Our client hired our office after he had been arrested on bench warrants in two open criminal misdemeanor cases. Our client had been charged with trespassing – a violation of Penal Code section 602(m) in one case. In another case, our client was charged with possession of methamphetamine – a violation of Health and Safety Code section 11377(a). Our client was also being charged with probation violations for two misdemeanor matters that he had previously pled guilty to prior to hiring our office.
From a review of the police reports and after consulting with our client, it was clear that our client had a drug dependency problem that was causing his arrests and criminal cases being filed against him. Our client had two active misdemeanor probation cases both tied to drug use offenses. Our client was currently being charged with trespassing and, according to the police reports, our client was trespassing on a “red flagged” property for the purposes of using drugs at the location. In our client’s other active probation matter, he had pled guilty to possession of methamphetamine.
Prior to hiring our office, the court had indicated to the defendant that if he saw him again in court with any new violations then the court would sentence our client to the year max on each of his probation violation cases. Therefore, our client was looking at a maximum sentence of two years on the probation violations and one year and 180 days max on the open cases – a total of three years and 180 days for his offenses!
After reviewing the discovery for the matter and consulting with our client, it was clear that the best result for our client was to either seek drug treatment in a residential drug treatment program or seek a global terminal disposition that would end our client’s multiple probationary grants and allow him to be released from custody with a “fresh start.” After considering his options, our client did not want to enter drug treatment and wanted to serve time and be released from probation on these matters.
After strenuous negotiation, attorney Steve Escovar, was able to negotiate with the prosecution to dismiss the drug possession case entirely and to allow our client to plea to a terminal disposition, which would rid our client of having probation on three matters and open himself up to excess jail time. The prosecution agreed to sentence our client to 180 days on the trespassing charge consecutive to 60 days for the violations of probation.
This is a great result for our client that will allow him to avoid having open probationary grants, subject to violations and additional time in custody!
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The information in this blog post (“post”) is provided for general informational purposes only, and may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction. No information contained in this post should be construed as legal advice from Escovar Law, APC or the individual author, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this Post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in the recipient’s state, country or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction. The information on this website is a communication and is for informational purposes only. The facts of every case are unique and nothing on this page or on this website should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. The information on this website is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship and viewing of this information does not create an attorney-client relationship. The result portrayed in this advertisement was dependent on the facts of this case. Results will differ if based on different facts.