I Represent People Charged
With:
Domestic Violence: Is a designation
of an offense that occurs between 'family or household' members. More
specifically, it means that the actors involved in a criminal offense
are spouses, former spouses, persons who have a child in common, adult
persons related by blood or marriage, adult persons who reside or who
have resided together, or persons that have a dating relationship.
Domestic violence offenses are common. Domestic violence cuts across
all social and economic barriers. If a person is convicted of a domestic
violence offense, they must participate in a one year long anger
management course, frequently a protective order will be issued to
protect the complaining witness, and they lose their right to own or
possess a firearm indefinitely. I have had a great deal of success
defending clients accused of domestic violence offenses.
Drug Offenses: Drug offenses take many forms: Possession of a Controlled Substance and Transportation of a Controlled Substance. A successful defense of a criminal drug offense is commonly focused upon the constitutionality of the search and seizure by the government. In the case of a marijuana charge, medical marijuana may be a defense if you have been prescribed to use medical marijuana before the criminal action.
Other Crimes: In
addition to the previously described offenses, I have defended persons
charged with probation violations, felony DUI’s, felony injury DUI’s,
felony theft cases, felony fraud cases, assault cases, and resisting
arrest. I have developed an exceptional reputation for defending people
accused of criminal misconduct by being tenacious and delivering
exceptional results.
Criminal Defense
I limit my practice to
criminal defense and DUI defense because I believe it allows me to focus
my entire legal practice on one area of the law. I have defended
people in criminal defense since June 9, 2003. In Lake County, I have
worked as a contract public defender in the Clearlake Superior Court
defending people charged with all sorts of misdemeanors since November
2006. I also work as a private criminal defense/DUI defense attorney in
Lake County. I go to many criminal defense seminars to ensure that I’m
constantly up to date on the law and utilizing the most effective
strategies.
Philosophy
The first step I take in defending a person is to interview them
and find out their side of the story. The reason I offer free initial
consultations is that way the client can form an impression about who
their attorney is and what I may be able to accomplish in their case.
Additionally, I offer a free initial consultation so that the client can
consult with other attorneys and choose the best attorney that meets
his/her needs.
After being retained, I review the initial discovery given by the
prosecution, frequently police reports. I like to go over the police
report with my client to find out if they disagree with the police
report. Finally, I request discovery from the prosecution and
frequently independently investigate the case either by myself or by
having an investigator interview witnesses, and look at the scene where
everything took place. This allows me to be prepared to challenge the
prosecution’s case and advise you of the strengths and the weaknesses of
your case. It also allows me to negotiate from a stronger position and
gives the prosecution notice that there is no such thing as a simple
case.
My philosophy is to look at each case individually and determine
what needs to be done, because every case is unique and each of my
clients has different needs. I also work hard at maintaining good
communications with my clients.
Motions
I file pre-trial motions to defend my clients when it is
appropriate. A motion is a request for the court to do something. The
most common motions are motions to suppress evidence, speedy trial
motions, motions to challenge prior convictions, Pitchess motions,
motions to compel discovery, motions to dismiss (AKA 995 motions),
demurrers, and many more types of motions depending on the case.
Sometimes, a successful or even an unsuccessful pre-trial motion means
the case gets dismissed or the offer becomes too good to resist.
Citizens are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures
conducted by the government by the Fourth Amendment of the United States
Constitution and the California Constitution. As a general rule, when a
police officer or other government official searches a person who has a
reasonable expectation of privacy, the police officer must either have a
search warrant, or the police officer must be acting consistently with
an applicable exception to the warrant requirement. Absent a search
warrant or an applicable exception to the warrant requirement, a search
is unconstitutional. The remedy for an unconstitutional search or
seizure is exclusion of evidence, which commonly results in the
dismissal of the criminal allegation. Needless to say, these are not
easy motions to win and success requires a great deal of preparation.
I fight to make sure that the court enforces the constitutional
rights of my clients and I have successfully defended people accused of
misdemeanor and felony drug offenses by filing and winning suppression
motions as well as other charges. If I think the court’s ruling is in
error; I’m not afraid to appeal the ruling.
