Fight a Fishing Ticket in Catalina Island Court

Catalina Island, located about 23 miles off the coast of Los Angeles, is home to a tiny, 1-room courthouse.  The building is only open on alternating Fridays to hear misdemeanor cases that arise on and around the island.  

We've been the #1 firm serving Catalina Island for about 10 years now.  In that time, the most common charges we've seen include things like drunk in public, battery, shoplifting, possession of drugs & drug paraphernalia, domestic violence, DUI (including a lot of golf cart DUIs), and of course, every fishing violation in the book.  

Gascon Changed Everything...

Since the voters of Los Angeles County elected George Gascon as District Attorney in 2020, law enforcement priorities have changed noticeably.  As a "progressive DA", Gascon immediately directed his prosecutors to ignore most low-level "quality of life" offenses that disproportionately affected the homeless and low-income Angelinos.  Suddenly, prosecutors were forbidden from filing charges in many non-violent misdemeanor situations.  The kinds of offenses that used to earn a year of probation and a little community service are now completely ignored by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Gascon justified his lenient new policies as necessary to end the cycle of poverty that keeps low-income offenders on the streets and prevents them from finding steady employment and housing.  He argued that harsh police practices had historically bred distrust between minority communities and law-enforcement.  The only way to restore that trust, he concluded, was to simply ignore most crimes.  

Ironically, Gascon's "hands-off" approach to law enforcement has had the most glaring impact in the affluent enclave of Avalon, where an 800 square-foot bungalow can sell for nearly a million dollars.  Catalina does not have a homeless population, but the DA still forbids his deputies from pursuing charges in most low-level offenses that arise on the island.  There are plenty of exceptions, but the total number of cases filed in Catalina has taken a nose-dive since the new DA took office.  

...Except Fishing.

One notable area that has not been affected by Gascon's directive is fishing violations.  Wardens from the Department of Fish & Wildlife continue to aggressively patrol the waters around Catalina, and the DA still pursues these cases with vigor.  

The region is popular with both commercial and recreational anglers, and the California Code of Regulations can be a minefield for the uninitiated.  The island's coastline is a checkerboard of "marine life protected areas", where fishing is strictly prohibited.  The areas are not marked by any signs or buoys; it is the angler's responsibility to use a reliable map and GPS system and to avoid accidentally drifting into one of these traps.  Wardens also regularly board vessels to inspect catches, licenses and logbooks.  They're not in the business of giving warnings.  

If you are cited for some misdemeanor fishing violation near the island, wardens will assign you a court date at the Avalon Courthouse.  You must personally appear in court on that date, unless you are represented by a private attorney.  Private counsel can appear on behalf of our clients in most cases.  

The first court appearance is called the "arraignment".  This is the stage where the prosecutor formally notifies the defendant of the charge.  The defense attorney receives a copy of the warden's report and any evidence that was collected during the investigation.  The attorney enters a "not guilty" plea on behalf of the defendant, and further court appearances are scheduled.  

Between the first and second appearances, the attorney will meet with the client to review the report, the evidence, and a defense strategy.  At the next court appearance, the attorney should be prepared to sit down with the prosecutor and to discuss the case, including some proposed disposition (e.g., "This case is weak and should be dismissed", or "OK, I see what you have here.  My client is willing to pay a small fine", etc.). 

We Can Help

No law firm has more experience than us when it comes to defending cases on Catalina Island.  Other lawyers advertise that they cover Catalina, but they usually hire me to make their appearances for them.  We know how things work on the island and we know how to get the best results possible for our clients.  

If you or a loved one has been cited or arrested on Catalina Island, call us for a free attorney consultation.  (714) 449-3335.  Ask for John.  

Thanks for reading. 

Catalina Island Lawyer

Big Changes Coming for California DUI Laws

The California Court of Appeal delivered a bombshell ruling to the DMV last week.  This could be a gamechanger for any attorney who practices DUI defense, and to anyone arrested on suspicion of DUI in California.  To understand the magnitude of this ruling, let me first give a little bit of background.

Under California law, the DMV must automatically suspend the driver's license of any person who is arrested on suspicion of DUI.  That suspension goes into effect before the driver is convicted of any wrongdoing in court.  

If a driver wants to challenge this automatic suspension of his license, he must contact the DMV within 10 days of his arrest and demand a hearing (called an "Administrative Per Se" hearing, or an "APS" for short).  At the APS, a DMV hearing officer will review the police report and any evidence collected during the arrest.  The issues are limited to: 1) Did the officer have reasonable suspicion to believe that the driver was operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol? 2) Was the driver lawfully arrested?, and 3) Did the driver submit to a chemical test of his breath or blood with a result of 0.08% or greater?  If the answer to all 3 of those questions is "yes", then the DMV will suspend the defendant's license, regardless of the outcome of any court proceedings.  

Notice that the DMV is not interested in whether or not the defendant is actually guilty of DUI.  They are strictly trying to decide whether or not the officer was acting reasonably at the time he arrested the subject on suspicion of DUI.  Being arrested on suspicion of DUI is enough to lose your license in California.  

But that's not the worst part.  The thing that really unfairly stacks the deck against defendants in APS hearings is the fact that the DMV hearing officer serves several roles simultaneously.  He or she acts as the prosecutor who presents evidence against the defendant, AND as the judge who determines which evidence should be admissible, AND as the jury who ultimately decides whether or not the prosecutor (him or herself) has carried the burden of proof.  Even a Russian gymnastics judge would say, "That doesn't smell right."

The Court of Appeal finally stepped in last week and ruled in favor of the California DUI Lawyers Association in their suit against the DMV.  It determined that the practice of using hearing officers as both advocates and as triers of fact violates the principles of due process and fundamental fairness.  The DMV is prohibited from doing so in the future.  

The DMV has rescheduled all APS hearings until new procedures can be implemented and adopted.  Stay tuned to see what comes out of this.  I predict that the DMV will now assign two officers to each APS hearing -- one as a prosecutor and one as a judge / jury.  The court did not specifically rule that the same agency couldn't serve both roles, only that the same officer could not do so.  

This a baby step towards fairness in California DUI laws, but I'd still like to keep the box-checking bureaucrats at the DMV out of the process entirely.  

If you or a loved one has questions about DUI laws in California, call us for a free attorney consultation.  (714) 449-3335.  Ask for John.  

Thanks for reading.  

Orange County DUI Lawyer