into deliberations for only a mere four hours. Most pundits, after learning of such a short deliberation thought the verdict would be all (second degree murder) or nothing (acquittal). With all the inconsistencies Meserle's lawyer convinced every juror that what happened between Meserle and Grant was an accident. Of course it is an accident that will send Meserle to prison for 4-10 years (up to 10 years because of the gun enhancement). Of course the family and friends of Grant find no consolation as no one else in their position would.

The Meserle trial and verdict teaches one valuable lesson. When you are in trouble, get yourself a good lawyer. Meserle did and it saved him a life sentence.

Continue reading "San Jose Reacts to Meserle Verdict" »

More than 2500 marijuana plants were seized and nine people arrested in coordinated Bay Area law enforcement raids including here in San Jose. It was a network that ran from San Jose, to Oakland and even up to the Napa Valley. Local law enforcement and the California Drug Enforcement Agency estimate that the "ring" had up to $10 million worth of marijuana. The months-long investigation ended up with 15 search warrants including a San Francisco address where police believe the "ring leader" lived. The California DEA also estimates that the operation had the capacity to produce up to 10 tons of pot annually, which was sold to customers in an intricate underground operation.

In an interesting sub-story most of the growers undertook to by-pass the utility meters and installed their own electrical circuits.

The largest stashes of pot were discovered in San Francisco and Militpas, 1,097 and 493 plants respectively. 359 plants were discovered from a home on the 2700 block of Rainfield Drive in San Jose. 15 pounds of processed pot were found in an Oakland residence where police arrested Diep Hoang Vu, 38, a suspected worker at the grow houses. Vu has an extensive criminal history that includes a 16-year prison sentence for a felony rape conviction. Also arrested were Quoc Bui Long, 44, of San Jose; and Tuan Chu, 28, a Vietnamese citizen, whose residence is unknown.

This investigation, arrests and soon to be prosecution comes about when the State of California is in a deep discussion about legalizing the commercial and recreational use of marijuana. Granted, this kind of operation would never be legal, but one wonders at the use of time and resources going after "pot rings" when it soon might be legal to smoke pot for fun! And, given that California is about to meet the precipice of debt, perhaps those resources might be better put elsewhere. Just a thought. Below is a video of a Harvard economist making the argument to legalize marijuana.

Continue reading "Bay Area Pot Scandal" »