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Legal Tips

Criminal Law And The Invincible 18 Year Old Male, Or So They Think.

Having two sons in their late teens, being exposed to all their friends and being their criminal defense attorney, I have learned one important lesson. You don’t develop your common sense chip until your at least in your late twenties. I don’t mean to criticize my sons and their “male“ friends. In fact, I really enjoy being around them because they do think they are invincible and they just don’t get it. Example; “I can smoke until I am 25 then I’ll have to stop because my body can repair all the damage if I stop at that time”. Right.

Here is a lesson from actual cases I have handled one may want to show to their invincible male. A lesson to be learned from a twenty year veteran criminal defense attorney. Whether you live in Santa Ana, California in a low income area or in a million dollar home in Mission Viejo, California, cops don’t think your invincible. Let look at what law enforcement calls the “F.I. Card“(The Field Identification Card). When you are a minor and local enforcement stops you for, lets say, drinking beer with your buddies in the park. The cops, most of time, won’t arrest you. They will just ask questions. They may take your photo or get a copy later from the DMV if available. When they let you go, you walk away thinking how lucky you were. Of course you were scared and told them what they wanted to know, including mentioning all your buddies that ran away. After this happens a few times with no arrests, you become more relaxed and open up even more about what you and your friends were doing. The invincible thought process starts to manifest itself. What is going on that the false believe of invincibility isn’t telling you, is that the cops are making a field identification record on you. This record is made available to also be shared with other cities. They put all your vital information on the card, including what you were doing and who you were doing it with. Juvenile court usually will give minors a slap on the wrist so cops aren’t big on arresting minors if they can avoid it.

Now your 18 years old, an adult. Your still drinking, driving and kicking up your heels because you are invincible. Expect the cops in your area, by now, know who you are. When they see you driving late at night on their beat and they have stopped you a dozen times for drinking as a minor, they can bet you have been drinking now. Except now when they pull you over, you get arrested and go to jail. Your first DUI or possession of paraphernalia, or beer cans in the car. Now you sit in jail and your folks have to hirer an attorney to try to negotiate a deal with the District Attorney so you don’t screw up your future. Or, you don’t go to jail, don’t tell your parents, handle the case yourself and plea to something an attorney could have negotiated to mitigate your record.

So much for invincible? It can be worse, much worse.

When in high school, you and your buddies have a gang name because you all liked rap and thought it would be cool to have a gang name. Your buddies and you pick a gang name sounding similar to a real local gang because that’s cool too. The difference is, you and your friends don’t do much but drink beer and play loud music while driving in residential areas. Just stuff. The cops stop you and some of your friends, then make out these F.I. Cards and let you go. You say the cops only do it again and again just to harass you. After all, nothing ever becomes of it., or so you think.

Now you are 23 years old and don’t really hang around those kids anymore. One night you are working late at your job at the local grocery store because it looks your going to made assistant manager. A bunch of guys you don’t know come in and start harassing you. You verbally tell them to get lost, they buy beer and leave. The incident doesn’t take more them 5 minutes tops. The next day you find out the that one of the guys from the night before was killed in a gang related shooting.

You get arrested for murder in the first degree with gang allegations. If your convicted your looking at a life term in state prison. At the preliminary hearing a gang expert for the District Attorney says that your so call gang is a branch of the hard core gang due to similar names. He states that the shooting was gang retaliation for the 5 minute confrontation at the grocery store. To come to his opinion of your gang involvement, he brings into evidence all the Field Identification cards from the times you were stopped as a minor. However, because the expert tied the two gangs together, he was allowed to rely on the hard core gang’s field card activity to show violent gang activity. This case is still pending.

Unfortunately, all the above examples are true events of young invincible people whose cases I have been involved in. Lesson to be learned? Your not invincible. Just ask your local cop.

First Time Arrested?

The Ten Step Process

You May Have To Go Through.

Yes, you probably want to run out and hire an attorney. However, it is still important to know the process you will be going through. Ignorance is not bliss especially when you are deciding which attorney is right for you. So lets take a look at criminal procedure in a nut shell.

1. After the arrest, the District Attorney's issuing deputy will file a document the "Complaint" stating the charges against you, the "Defendant".

2. An "Arraignment" date is set where you will enter a plea of not guilty or guilty. In most cases there will not be a police report to look at so it may be in your best interest to plea not guilty.

3. A "Bail Review Hearing" date is set at the arraignment if you are in custody and the judge won't allow you to be released is this time or agree to lower the bail currently set.

4. A "Pre-Trial" date is also set at the arraignment if you enter a not guilty plea. On the pre-trial date the D.A. has the police report and usually will make an offer to settle your case. If you have an attorney, they may have already spoken to the D.A. about your case.

If you are charged with a misdemeanor and have an attorney, the attorney may make all the appearances without you being present. A few exceptions include domestic violence charges due to the judge possibly ordering you to stay away from the alleged victim.

In all other cases, refusal or failure of the defendant to appear at the time of the arraignment could result in a "bench warrant" being issued for his/ her arrest.

5. With a felony charge, the next procedure is called the "Preliminary Examination". This is a hearing where the prosecutor must present enough evidence to show probable cause to believe a felony has been committed and you have committed the crime charged.

A misdemeanor case, if not settled, may proceed to jury trial or at times, your attorney may continue your case for another settlement hearing.

6. If law enforcement did not have probable cause to arrest you or cite you then your attorney could file a "Pre-trial Motion" in both misdemeanor and felony cases. Although entitled "pre-trial" these motions can be litigated and if lost, a new settlement conference could follow if you didn't want to proceed to trial. If you decide to proceed to trial , there are many kinds of motions that can be filed before trial to protect your rights to insure a fair trial.

7. The next procedure is the "Jury Trial". If the case has not been resolved by this time, than the case will be set for jury or court trial. A jury trial can be waived but both the defense and prosecution has to agree to it. If the case goes to jury trial it will be presented to 12 jurors who will decide on the facts and judge the believability of the witnesses. The presiding judge will decide on the admissibility of the evidence in compliance with the evidence code.

8. "Post Trial Motions" are filed to challenge the decision of the jury or a ruling by the judge. These motions are very important for many issues must be raised at trial or in post-trial motions to be preserved for appeal.

9. If convicted, the defendant is "Sentenced". A sentence is deemed to be punishment received by the defendant who either plead guilty or is found guilty by a jury or court (if a court trial).

It is important to note state court judges retain more discretion than Federal judges in sentencing. The defendant ,if found guilty, may "Appeal" the verdict. However, this can be quite costly and the chances of winning quite slim.

10. However, through an "Expungement" a person's record may possibly be cleaned and his/her conviction removed from their record. Certain charges can not be expunged.

This website is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to express or constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship between the reader and The Law Offices of Mary E. Gallant-Cote or its lawyers is created by this site, and no reader should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any content in the site.

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also visit us at: http://www.cheriebrennercriminaldefensefirm.com/

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