PRACTICE AREAS

Murder. Attempted murder.

Assault with a deadly weapon. Assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.

Robbery is a strike. Carjacking is a strike.

Penal Code § 422 is charged constantly and proven rarely. The statute requires a threat so unequivocal and immediate that it caused sustained fear that was reasonable.

Resisting arrest. Battery on a peace officer.

Gang allegations do two things: they add years, and they let the prosecution put evidence in front of a jury that would otherwise never see the light of day. Tattoos.

There is no category of case where the accusation alone does more damage. Registration.

Domestic violence cases have a life of their own. The prosecution routinely proceeds even when the alleged victim recants, does not want charges, or never wanted them in the first place.

Simple possession. Possession for sale.

A first DUI is not a small thing. It is a criminal conviction, a license suspension, an insurance catastrophe, and — for anyone with a professional license, a security clearance, or a commercial driver's license — a threat to their livelihood.

Felon in possession. Carrying a concealed weapon.

Arson is a strike. Depending on what burned, a conviction counts as a violent felony that follows a person for life and doubles the sentence on anything that comes after — whether or not anyone was ever hurt.

Petty theft. Grand theft.

Federal court is a different world. Different rules, different procedure, different sentencing regime, and a prosecutor's office with resources no local District Attorney has.

A second strike doubles the sentence. A third can end a life.

A juvenile case is not a small version of an adult case. It is a different system, with different procedures, different dispositions, and consequences that follow a child into adulthood — into school, into the military, into every job application they will ever fill out.

There is no jury. There is no reasonable doubt.

Domestic violence restraining orders, civil harassment restraining orders, criminal protective orders, and gun violence restraining orders. A restraining order can remove someone from their home, separate them from their children, strip their firearm rights, and lay the groundwork for a criminal case that has not been filed yet.

The best time to hire a criminal defense lawyer is before you are charged. If law enforcement has contacted you, if you have been asked to come in and “clear something up,” if a detective has left a card at your door — you are not a witness.

The first fight in a criminal case is not about guilt. It is about whether you go home.

Penal Code § 1203.4 dismissals. Reductions of felonies to misdemeanors under § 17(b).

Direct appeals. Habeas corpus petitions.