SANGER & SWYSEN

CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS - CIVIL TRIAL ATTORNEYS

SANTA BARBARA Office:  125 East De La Guerra Street, Suite 102, Santa Barbara, California 93101

SANTA MARIA Office:  301 East Cook Street, Suite A, Santa Maria, California 93454

Santa Barbara:805-962-4887  Santa Maria:805-349-7973 Fax: 805-963-7311

E-mail: lawyers@sangerswysen.com

Call, 805-962-4887 (24 hour emergency page after hours) or

Legal Issues of Concern to the Lawyers at Sanger & Swysen

Our law practice brings us into daily contact with significant legal issues which have a dramatic impact on members of our community.   The practice of Criminal Defense, Civil Litigation and Civil Rights Law involves constantly thinking, rethinking and vigorously advocating the rights and liberties of individuals and organizations.

We have on following pages some of the issues we have confronted over the last year. A summary of the material is set out below.  You may click on the links for the full text.  If you would like, you may search for topics by keyword.

            Jury Cross Section.  Sanger & Swysen led the attack on the jury system in Santa Barbara County once again causing a Superior Court Judge to find that the system was unconstitutional because it did not represent a cross-section of the community.  In particular, Hispanics or Latinos were under-represented by approximately 40%.

Attorney Robert Sanger brought the motion to challenge the jury system in the homicide case of People v. Benjamin Ballesteros in late May of 2003.  Judge Ochoa ruled in November of 2003.  the Jury Commissioner filed a Petition for Writ of Mandate with the State Court of Appeal which reversed.  Hearing was granted by the California Supreme Court.  Mr. Sanger raised the issue in numerous subsequent cases at the trial court level.   In January of 2005, with trial in the Michael Jackson case soon to begin, the Jury Commissioner changed the system to remove the flaws in that and all other cases in Santa Barbara County.

            Government Investigations:  The Postal Inspector Only Rings Once.  Criminal Investigations often begin in secret.  Individuals and corporations may doing business without any awareness that an investigation is focused on them.  It is critical to be aware of the signs that an investigation is underway.  It is also critical to understand what to do to attempt to head off indictment or mitigate the harm to individuals and organizations.  

Over more than thirty years, Mr. Sanger has counseled individual and organizations during the "pre-indictment" phase, sometimes avoiding indictment altogether and other times preparing for the best outcome if the government persists in pursuing charges.  Yet other times, he has been brought in only after indictment and had the unfortunate opportunity to evaluate after the fact what might have been done.  Mr. Sanger has lectured to other lawyers on this subject and summarizes some of his insights into these issues.

            Death Penalty Comparison.  The lawyers at Sanger & Swysen have been committed in their fight against the death penalty ever since it was reinstated in California in the late 70's.  Ms. Swysen is a former Board Member of Death Penalty Focus and Mr. Sanger is currently serving on the Board.  In addition, the firm has defended numerous homicide cases, including capital cases at both the trial and appellate levels.

Illinois Governor George H. Ryan imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in his state and on March 9, 2000 appointed a Commission to study the death penalty.  The mandate was to consider what reforms would be appropriate but not to consider whether or not to abolish the death penalty.  In April of 2002, the Commission issued its Report which contained 85 Recommendations. 

Mr. Sanger has compared these recommendations to the current law of California and found that California is in compliance with only two (2) of the recommendations and, with qualifications, three (3) more.  Four (4) of the recommendations are now compelled by the United States Supreme Court and, therefore, all states comply.  One (1) recommendation has no application to states other than Illinois.  therefore, there is compliance or substantial compliance with five (5) out of eighty (80) recommendations for a compliance rate of 6.25%.   Even giving California the benefit of the federally mandated provisions results in nine (9) of eighty-four (84) for a compliance rate of 10.7%.

Click here to see a chart the comparison of current California law to the Illinois Recommendations and to be linked to Mr. Sanger's article which was published in 44 Santa Clara University Law Review 101 (2003).

            Grand Jury Rights:  A Significant Victory in the Court of Appeal.  The Third District Court of Appeal, located in Sacramento, handed down a significant victory to one of our clients in a case the lawyers at Sanger & Swysen have been fighting for over six years.  The case resulted in a published decision of the Court of Appeal which made strong pronouncements regarding the rights of persons accused by the Grand Jury.  Mr. Sanger has written a synopsis of the case has further linked to a page containing the entire Opinion of the Court.