Blog

¿Qué Es Un “Readiness Conference”? What Is A State Readiness Conference? As a San Diego criminal lawyer, I am often asked what is a readiness conference. Many years ago, after being a prosecutor in Alaska, I attended my first readiness conference. There was something that felt wrong about partic...

¿Qué es un Caso Criminal Federal? What is a federal criminal case? The power of the federal government As a San Diego federal criminal defense lawyer, I am often asked, “when is a criminal case a federal case?” Many criminal clients assume that a federal case is more serious than a state one....

¿Qué es el Lavado de Dinero? What is money laundering? San Diego criminal lawyers frequently encounter money laundering cases. Illegal narcotics generally move North from South America and Mexico to the United States. Money obtainined from the sale of the methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin eve...

¿Porqué una persona debería esperar a veces para pagar una fianza? Why should a person sometimes wait to post bail? As a criminal defense lawyer in San Diego, I often see clients who have thrown away thousands of dollars of bail money. Depending on the case, there may actually be good reasons to...

¿Por qué debo contratar a un abogado si soy culpable o quiere declararse culpable? Why should I hire an attorney if I am guilty or want to plead guility? This is a question that I hear from many people who contact me. First, even though you believe you are guilty, the government must prove its ca...

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre un abogado de derecho penal federal y un abogado de inmigración? What is the difference between a federal criminal law attorney and immigration attorney? Many individuals confuse immigration attorneys with criminal attorneys. An immigration attorney will help you if y...

Cual es la diferencia entre magistrado y juez de distrito? What is the difference between a U.S. Magistrate and District Court Judge? Many individuals wonder why there are two types of federal judges and what the difference is between them. A magistrate judge is appointed by the District cour...

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre “asistencia sustancial:” y “válvula de escape en la ley federal? What is the difference between “substantial assistance:” and “safety valve in the federal law? As criminal defense attorneys and lawyers in San Diego, we try hard to help our clients understand the diffe...

¿ Cuál es la diferencia entre asesinato y homicidio voluntario/involuntario? What is the difference between murder and manslaughter? Both murder and manslaughter involve the unlawful killing of a human being. Murder, Penal Code Section 187, requires that the killing for murder involve “malice afo...

Law Office Emphasizing El Centro and Calexico Federal Drug Cases Criminal attorney Russell Babcock  has now  has expanded  his  practice to the East as well covering the Calexico-Mexicali areas and the United States District Court in El Centro. With the heavy enforcement and new technology for dr...

Thoughts of Attorney Russell Babcock on Zimmerman Acquittal Predictably, our country, which remains divided on so many issues, is polarized regarding the acquittal of George Zimmerman. For those police officers and volunteers who face danger every day, many feel triumph. And for those with young ...

The Law Office of Russell Babcock wins many cases in 2011-2012! The Law Firm has Had Great Success in the Last Year Here are only some of the results obtained by the Law Offices of Russell S. Babcock over the last year. Many  While these summaries are written with a bit of humor by Mr. Babcock, p...

Secret Wiretap Information Passed On To the D.E.A , Who doeth the beast slayeth? Why am I not surprised? In breaking news today by Reuters, it was revealed that a  secretive US Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a m...

San Diego Spanish Speaking Lawyers Russell Babcock is a Spanish speaking lawyer in San Diego who represents the Hispanic community in federal and state felony offenses including conspiracies and the importation of methamphetamine, marijuana, heroin, and cocaine. Russell one the largest cocaine c...

San Diego Defense Lawyer On Mandatory Minimum Sentences Yesterday, I sat through a long calendar in San Diego federal court, the United States Distict Court for the Southern District. In the middle of a routine sentence hearing, I was surprised to hear a judge, who is widely not considered to be...

San Diego Criminal Lawyer On Gang Enhancements It used to be that defendants were afraid of being punished for the crimes they committed.  Now an accused who has associated in any way with a gang is usually more afraid of the dreaded gang enhancement. California Penal Code Section 186.22 provides...

San Diego Acknowledges Existence of Blind Mules Breaking News—-United States Attorney's Office in San Diego Acknowledges the Existence of Blind Mules On March 7, 2012 the United States Attorney's Office sent letters to all defense counsel who are working on drug courier cases. In this letter the...

Russell obtains a hung jury in a federal alien smuggling case During the week of October 15, 2008 the director of Federal Defenders Inc, Ruben Kahn, and Russell Babcock tried an alien smuggling case, 08 CR 2713, before the Honorable Larry Burns in the United States District Court, Southern Distri...

Russell Babcock argues Nevarez v. Katavich to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals On December  Russell Babcock argued the case of Nevarez v  Katavich  (12-56058) to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena. To Listen to the Entire Oral argument, click here. Mr. Nevarez was convicted largely ...

Russell Appears on Univision for Comment on Filner Case San Diego Mayor Bob Filner admitted yesterday to sexually harassing employees.  He asked for the forgiveness of the public and did not resign. Univision, the leading Hispanic television network in San Diego and a preeminent company worldwide...

Russell appears on “Buenos Dias” –Channel 12 XEWT, Tijuana “Buenos Dias— Channel 12″ You may have noticed that over the past month Russell has appeared twice on Channel 12 on the program “Buenos Dias” to raise awareness about drug related crimes. Also, the law firm is running a serious of announc...

Ronald R. I want to express my deep feeling of gratitude to you for your unswerving and steadfast faith and my case, and the staggering amount of work you did in preparing for trial . . . I will always remember with fondness our harried and frantic work together in preparing for trial…. and at ti...

Release of Blind Mule Book Blind Mule Novel by Russell S. Babcock Well, it about time!  After three years Russell Babcock finally has published his novel, The Blind Mule.  The book is a legal thriller that calls upon his many years of defending blind mules, those who without their knowledge carr...

Police Need Warrant to Search Cell Phones Mr. Officer you need one of those warrants if you are going to look in there. Today the United States decided the cases of Riley v. California. Like many individuals stopped by the police, Mr. Riley had his cell phone searched without a warrant. The poli...

Passports Needed to Return from Mexico Starting this week, all adult U.S. citizens must show proof of their citizenship when returning from Mexico. This means that the inspectors will no longer rely on an oral declaration of citizenship. What this means is that U.S. citizens should carry passport...