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California Allows Prior Convictions To Be Used Against A Defendant Even If The Conviction Did Not Occur In California

By Walin & Klarich

Evidence of a prior offense is most often used by the prosecution to increase seriousness of the crime or to increase the sentence. For example, a defendant with a prior conviction for driving under the influence, will face much harsher punishments if the prior convictions occurred within 10 years. The California Penal Code allows a foreign conviction to be used as a serious felony prior when the record of conviction for the foreign offense shows conduct that qualifies as a serious felony in California. In other words, if the defendant?s actions in the foreign jurisdiction would amount to a felony in California, then the prosecution may use the prior conviction against the defendant in the new case. There are a number of circumstances where a prior felony conviction from a foreign jurisdiction may not be used against a defendant...continue to full post

Full post as published by Southern California Criminal Defense Blog on August 18, 2010 (boomark / email).