How to defend a criminal case effectively depends on many factors.
No two cases are the same. Each client is unique.
Reach out to criminal defense attorney David Pflaum to learn what defense may apply to your case.
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DEVELOPING THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE CASE
The first part of a successful defense requires extensive meetings with the client to understand everything that happened to cause the client to be investigated, detained, and arrested.
It is also important to learn about the clients present status including employment, education, special training, experience, health and standing in the local community. This information can be beneficial when presented to the judge and the prosecutor.
Detention and Arrest. The time, place, and probable cause for the police to detain a person, search him or her, and make an arrest are very important.
This information helps the defense lawyer determine whether there may have been a violation of the client’s constitutional rights to remain free from an unlawful search and seizure according the the Fourth Amendment, or a violation of the right to remain silent according to the Fifth Amendment.
If there is an alleged violation of a constitutional right, a petition can be filed in court on behalf of the client to challenge the unlawful acts of the police, resulting in the possibility that the case may be dismissed or the criminal charges reduced.
Witnesses. It is necessary to know all about the witnesses, who they were, what they claim to have heard or seen, whether the witness statements were recorded, and the background of the witnesses. The credibility of a witness, including prior arrests or convictions, might prove that the witness should not be believed.
Lack of witness credibility, and lack of independent witness corroboration, are crucial factors that may disprove the prosecution case and lead to a dismissal or reduction in the original criminal charges.
Witness statements may also lead to further investigation about whether witnesses actually saw or heard what they claim. Witness statements that are inconsistent with each other is helpful because they may show that there is no clear version of what allegedly happened.
Problems with witness credibility may cast reasonable doubt on the validity of the criminal charges, thus leading to a dismissal or reduction of the criminal charges.
EXAMINING THE EVIDENCE
Evidence in a criminal case is critical. Without the right evidence, there can be no successful prosecution.
Evidence may take many different forms that include the following.
- Photographs of injuries, accident scenes, damaged property
- Police officer body camera recordings
- Patrol car video recordings (CHP)
- Surveillance video recordings
- Fingerprints of an alleged burglar
- 911 calls that describe an emergency
- Eye witnesses that see a crime
- Ear witnesses that hear a crime
- Fruits of the alleged crime like drugs, weapons, stolen property
- DNA samples
- Blood and breath tests in DUI cases
- Lab analysis of drugs
- Text messages
- Facebook posts
- Financial records to prove embezzlement
- Medical records to prove injury
- Accident reconstruction diagrams
Criminal justice attorney Pflaum carefully examines the alleged evidence in a case to determine whether it supports the prosecutions account of the detention and arrest and the criminal charges.
Often times attorney develops the strengths of the case because the alleged evidence does not support the prosecutions case.
Sometimes the evidence that is not present in a case is just as important in order to prove a client is not guilty.
WEAK OR FAULTY WITNESS IDENTIFICATION
A witness may mistakenly identify the wrong person as the defendant in many instances.
Statistics and expert witnesses have shown time and again that many witness identifications are highly likely to be mistaken.
This is particularly true where the witness was under extreme pressure while observing a crime, even worse when the person is the victim of the crime.
Lighting, timing, location, distance, mental state, stress, and cross-cultural identifications are also factors to consider when evaluating the reliability of witness identification.
Witness identification has been shown to be faulty when it comes about as a result of police applying pressure to a witness to immediately identify a defendant at a “show up” or “curbside” who is handcuffed or detained and presented to the witness as a suspect.
Witness identification has been shown to be faulty when it comes about as a result of police incorrectly showing a witness “mug shots” or a “six pack” of photos of potential suspects that are unfairly suggestive.
Lastly a witness who has a motive to lie, an axe to grind, or bias against the accused may be unreliable to prove a case in court.
SELF DEFENSE AND DEFENSE OF ANOTHER
Everyone has the right to defend themselves.
In fact there are laws and jury instructions that state a person has the right to make a stand and to use force against an attacker.
This is particularly true when defending yourself or your property.
A person may not be guilty of a crime if he or she used force against another person in lawful self defense or defense of another.
A person acts in lawful self defense or defense of another if:
- The person reasonably believes that he or she or someone else was in imminent danger of suffering bodily injury or was in imminent danger of being touched unlawfully;
- The person reasonably believed that the immediate use of force was necessary to defend against that danger; and
- The person used no more force than was reasonably necessary to defend against that danger.
A person’s belief must be reasonable and he or she must have acted because of that belief.
A person is only entitled to use that amount of force that a reasonable person would believe is necessary in the same situation.
If the person uses more force than was reasonable, the person defendant did not act in lawful self defense or defense of another.
The law of self defense stated above applies equally to the right to defend someone else if they or their property is in danger.
NO CRIMINAL INTENT
The law says that to be guilty of a crime a person must have criminal intent to do so.
Penal Code section 26 states generally that a person may not be guilty of committing a crime when he or she commits an act under a mistake of fact disproving any criminal intent.
The defense attorney, with the help of his client and other witnesses, may prove that the accused had no criminal intention of breaking the law.
A good example is walking out of a store or a supermarket and forgetting to pay for an item.
Though a person may be charged with petty theft, or even burglary, the applicable law states that a person may not be guilty of this offense if the person did not have the intent to steal the item.
MISTAKE OF FACT
Penal Code section 26 states generally that a person makes a mistake of fact may not be guilty of the alleged crime because he or she had no criminal intent. Some examples of the mistake of fact defense are illustrated below.
For example a mistake of fact may apply to the alleged crime of statutory rape in violation of Penal Code 261.5, also known as “having unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under 18.”
A good faith, but mistaken, belief that a person was 18 or older may be a defense.
Similarly a good faith belief by the accused that an alleged victim of a kidnapping in violation of Penal Code section 207, or of false imprisonment in violation of Penal code sections 236 and 237, consented to physically moving to another location with the accused may be a defense to the charge of kidnapping.
A good faith belief by the accused that an alleged victim of a rape in violation of Penal Code section 261 consented to sexual intercourse may be a defense to the charge of rape.
Consent given by the owner of a commercial building or residence that an accused may enter the commercial building or residence may be a defense to a charge of burglary in violation of Penal Code section 459.
Consent given to another to drive a vehicle may be a defense to a charge of auto theft in violation of Vehicle Code section 10851.
CALL ON THE RIGHT LAWYER
TO DEFEND YOUR CASE
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