from Castillo Law
On July 22, 2020, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors finally authorized home detention for misdemeanor DUI Defendants charged in Justice Courts. This comes after many years of unfair and disproportionate treatment for DUI Defendants throughout Maricopa County. Years ago, the legislature recognized that current misdemeanor DUI sentences in Arizona are extremely harsh compared to other misdemeanor crimes, and even …
Arizona has the 4th highest incarceration rate in the nation, just behind Mississippi, Oklahoma and Louisiana. For the last 2 decades, the prison population in Arizona has increased by 300% and the cost to fund it has increased by 400%. In fact, Arizona spends over 1 billion dollars a year on prisons each year and has nearly 40,000 people currently …
With the ongoing concerns of the spread of COVID-19, you may be wondering what precautions are in place to prevent an outbreak in Arizona’s prisons. The Arizona Department of Corrections recently announced it will lift the $4.00 charge for requesting healthcare if an inmate has Coronavirus symptoms and will also lift the inmates’ charge for soap temporarily. However, according to …
The word on the street is that Maricopa County Inmates have a new way of “Getting Out.” No, not literally, but figuratively speaking, Maricopa County through a third-party vendor “GTL” has set up tablets for inmates to utilize for purposes of maintaining and re-building relationships with loved ones. The tablet allows for video visits, messaging, sharing photos, educational opportunities to …
Updated March 20, 2019 Due to the current state of affairs, many states have suspended accepting Inter-State Compact Probation/Parole cases. This means that if you are currently on probation/parole in Arizona, or are sentenced to probation in Arizona, you may not be able to transfer your probation/parole to another state. According to the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision, the …
Due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, many courts in Arizona have been modifying their instructions for defendants, criminal procedures, courtroom policies, and safety protocols. These changes arose after the Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court implemented temporary measures beginning March 16, 2020 and ending April 17, 2020 in order to mitigate the Arizona community’s risk of exposure to Coronavirus. …
Living in the 21st century, new technologies are created regularly that offer services and experiences virtually rather than in person. With this constant evolution into a digital world, Federal and State Courts are presented with the struggle of how to interpret a Constitution hundreds of years old, and to apply it to present day innovations. As technology advances and our use …
In 2018 Arizona enacted legislation in an effort to combat wrong way driving. These are changes that everyone should be aware of. Specifically, a provision was added to the Aggravated Driving Under the Influence (Aggravated DUI) statute, A.R.S. §28-1383, that now makes it felony Aggravated DUI to drive a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, “while driving …
On July 30, 2019, the Arizona Court of Appeals in State of Arizona v. Mixton, No. 2 CA-CR 2017-0217, held that obtaining an IP address and subscriber information through an administrative subpoena rather than obtaining a warrant based upon probable cause (some criminal activity) violates the right to be free from governmental interference in private affairs under article II, § …
Just recently, the Arizona Senate brought some much needed reform to the sentencing of simple drug possession cases. The Senate passed a bill where some Defendants who have been convicted of Possession or Use of Marijuana, Dangerous Drugs, or Narcotic Drugs, are eligible to receive a reduction in the amount of days required to be served in prison. Originally, a …