Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: criminal law

There is no prohibition on charging this person with more crimes. As a practical matter, it may be a tremendous waste of time and resources. As a legal matter, the government is free to charge more crimes.

Re: criminal law

Of course, but why would the prosecutor and courts bother?

Re: criminal law

Sure. It happens all the time.

Mr. Lentz overstates things a bit when he says the government "has the obligation to prosecute everything"; the fact is that it has insufficient resources to do this and must forego many prosecutions. It probably wouldn't bother prosecuting a lifer for a minor crime, but it probably would for something more serious.

Even if the defendant is already destined to live out his life behind bars (something that may be less certain than it seems, since he could win a habeas corpus petition or be released for some other reason), there are good reasons to hold him accountable for his other crimes. For example, doing so will often help his victims deal with what happened to them. Also, the additional sentence may include fines and restitution along with prison time; these components would not be redundant of the original sentence.

Re: criminal law

Sure. The government has the obligation to prosecute everything.

Re: criminal law

The short answer is yes.