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Category: Great Bodily Injury

Do I Need a Criminal Defense Attorney if I am Innocent?

Posted on by Ross Erlich

Short answer is yes.

If you think you’ve been falsely accused, or arrested, for a crime you didn’t commit, you are not alone.  There are countless examples of people who have been arrested, and even charged, for things they haven’t done.  Witnesses who are incorrect, victims who are lying or misleading, facts that don’t add up, etc.

One may think that the right course of action is to cooperate with law enforcement and that there is no need to hire a lawyer.  Great, save some money!  Well, probably not the best idea.  Remember, the prosecutor cannot use your right to remain silent or your hiring of a lawyer against you.

In fact, if you are a suspect in a case, simply denying your involvement is not going to help much.  Cops have heard that thousands of times.  Law enforcement do not determine your fate in court, they do not file or dismiss criminal charges, they do not offer plea deals.  Their job is to investigate and make an arrest, with the emphasis on the make an arrest part.  It is easier for them to put together what they believe to be facts support your guilt, make an arrest, and pass it along to the prosecutor’s office.  They “tend” to believe you are guilty, then look for facts to support that belief.

Let me give you a story about a former client that might help illustrate the purpose of this blog post.  I represented a woman a few years ago who was charged with felony hit-and-run and felony assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury for, allegedly, causing an accident with a speeding motorcyclist (estimated at 60mph) who broke his leg and then she left the scene.  This happened in the San Fernando Valley near a large big box shopping store and alongside a major busy street.  She came to me, while being represented by another attorney, after she had already had her preliminary hearing (evidentiary hearing determining probable cause in the case) and after a judge had determined there was enough probable cause that this crime was committed by her.

The police and prosecution’s take was that she had caused this accident and then was found parked alongside the business driveway of this big box store doing paperwork in her car.  There was a witness who believed her saw her car, believed to have followed her through the parking lot (even though he lost sight of her), and then came across her car parked where she was.  The police were wearing body cameras when they approached my client and you could see a few key things in that footage.  A complete lack of any damage to her vehicle, her being cool, calm and collected, a car that was filled with lots of boxes of paperwork (which wasn’t strewed about after an accident) and windows that were not tinted.  Oh, there was also some security camera footage from a taco truck that was across the street.

The prosecutor’s office believed that the eyewitness had, in fact, seen what he claimed to have seen, believed that the not-so-great security camera footage was my client’s car and, despite body camera footage and police report documentation that showed no major body damage, still believed my client was good for the crime.

Also keep in mind that my client was adamant about her innocence, often pointing out discrepancies in the reports, and looking for an attorney who could help her prove her innocence.  She had also just spent months with a different lawyer going back and forth to court with them believing she did it and, ultimately, having a preliminary hearing where the prosecutor was able to convince the judge that she did as well.  Not to mention, her defense attorney, who had access to the same evidence I did, couldn’t prove her innocence.

When I got on the case, I knew that my client was telling the truth.  The security camera footage showed the car driving down then main street after the accident away from the business driveway where she was found, there was no damage anywhere on my client’s vehicle from an accident like this, the security camera footage seemed to show 2 persons in the vehicle that caused the accident and a 911 caller mentioned that they believed the car to be a Honda Civic, which was not what my client was driving.

So, what do you do now?  The most stressful client a lawyer can have is an innocent one.  There is a reason this is a commonly known phrase.  You can see in this example how an innocent person could make it halfway down the road towards either a conviction or a forced plea deal to avoid the potential damage a conviction at trial could cause.  How an innocent person could go to court multiple times without having their innocence proven.  It’s a scary thing.

What I had to do was to clearly, and overwhelmingly, show the prosecutor the evidence that they may have overlooked which, when added up, equaled innocence.  I had to put together a package that included timelines, clips of video, mentions to 911 call, lack of car damage, her statements to police.  Had an investigator drive through the parking lot with me on video to show how it was almost impossible for this witness to maintain view of this car through the parking lot.  Even after all of that, the prosecutor needed to take that all and present it to the supervisor to get permission to dismiss.  This was a months-long, multiple appearance effort on my part, not something that just got remedied in one court appearance and a quick conversation.

Eventually, all charges were dismissed against my client.

As you can see, even if you are innocent, it is crucial to have a skilled Los Angeles criminal defense attorney represent you.  Even in this example, police saw who they thought was “good for” the crime and put together the facts they could find to support it.  No matter that my client proclaimed her innocence from the time she was contacted by police up until this very day.

If you or someone you know has been charged with, or is being investigated for, a crime here in Los Angeles or surrounding counties, contact attorney Ross Erlich today for a free consultation.

Take your kid to (not into the enclosure) the zoo day!

Posted on by Ross Erlich

Many of you have probably heard about the father who took his two-year-old daughter into the elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo for a photo opp.  From the video that’s been posted online, you can see the elephant start to approach the two and, when the father is attempting to get out, seems to drop the child and scoop her up just moments before the elephant gets to them.

Turns out that wasn’t the smartest move, for many reasons.  Setting aside the potential for small child/elephant mishaps, the man was promptly arrested for child endangerment and booked on $100,000 bond at the San Diego County jail.  Wonder if he got his picture?

Now, you might ask yourself, seems like a “relatively” minor crime, no?  No one got hurt, there was no ill-intent, no property was damaged or destroyed, shouldn’t this just be a simple issue to resolve?  As many things in the law are, it turns out the answer to that question is “it’s not so simple.”

California punishes “child abuse” and “child endangerment” and “child neglect.”  For purposes of our zoogoer, we’ll be talking about “child endangerment” which is codified in Penal Code 273(a).  Paraphrased for all you non-lawyers out there, that code makes it illegal for someone to willfully exposing a child to unjustifiable pain, suffering or danger, or by subjecting that child to an unreasonable risk of harm, even if the child never actually suffers any harm.  If the conditions are likely to produce great bodily injury or death, that charge is a felony, punishable by up to 2-4-6 years in state prison.  If the conditions are such that there is not likely to be great bodily injury or death, that is a misdemeanor, punishable by no more than 1 year in county jail.

Some examples of how this crime is charged in California include getting arrested for DUI with your child in the car, leaving a child inside a hot car without ventilation, leaving a dangerous weapon where a child can easily access it, failing to get medical treatment for a sick child, and the list goes on.  Chances are, if you have to think about whether the conduct would be considered illegal, it likely will be construed that way.

There are also some additional penalties unique to a conviction for child endangerment that the court has under its discretion.  If probation is granted by the court, the mandatory minimum time of probation (usually 36 months) is increased to 48 months.  There will be a criminal court protective order against the person conviction to protect the victim against any further violence or threats.  The person convicted will have to take, and complete, a 52-week child abuser treatment counseling program and, if any substances or alcohol was used in connection with the incident, the court can order the person convicted to abstain from drugs and/or alcohol and be subject to random testing by the probation department.  These additional penalties are all within the court’s discretion in such that an effective Los Angeles criminal defense attorney can argue and present facts which can prevent these obligations in furtherance of justice.

You might also be thinking, “wait, I never meant for this to happen, why am I being charged with this”?  Well, maybe you shouldn’t be.  Defenses to this conduct include non-intentional “endangerment” conduct, the person was legally disciplining their child, the whole act was a false accusation, someone other than the person being charged was responsible for the child at the time.

This brings us back to our zoogoer.  I would say that most of the general public, and for sure the district attorney’s office who is responsible for enforcing laws and public safety, would argue that taking your child into the elephant enclosure constitutes a situation that could willfully expose that child to unjustifiable pain, suffering or danger, whether or not the child actually suffers.

If you find yourself on the wrong end of an arrest or call from a police officer or detective, it is important to be aware of what you say to them and, hopefully, you don’t say anything until you’ve spoken to your attorney.  Contact Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Ross Erlich today to discuss your case, for free, and see what options you have so you don’t end up in the cage.

Pepper Spraying Children?

Posted on by admin

Police say that robbers pepper sprayed 2 children and pistol-whipped an adult during a home invasion in Rancho Cucamonga.  The robbers allegedly held the family at gunpoint and then left with some of the property from the house.

Assuming these suspects get caught apprehended, they are looking at some very serious charges.  First off, robbery.  Robbery is the “felonious taking of personal property in possession of another, from his person or immediate presence, and against his will, accomplished by means of force or fear.”  This includes the most well-known version of someone “sticking up” someone on the street and taking their property, but also extends to home burglaries that turn into robberies when their are people inside and the perpetrators threaten them with force if they cannot escape and drugging someone and stealing their property while they are unconscious.

In this case, this would be first-degree robbery as this robbery took place in an inhabited structure.  Thus, the penalty range for this is 3, 4, or 6 years  in state prison, assuming no other charges or enhancements/special allegations.  However, if you have committed robbery in an inhabited structure with 2 or more co-conspirators, that range goes up to 3, 6, or 9 years.

Where the custody time significantly increases is when sentencing enhancements are added to the underlying charge.  Examples of this are when great bodily injury is caused during the commission of the crime, if a firearm is used in the robbery and if a firearm is discharged or causes great bodily injury during the robbery.

One of the hardest elements for the prosecution to prove, and thus, one of the most significant defenses, is the element of using force or fear to take the property.  It is crucial for prosecutors to establish this element since if they don’t, robbery charges won’t likely stick.  The defendant might be guilty of another theft crime, but likely not one as significant as robbery.  Other defenses include the honest belief that you had a right to the property, you are the victim of mistaken identity, or you have been falsely accused.

If you or a loved one has been charged with robbery, burglary, grand theft or any other felony in Los Angeles, contact Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer Ross Erlich today.  Getting Ross Erlich involved in the case early can have tremendous benefits for the client and can help to actually lower the financial cost of the case.  Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer Ross Erlich works closely with bail bondsmen who can offer beneficial rates to clients and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist.

Being charged with robbery is an extremely serious event in someone’s life.  It is one of the most serious felonies and one that all prosecutors in the District Attorney’s office take seriously.  It is crucial that your attorney have enough time to prepare for court, deal with any case-related matters prior to the first court date, and have time to contact the prosecutor’s office.  Do yourself, or your loved one, a favor and do things the right way the first time so that you don’t have to try to go back and correct things, which almost never work out.  Call a lawyer right away, get good representation, make sure you cooperate with your lawyer and bring to light any and all relevant factors that pertain to the case.

Contact Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer Ross Erlich today for a free consultation.