Today, May 9, 2012, two officers were ordered to stand trial in the beating of Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill man who had been living in Fullerton. The preliminary hearing lasted three days and ultimately an Orange County Superior Court Judge ruled that the two officers should be held to stand trial. One officer, Manuel Ramos, is being charged with second degree murder while his partner, Jay Cicinelli, is being charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Yesterday, Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer and legal analyst, Michael S. Carrillo, provided his legal opinion for Noticiero Univision, a national Spanish-language news program. Please click this link for the story and the brief interview of Michael S. Carrillo.

Hoy, el 9 de Mayo de 2012, un juez del condado de Orange decidio mandar el caso de dos oficiales del departamento de policia de Fullerton a un juicio . Los oficiales, Manuel Ramos y Jay Cicinelli, estan acusados de asesinato y homicidio involuntario por haber golpeado Kelly Thomas hasta la muerte. El audiencia preliminar, en que solo un juez decide si hay suficiente evidence para un juicio, duro 3 dias y al fin el juez mando el caso a un juicio con un jurado.

El abogado y analista legal, Michael S. Carrillo, dio su comentario en el canal Univision para el Noticiero Univision. Hazle click aqui para ver el video y la entrevista.

Noticiero Univision Entrevista de Abogado Michael S. Carrillo

When parents share custody of a minor child or children the court will have to determine whether one parent will owe the other parent child support. The court, or the parties and their attorneys, will have to first determine the actual time that each parent averages with the child. Most often “shared custody” will not equal 50%. Once that percentage is actually determined then the gross income of each party will be inputted into the Dissomaster or Xspouse program. After inputting deductions like health insurance, union dues, and child care expenses, among other deductions, the computer program will spit out a number to be paid in child support. The court can sometimes take into account your expenses but most often your expenses will not be taken into account and the court will use gross incomes of each party. However, if you earn less than minimum wage, don’t work at all, or earn substantially more than the other party, the court can use different figures to determine the correct child support amount. For these issues it is suggested you contact a child support attorney to discuss your issues.

Your Los Angeles Child Support Lawyer must make sure that what you’re paying or receiving as child support is the accurate amount. Call us today for a free consultation today to discuss your child support issues at (626) 799-9379.

Mediation is a tool that attorneys can use to resolve tense and extremely difficult divorce cases. In a California divorce, most issues can be mediated through the parties or through their attorneys, if there are any. Most issues that need mediation are issues such as child custody, child support, spousal support (alimony), division of property and pensions, among other issues.

It’s important that when hiring a local Los Angeles or Pasadena divorce mediation lawyer that you hire someone that can try to save you time and headache by avoiding the court if at all possible. Divorce cases being handled in our local courthouses can cause so much stress on both sides and cost thousands in attorneys fees. Mediation is necessary in order for you to avoid that hassle.

South Pasadena divorce mediation attorney Michael S. Carrillo has handled countless cases which never needed to go to court. Through Mr. Carrillo, the parties have found resolution to their cases without having to fight like cats and dogs. Call us today to see if your case can be resolved through mediation. Our number is (626) 799-9379 or (323) 657-5954. Call today for a free consultation.

Even if you don’t live in California where your child lives, you may be able to obtain custody rights to your child(ren). In California, custody is split into legal custody, physical custody, and visitation. Legal Custody grants parents the rights to share the right and responsibility to make decisions relating to the health, education, and welfare of each minor child. Physical custody is whom the child lives with and visitation is the schedule established for the non custodial parent. Most often, the courts will award joint legal custody but the problem with out of state parents is the issue of physical custody and visitation.

In Los Angeles and other California courts, judges may award a significant amount of time with the parent who lives in another state. Public policy of California, and the Family Code, requires frequent and continuing contact between children and both parents but that is not precisely defined. So in an effort to make sure that both parents get significant amount of time with their children, judges will often allow for extended visitation with the out of state parent for the Christmas break and for the summer break. In order to get these types of orders, the courts require that both parties attend mediation before any court date (in which lawyers are not allowed) and if things can’t be worked out between the parents and the mediator then the judge will make the decision regarding custody and visitation. To change the physical custody of your child or children by asking that they move with you can be difficult but can be accomplished. It can depend on a variety of factors but the judge may decide in your favor and rule that the child must live with you instead of California where they currently live.

It’s important that you hire an aggressive Los Angeles child custody attorney to handle your case and to make sure you get as much time with your child as possible. Los Angeles and Pasadena child custody lawyer Michael S. Carrillo has handled many cases in which his clients lived out of state and can help fight for you on your custody issues. Give us a call today at (323) 657-5954 or (626) 799-9379 for a free consultation today!

On Wednesday a jury ruled in favor of the County and against Bette and George McFetridge closing a lawsuit that they filed after being placed on the Child Abuse Central Index. The case stemmed from an incident in which Bette McFetridge snipped her daughter’s hair as punishment after she ran away in 2008. The social worker handling the case listed their finding as “Inconclusive” and the McFetridge’s were placed on the Index for a period of 11 months.

The McFetridges sued claiming that their reputations had been damaged and asked for money that they spent to send their daughter to a residential program as well as $1 per month in which they were listed on the index. At the time of filing their lawsuit, any findings that were listed as “Inconclusive” had to be added to the Child Abuse Central Index for the Department of Justice for the State of California.  After the passing of AB 717, the law has now changed and beginning January 1, 2012, all persons listed on the CACI as “Inconclusive” will be purged and social workers will either need to conclude that the abuse allegation was “Unfounded” or “Substantiated”.  If found to be “Substantiated”, then that person’s name will remain on the Child Abuse Central Index for the rest of their life.

Here at the Law Offices of Michael S. Carrillo, Child Abuse Central Index lawyer Michael S. Carrillo can help fight for your rights to make sure that you’re not placed on the Child Abuse Central Index. Whether you’re being charged with child abuse or you’ve received notice that you will be placed on the Index unless you request a Grievance Hearing, Michael S. Carrillo can fight to keep your record clean. Give us a call today at (626) 799-9379 or (323) 657-5954 for a free consultation.

When dealing with the Child Support Services Department, most clients are lost in what could happen to them. The Child Support Services Department will go after whatever they can find when trying to collect arrears. This could include tax refunds, savings accounts, and your social security checks. However, there are ways to keep some of the money that is garnished by the Department.

Recently, the firm handled a case in which a bank levy was issued upon a client’s bank account. The money that was being deposited into that account was the client’s social security money which in some circumstances, cannot be garnished. In this case, the Child Support Services Department lifted the bank levy after the firm showed the Department that those funds contained within the account were from an award of Social Security. The client was thrilled to know that he could afford to eat and pay rent with his social security money once the Department released the levy.

For questions related to Child Support, you should contact Los Angeles Child Support Lawyer Michael S. Carrillo at (323) 657-5954. Michael Carrillo has handled countless child support cases throughout Los Angeles County and can fight for your rights and your money. Call him today for a free consultation!

At the office we often hear this question over and over again — whether the person should even hire a DUI lawyer for your case? YES, you should! Even if you think your case is an automatic loser, it’s important that you have an attorney to fight for your case.

At our office we’ve handled almost every type of DUI case. In some cases the facts just aren’t in our client’s favor and we have to try and fight hard to get the fines, fees, and other punishments reduced to as low as possible. However, in countless other cases, we’ve found so many issues and problems that have helped our clients keep their records clean and saved their licenses.

In some cases, the officer didn’t actually have probable cause to stop the car. Others, the officers were proven to have never seen the client drive the car. Even if this example does not fit your case, do not go to court alone! Hire a strong and aggressive Los Angeles County DUI lawyer who can make sure that your rights are protected and that you get the best deal possible, or if no deal is possible, can risk it all at a jury trial. Call our office today at (626) 799-9379.

When filing a restraining order based upon credible threats of violence by the restrained person against the protected person, you can ask that the Sheriff’s Department in your county serve him with the restraining order paperwork. Los Angeles and Orange counties just ask that you fill out a document describing the addresses of that person and a description of them so that if they see them, they can make contact and serve that person.

Sometimes there can be problems even if they try to serve the other person. People try to dodge the service which can delay the case and cause problems trying to obtain a permanent restraining order.

It’s important when hiring your Los Angeles Restraining Order attorney that they are knowledgeable in all aspects of restraining orders so that you can make sure that you’re protected from the other person. Contact Michael S. Carrillo today for a free consultation at (323) 657-5954.

In California, a Divorce may not be brought to judgment (finalized) no earlier than six months after the date which the Respondent was served. That means that the clock starts ticking for you divorce from the day that the Respondent (your ex) is served with the Petition and Summons for Dissolution. If your ex is served with both the Summons and Petition on January 1, then the six months begins counting on January 2.

Although your divorce may be final after six months, most often cases take longer than six months to complete. This is because there can be substantial issues involved including child custody, child support, distribution of assets, etc. that cannot be wrapped up within six months. Given today’s budget cutbacks in the court, most cases will take longer than six months. However, there are ways to obtain a divorce even if there is a contested case and both parents still have issues remaining to work out. One option is by filing a motion to bifurcate the marital status. This will terminate the marriage but will leave other issues like child custody and property distribution until a further order can be had by an agreement or by a court order.

It’s important when hiring a Los Angeles Divorce lawyer that they can work to finish your case as quickly as possible. Michael S. Carrillo has handled countless divorce cases and will work hard to expedite your case so you can move on quickly with your life. Call the office today for a free consultation at (323) 657-5954.

In figuring out the cost for your Divorce, each case will be different. That’s because each case has specific set of facts that will change the cost of hiring a divorce lawyer. Specifically, when couples are divorcing and there are minor children involved, it could cost more to fight for more custody/visitation rights. That’s because it could cost more time in court for the lawyers and the parents to fight over who gets the children for more time. Or, when splitting up assets between the parties, some spouses try to hide assets or money that they’re making on the side. To figure that all out could require your divorce lawyer to subpoena bank account records, hire a forensic accountant to evaluate a business, etc. Your Los Angeles county divorce lawyer will determine the best way to proceed on your case and hopefully determine the most cost effective way to fight for what you deserve.

One thing that won’t change is that in Los Angeles County divorce cases, you must file a $395.00 filing fee to either file your petition for dissolution (divorce), or apply for and be granted a fee waiver. If you don’t pay the fee or are not granted a fee waiver, your petition or response may be rejected by the court and you will not have a say in how the case turns out. Also, when filing an Order to Show Cause (OSC), you must pay a $40.00 fee. If you’re filing an OSC to attempt to modify a child custody and visitation order already in place, then you will need to pay a $65.00 filing fee.

Hiring a divorce lawyer is a tough task. There are many out there and you need to make sure you’re comfortable with the person handling your case. Los Angeles Divorce Lawyer Michael S. Carrillo is an aggressive and experienced divorce attorney who fights hard for his clients. He has handled countless divorce cases and will work with you to walk you through the entire process. Call him today at (626) 799-9379 for a free consultation to see where he can help you.