Vista Criminal Attorney

Aside from a basic acquaintance with the nature of the charges filed against you and what kind of defense strategies we use to counteract such charges, it's also important to understand the process through which criminal cases pass in California.

Below we have touched on a pretty thorough step by step, overview of the criminal defense process. We provided a detailed explanation of each step involved to help acclimate you with the legal system and what you will be facing moving forward.

The Arrest

No one plans on getting arrested. And when you suddenly find yourself under arrest, you may not know what to do. You may not be sure what your rights are or where the process is going. The important thing is to quickly write down the occurrences during the arrest while you still remember them clearly and to contact a good lawyer without delay, who can explain to you your rights and what you should do to prevent inadvertently hurting your chances going forward.

If police arrested you without probable cause, conducted an illegal search and seizure, failed to read you your Miranda Rights, violated police protocols, or otherwise violated your rights or state and/or federal law, this can often lead to a dismissal. But you'll need a good criminal defense lawyer to file the necessary pre-trial motions.

After the arrest, your immediate concern may be to get bailed out of jail, but remember that you can often get a 20% discount on the bail bond fee (8% fee instead of 10%) if your lawyer recommends you a bail bond agent. So it's best to make your first call be to a good lawyer.

If you've been arrested or even suspect you may soon be arrested, it's best to waste no time and to get legal help and advice as soon as possible. The earlier you begin the process of building your defense, the better.

Charges Filed

There are may instances where an arrest takes place, but where the D.A. or other prosecutor decides there's just not enough evidence to pursue the case. The police report and other information may sway the prosecution to drop the case - and a good defense lawyer can often bring some of that data to the prosecutor's attention early in the process.

There are two distinct questions the DA must answer:

• Does it seem likely that this alleged crime even took place?
• Is there enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to bother prosecuting it? 

If both questions are answered in the affirmative, then the DA makes a formal complaint, which gives a detailed description of the alleged crime. Even at this point, however, there is often room for pre-trial negotiations, and perhaps, a plea bargain in some cases. It's also possible that initially filed charges will still be dropped once the defense brings more facts to the prosecution's attention.

The Arraignment

The arraignment is your first court date after the arrest. It helps if you can get out on bail before the arraignment and focus on building your defense, but either way, we will be able to prepare thoroughly and give you sound advice. 

This is where you must enter a plea, either guilty, not guilty, or no contest. Unless you were already bailed out, the arraignment is also the time at which bail will be set (unless it is not permitted at all). By having your attorney at the arraignment with you, you'll be able to bring up any alleged violations of your rights by law enforcement and other matters that can affect which evidence is permissible or if there will even be a trial.

Many times, a plea agreement or even a dismissal is obtained at the arraignment hearing, even though it is not technically an actual trial. It is in the best interests of all concerned, often times, to avoid an going to court if possible - but better to go to trial and win than to lose in a poor settlement. We know how to skillfully negotiate a plea where appropriate, but will never make a plea deal that's against your best interests or that you yourself disagree with.

The Preliminary Hearing

Even after a failure to come to an agreement or dismissal at the arraignment, before the trial actually takes place, there is yet another opportunity for your lawyer to negotiate and press evidence in your favor or other factors to try to win before the trial begins. At this point, the defense attorney gets a copy of the police report and is permitted access to all evidence that the prosecution already possesses. This exchanging of vital information is called "discovery" and it is critical to helping you win your case.

The prosecution also unveils his/her evidence to the presiding judge so the judge can decide if it is sufficiently "weighty" to proceed to trial as planned. The prosecution can argue against this, and if the judge decides evidence is too flimsy, the case will be immediately dismissed. When witnesses against you are found to be less than credible or when evidence is found to be very conflicted, the judge will probably dismiss the case.

Also at the preliminary hearing, the defense will gain access to any exculpatory evidence that may be in your favor that the prosecution knows about (but obviously would have no interest in using). We will also at this point fight to have evidence excluded from consideration in court if it was illegally obtained. And we will have the chance to cross-examine witnesses on a limited scale here to ensure they are presenting a fixed, unchanging story and not just making up new stories on the fly.

The preliminary hearing is for felony charges only, while a similar pre-trial hearing occurs with misdemeanors. Things basically are done on a bigger scale with felony charges, but the principle is the same. This step can end with a dismissal, plea deal, or lead to the trial phase.

The Jury Trial

Most cases never even go to trial, which is why you want a law firm highly skilled in pre-trial interactions and with well seasoned negotiation skills. But, it's also true that many cases will go to court and that the "legal clout" of a defense attorney based on past courtroom victories helps to get better settlements out of court and win dismissals where other lawyers couldn't attain such a positive result.

During the actual trial, we will present evidence and arguments in your favor, while working to undermine those of the prosecution. We will challenge the police report, question the credibility of witnesses against you where that makes sense, while bringing in those (including experts) who can testify in your behalf.

Prosecutor and defense attorney will vie for the support of the jury, and will also make their appeals to the presiding judge. Our first goal in every case is to win 100% with an acquittal. Where that is unrealistic, it may be best to fight for a favorable plea deal, where the charge will be reduced, you may be able to avoid actual jail time, and other sentencing elements can be reduced. Sometimes, a diversion program and deferred entry of judgment can even lead to an ultimate dismissal of the case once probation is successfully completed.

We work hard to build you a foundation for winning the best possible outcome to your case. At every step of the way, we guide you through the process and make the key, timely legal moves necessary to win a positive outcome.