Why Are Jury Trials So Expensive? I’ve been a criminal defense lawyer in California for well over of 20 years now.  I’ve done my share of jury trials, bench trials, traffic trials and even some civil trials.  Trials don’t actually come around that often for people like me.  Most cases settle.  Trials are risky. Clients often have to miss work for several days to get through a trial.  And, yes, trials are expensive. When I get hired on most of my cases, I quote a fee for entire case, without trial.  It’s normally a flat fee that covers whatever I …

IS IT EVER TOO SOON TO MEDIATE YOUR CASE? Mediate early and often is a money-saving and time saving concept which should be considered by many.  I just heard that one Ventura County trial judge has 800 civil cases on his docket.  Even if only ten percent of those cases went to trial, that would be eighty trials.  That could take two years of trials going every single day.  Your trial isn’t going to start until some day in 2026, if you are lucky.  There must be a better way. You have a dispute or a claim with value.  You …

GUN CHARGES AND YOUR SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS IN CALIFORNIA   Over The last twenty plus years I have represented people charged with anything from ammunition to explosives, from gun modification to manufacturing, and from assault to multiple homicides.  I’ve found a few similarities in client needs in my career.  Not only do clients want the best result that can be achieved, but they also want to do anything possible to keep their gun rights.  And, if it’s absolutely impossible to keep client gun rights in the short term, then we have to shift to the long term and make sure …

Assault With a Deadly Weapon vs. Attempted Murder; Criminal Defense Perspective in California Law But I didn’t try and kill anyone.  I hear it a lot.  So why am I charged with attempted murder and not assault with a deadly weapon?  It’s a very serious and complicated legal question.  First, the decision to charge crimes is in the exclusive discretion of the district attorney.  A lawyer or lawyers at the DA’s office decide if a crime should be charged as an attempted murder and the defendant could face life in prison, or the crime should be an ADW and the …

I just had another huge victory in Van Nuys Court.  My client was charged with residential burglary.  That is a felony.  That is a strike.  That is a presumed prison sentence.  I just got all charges dismissed in Superior Court in Van Nuys. The case went down like this:   A young woman called 911 after she heard a prowler outside her window at 3 a.m.  The police came out and didn’t find any suspects but did find the window screen removed from her exterior window.  Police called out their forensic team and they took photographs and lifted fingerprints.  My client’s …

Probation Travel Restrictions Lot’s of old clients have been calling since about Thanksgiving time asking for permission to travel for the holidays.  When clients are on felony probation, they cannot leave their home county for more than 72 hours without permission from the court or the probation officer.  They cannot leave the state at all without permission. When clients try calling probation, they usually get a voicemail.  They rarely get a call back.  When clients walk in to see probation, they normally get the same response: Go ask the judge. I wouldn’t think it would be so hard to get …

Increased Penalties for Hate Crimes in California California’s Assembly Bill 2282 increases penalties for the display of hate symbols that are placed “for the purpose of terrorizing a person”. The bill criminalizes the Nazi swastika (with explicit protection of the Buddhist, Hindu, and Jainist swastikas with history as a peace symbol), the display of a noose, the burning and/or destruction of a cross or other religious symbol, and “a sign, mark, symbol, emblem, or other physical impression including but not limited to a Nazi swastika” on another’s private property. Under this law, the one who displays the hate symbol can …

Wet Reckless in Ventura County…It’s a Thing Now A recent policy with prosecutors in Ventura County is allowing the plea bargain of DUI’s.  In the 27 years I have been practicing law in California, there was only one Alcohol Related Reckless Driving offense given out in Ventura County.  Most people don’t even know about it.  That’s because the district attorney then, Michael Bradbury, didn’t authorize it.  Actually, he strongly opposed it.  The problem was that his office wasn’t prosecuting the case.  It was the State Attorney General handling the case because the defendant was a Ventura County employee and the …

Why I Handle Personal Injury Cases in California? I have been practicing law for over 25 years.  I still get people who tell me they didn’t know I handled personal injury cases.  I have a small practice that deals mostly with criminal cases in California.  Occasionally, I go to Federal Court.  Occasionally, I travel to other states when my client’s ask me to.  Mostly, I hang around Southern California from Santa Barbara to Orange County and anywhere in between.  I don’t advertise, but I do get friends and family and other referrals who call me about handling their injury cases.  …

For years I’ve been telling people not to believe everything they read on the internet and not to believe everything a lawyer tells you before you pay him.  I get emails almost every day from people claiming they can improve my damaged reputation.  I may be damaged, but my reputation is pretty darn good.  About every ten years I get a review from some former client saying that I am evil or wasn’t nice to them or some such thing. The last negative review I got was from a client on a criminal threat case.  Unfortunately, I had to declare a …