New Law—Californians will no longer get arrested for seeking help for an illegal drug overdose

The California legislature recently passed California Health and Safety Code section 11376.5, effective on January 1, 2013. Before that date, a person who called the hospital after an overdose of illegal drugs might have found themselves in jail assuming the emergency room revived them. Here in California, the police, the paramedics or both will respond when a person calls 911.

I actually remember hearing about a person who had attempted suicide, then changed his/her mind and called 911.  He or she was revived and then arrested for being under the influence of controlled substances!  California’s Health and Safety Code also previously stated that a person arriving at the hospital with drugs in his or her system (and possibly in his pocket) could be subject to arrest after being treated.

Apparently having police and paramedics respond together  is considered a humanitarian response to drug-overdosed patients being dropped off at the hospital by friends who had also taken drugs and did not want to stick around and potentially be arrested. When a patient is simply dropped off, hospital personnel lose valuable time trying to determine exactly what caused the often-unconscious patient’s status.  When the friends inform the hospital that this guy just keeled over after he snorted heroin and cocaine for 8 hours, the doctors can address the drugs that could kill the patient instead of running up blind alleys

This code section applies to the person who has overdosed, or the people who bring that person in for care. It is limited only to being under the influence of drugs, or simple possession of drugs.  Mot to more serious crimes such as drug sales, or attempted murder by drugs are obviously not included in this section!

If you or someone you know have been accused of a crime, arrested, or contacted by police, contact San Jose criminal defense attorney Maureen Baldwin at (408) 279-4450 to learn your options today!

New Changes to California Criminal Laws Regarding Registration as a Sex Offender

For the last 18 years, the sections in the California Penal Code that deal with sex offenders have added more and more registration requirements. Law that used to be a single paragraph in one section of the Penal Code now exists in multiple penal code sections (California Penal Code Sections 290-294). In total, these penal code sections span about 10 pages, single-spaced, 8 pt type!

 For example, in 2013, California Penal Code 290.015 now requires registered sex offenders to provide the California Department of Justice all “internet identifiers” within 24 hours of a change, such as E-mail addresses, ISP addresses and user names. This is in addition to the usual requirements of notifying the State when the person moves, changes jobs, registers a new vehicle, etc.

Does this mean that the registered sex offender must also provide the state Department of Justice with his or her password? This law also requires a registered sex offender to disclose employment information. If that is the ultimate result, it could result in problems with employers who do not want their proprietary e-mail information disclosed.

While that may sound good to most people, one must remember that in California, many people are cast into the Megan’s Law net. For example, a person may be considered a sex offender in California if he or she sent “harmful matter” (such as “sexting” as defined by California Penal Code section 288.2) to a minor when the offender was barely over 18 himself!

It may simply be that the state of California does not want registered sex offenders using the internet at all!

If you or someone you know have been accused of a crime, arrested, or contacted by police, contact San Jose criminal defense attorney Maureen Baldwin at (408) 279-4450 to learn your options today!