Scenario 1

Lets day that you are in your vehicle and while at a stop light you start arguing with a pedestrian that entered the pedestrian crossing on the red light. He doesn’t like your tone and arguments and gets closer to your vehicle in a menacing way. Then all of a sudden, while ignoring your request to move aside so that you can start driving he slams the hood of your car. He did not touch you right? He didn’t even lay a finger on you, correct? Well, he nevertheless may have committed a criminal battery, or at the very least a civil (tort) one. Why is the law even considering this? The answer is that if you are in direct contact with an object (your car in this case) and the other person, the aggressor, touches that object in a certain way, like slamming the hood in this example, the law considers that as if he touched you directly.

Scenario 2

Similarly, you are upset with your girlfriend because she winked at your best friend and because of that, you lock her up for minutes in the bedroom. Guess what. You may have committed false imprisonment. Why? Because you confined someone in a space from where she has no reasonable means of escape, against her will. A little thing that can cost you your freedom and that can affect you for the rest of your life. A stain on your otherwise amazingly clean life. What do you do? What defenses do you have available? Here do you ask for help as the court hearing gest closer? No matter where you are located, from San Diego to Vista, Carlsbad or Oceanside, and from Irvine to Los Angeles County our very experienced criminal defense lawyers will seek every option available to help you.

No criminal case is black and white so to speak. Various factors come into play from statements, evidence and its chain of custody and the manner our lawyers raise reasonable doubt. Also, you should know that while procedures are generally the same they do vary sometimes based on where you are. Being taken in custody, booked and detained in Los Angeles does not always happen the same way as it happens in San Diego or Vista for example. Most importantly, remember you have certain rights that have been set into place by our Constitution to make sure that the Police do not abuse them. For example, not only you have the right to remain silent if arrested, but you should remain silent.

This is because very often what you say voluntarily, intelligently and knowingly, without any coercion, can be used against you in a court of law. Even so though, there are situations when you did say something voluntarily and knowingly, but nevertheless that statement you made will not be admitted against you in court. How could we do that you will ask. Again, it all goes to the level of expertise and experience your lawyer has. At Central Law Group our lawyers enjoy experience that extends over decades of criminal defense representation.

And here’s a secret related to the example above and the voluntary and knowing statement you made while in custody of the police: if you say to the officer that you want your lawyer, the officer must respect that and refrain from interrogating you. But lest say that after he places you in the police vehicle he starts talking to his colleague about matters associated with the case they arrested you for. You then feel “compelled” to respond. If the court finds that the discussion between the two police officers, not between them and you, was the “functional equivalent” of interrogation, the statement you made may not be admitted in a court of law against you. And that may mean the difference between your continued freedom and 15 years of prison.

And again, that is just an example even if a more subtle one that most people would never know of. Because your freedom rests in the balance, you must trust your lawyer. We have become known in San Diego, Los Angeles County, Vista, Orange or Irvine because we are aggressive. Our lawyers seek the little wrinkles and cracks in the prosecutor’s case to do a little magic called “raising reasonable doubt.” That is what may save you if no affirmative defense is available to you. Remember, it is your life. Central Law Group’s lawyers will not stop at anything to turn over any facet of your case to weaken the prosecutor’s case. That is what good criminal defense lawyers do.