Erkan and Associates, LLC

09/29/2022

Penalties for drug offenses vary - from prison time to no conviction at all. The punishment a defendant receives can depend on many factors, including the charge, the drug in question, and the quantity of drugs. A strong defense from an experienced criminal attorney can help you protect your rights and mitigate the severity of drug penalties.

08/17/2022

Though ma*****na has been decriminalized in parts of the U.S., thousands across the U.S. remain scarred by past convictions.

Ma*****na has been decriminalized in many states, including California and New York, yet thousands across the U.S. remain scarred by past convictions.

08/17/2022

It’s not known how many agencies around the country have sought to use newborn screening samples to investigate crimes, or how often those attempts were successful. But a public records lawsuit filed last month suggests these samples are being used by police in at least some cases.

Small pinpricks of blood are used to screen newborns for serious health conditions—but this genetic data can have legal uses too.

07/27/2022

Amazon's smart-doorbell company, Ring, has provided surveillance footage to law enforcement without a warrant or the consent of doorbell-owners 11 times this year alone, according to a letter Amazon sent to Congress earlier this month.

Amazon's smart-doorbell company, Ring, has provided surveillance footage to law enforcement without a warrant or the consent of doorbell-owners 11 times this year alone, according to a letter Amazon (AMZN) sent to Congress earlier this month.

07/27/2022

Wire fraud is a federal crime that can land someone in prison for a maximum 20-year sentence in addition to fines. The statute of limitations on wire fraud is typically five years unless the wire fraud was associated with a financial institution, in which case prosecutors have 10 years to bring legal proceedings to the defendant.

Wire fraud describes any fraudulent activity that takes place over telecommunication or the internet.

07/18/2022

Over the past 15 years, the country’s largest police departments started thinking about ways of using artificial intelligence to not just analyze crime but predict it.

AI keeps trying to predict crime. But it comes with predictable problems — like racism.

07/18/2022

Every juvenile court across the country has the right to order restitution — usually imposed for crimes such as property damage and theft — but the way amounts are determined varies wildly, as does enforcement, a recent report found.

A new report asserts that ordering juvenile offenders to pay compensation to their victims often derails their lives, and victims’ rights groups see shortcomings as well.

06/28/2022

Although racketeering was originally associated with organized crime, the definition has expanded over the years as organized crime has become deprioritized by the Department of Justice.

Racketeering is organized criminal activity done to make a profit and carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

06/28/2022

Nothing in the First Step act prevents judges from considering intervening changes, such as new sentencing guidelines and good behavior in prison, the Supreme Court said.

The U.S. Supreme Court split along unusual lines when it ruled Monday for a prisoner who filed a pro se motion for a sentence reduction under the First Step Act.

06/20/2022

A person who is formally accused of a crime is generally entitled to certain evidence and information about the prosecution's case. This typically happens before trial, through a process called "discovery." But the prosecution's duty to disclose this material is usually ongoing, and doesn't end when a trial has begun.

06/20/2022

As forensic science of all kinds faces scrutiny about its reliability, with blood spatter patterns, hair matching and even fingerprints no longer regarded as the irrefutable evidence they once were, the science of death has been roiled over the past year with questions about whether the work of medical examiners is affected by racial bias, preconceived expectations and the powerful influence of law enforcement.

Disastrous errors by medical examiners have raised questions about whether they are influenced by prejudgments and a close relationship with the police.

06/01/2022

While police generally need a warrant to search your property, a car has fewer protections against searches. Police can search your car if they have probable cause, or if you consent to a search.