Millions of people travel through L.A. airports every year. For some the experience can be quite devastating when travel turns into a nightmare following an arrest by airport security. As a result of 9-11, police and law enforcement personnel are at a heightened state of alert and therefore even a simple mistake of bringing a weapon in a checked bag can be followed by a detention, arrest and prosecution. For well over a decade Los Angeles Airport attorney Matthew Ruff has been defending ordinary, good people accused of various criminal offenses inside local airports. Crimes such as: possession of drugs, weapons, and dangerous materials, as well as assault, disturbing the peace, theft, shoplifting, marijuana importation, DUI while driving to or near the LAX airport in El Segundo, among many others.
In the Airport Courthouse, LAX Division the cases are divided as follows: All felony charges usually go to Div. 144. All misdemeanor offenses that originate in the airport go to Div. 141 and are prosecuted by the Los Angeles City Attorney. All misdemeanors that take place in surrounding cities such as El Segundo, Hawthorne, Culver City, etc. go to Div. 140 and are pursued by the L.A. County District Attorney or local city prosecutors such as Hawthorne.
Contact the LAX Airport Defense Lawyer at 310-527-4100
As a local criminal defense lawyer in Los Angeles, Mr. Ruff has represented hundreds of people charged with all manner of criminal offenses at virtually
all local airports, including: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) near El Segundo, Burbank Airport, Long Beach Airport, and many others. In most cases a Lawyer can go to Court on your behalf, thereby avoiding the hassle of having to travel back to Los Angeles County and bear the humiliation of appearing before a Judge. Crimes such as drug possession and possessing dangerous weapons such as knives, guns and brass knuckles, DUI in El Segundo near the LAX airport, can often be resolved without the offense showing up on a person's criminal record.
Criminal Courts, such as the Los Angeles Airport Court, have extended a greater degree of discretion to police working in an airport environment given the fact that security is of greater concern, particularly in light of terrorist attacks focused on travelers. What this means is that law enforcement can search bags, suitcases, luggage, purses, handbags and a person's pockets and clothing in a search for weapons, a gun, drugs, or contraband in the name of national security. If this has happened to you, having a Los Angeles Airport Criminal Attorney can give you a significant advantage when appearing in Court.
Over the last fifteen years, our Law Firm and lead attorney has defended airport originating cases with some of the best results imaginable. The experience from handling thousands of criminal cases can be put to use when we are retained to represent you and fight on your behalf as an aggressive advocate. With over 500 appearances made at the LAX Los Angeles Airport Court on La Cienega alone, Mr. Ruff has the contacts and
local connections to help end what can probably be described as the most frightening experience a person can go through. Small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, drug paraphernalia, pipes, bongs, etc. can be found in someone's luggage and this can trigger a full scale prosecution by the City Attorney or Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office. With the help of a seasoned criminal defense lawyer the playing field can be made level and cases can be resolved without the stigma of a conviction. With the use of innovative strategies such as informal office hearings, diversion, conditional dismissals, deferred adjudication, and the like, most criminal charges can be made to all but disappear.
Among the litany of criminal offenses
Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Matthew Ruff fights are DUI or drunk driving citations issued to folks around the Los Angeles International Airport, LAX, near the municipality of El Segundo. There has been ramped up enforcement of driving under the influence arrests in the area from sobriety checkpoints and security checks coming into and around the airport terminal. As a local Law Firm, we can appear in the Los Angeles International Airport Criminal Court on behalf of the client and take the important steps to protect the drivers license at the DMV in El Segundo.
Given the increased security at the LAX Airport, we have seen a similar increase in arrests of citizens at the gate for weapons possession. A typical scenario is where someone will have an illegal item in their luggage, a coat, jacket, backpack or bag that goes through the metal detectors, the item is detected and the police get involved. A prime example is a case Matthew handled for a young musician that lived in New York but was traveling through California. He had a pair of brass knuckles that were a gift and used as a belt buckle. He was booked for a felony and issued a Court date. His mother contacted Mr. Ruff and he took over. Because he was retained early after the incident, he quickly got the case transferred to the City Attorney informal office hearing unit where the case was dropped with no ramifications to his record and no appearances in LAX Court.
Another recent example of a case success is that of a client that was arrested for petty theft inside a local retail store and was booked and cited to appear in the Airport Court for PC 484 (shoplifting). The client was facing immigration consequences and the possibility of being deprived from traveling out of the country. The client's family immediately hired criminal defense attorney Matthew Ruff to represent her. Matthew went to Court for the client and after extensive negotiations worked out a dismissal of all criminal charges in late 2009. Moreover, on May 10, 2010 the lawyer worked out a dismissal of petty theft charges for a nurse in the country on a visa. The Culver City criminal charges would have meant a certain deportation, however Matthew Ruff met with the D.A. and negotiated a dismissal of the theft allegations.
Many people get arrested in the Los Angeles Airport court jurisdiction and fail to appear at the Court date resulting in a bench warrant being issued for their arrest. Attorney Matthew Ruff has years of experience getting warrants recalled and quashed in the criminal court. He can very often file a motion to remove and recall the warrant without the necessity of having the defendant come to Court.
Criminal Defense Attorney Matthew Ruff has also helped many people in cases where they were represented by another lawyer or public defender and did not feel they were getting an aggressive enough defense of the case. For example, recently he was hired by a family to defend an individual in the Los Angeles Airport Courthouse (LAX) fighting felony charges of DUI with injury and a GBI allegation. The person was accused of running over a pedestrian on a sidewalk near the airport and had been in jail for months. The client had already been through a preliminary hearing and was facing trial with an offer of many years in the state prison. Matthew came into the case and filed a motion to throw out the charges based on an insufficiency of evidence. The Penal code section 995 motion was heard in the airport court and was granted. Mr. Ruff's client was released from jail the same day.
If you or a relative, significant other, etc. has been arrested at the airport or given a citation to appear in LAX Airport Court, call Attorney Matthew Ruff directly to speak about how he can help you get through this most difficult time:
Call us Local at 310-527-4100 or Toll free at 1-877-213-4453.
The unique nature of many cases at the airport is that the client is usually on his or her way out of the state of California or the United States. Understanding this, attorney Matthew Ruff has defended many folks who cannot appear in the LAX Court. He recently was retained and resolved a case involving a theft at the security metal detectors where his client never had to travel back from his home out of state, and the lawyer was able to get all charges dropped! A special note about warrants and failing to appear in airport Court. The Los Angeles Airport Court, more than any other, sees a high number of persons who were arrested given a date to appear in front of the Judge and simply fail to do so. The likely reason for this is that most defendants in the LAX Court are traveling through and live outside the jurisdiction. As a Los Angeles Airport Lawyer, Mr. Ruff has the ability to appear for his clients, even when they are outside the state, to clear up old bench warrant misdemeanor cases, tickets and even felony violations. This allows the client to get a drivers license returned in the home state and clean criminal records for job and employment concerns.
It is extremely important to understand that when specific legal advice is needed, a Los Angeles Airport lawyer should be consulted directly. One should not rely on any advice in any website for legal information on any particular case. Attorney Matthew Ruff practices law in the state of California and has personally defended thousands of individuals in serious criminal matters in many airports, including but not limited to, possession of :
marijuana and concentrated cannabis, 11357(b) tickets, guns, switch blade knife, brass knuckles, tonfa baton and asp, ammunition, gun clips, swords, dangerous weapons under 12020 of the Penal Code, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, pot, illegal prescription medications, petty theft charges in Culver City CA, criminal matters charged both in state court and in federal jurisdictions.
Contact Mr. Ruff for a one-on-one case evaluation today. With over a decade and a half of actual criminal case experience under his belt, no one will work more diligently or possess the wealth of legal knowledge to end the nightmare of your airport arrest.