Theft Offenses
SAN DIEGO THEFT DEFENSE ATTORNEY
- Petty Theft Defense/Stealing - value under $400
- Grand Theft Defense/Stealing- value over $400
- Burglary Defense - eg. house, car
Theft offenses are very serious and can result in substantial custody time. If this is your second or third offense, you may go to prison.
You need an experienced San Diego and North County criminal defense theft attorney to start working on your case soon after you are arrested. An aggressive attorney needs to begin evaluating your case immediately.
THE LEGAL PROCESS
THE STEP BY STEP PROCESS
THE FIRST MEETING WITH YOUR ATTORNEY
Your first meeting with me will last forty five minutes to an hour. I will take notes on all the events that led up to the officer stopping you and the arrest itself. I will analyze that information for possible defenses. Even small details can provide a defense.
You may call me as many times as needed to ask questions or provide me with more information. We will continue to set appointments to discuss your case as the process goes forward. There is no extra charge for phone calls or appointments after I am retained by you.
THE FIRST COURT APPEARANCE
The first Court Appearance is called an arraignment. If your case is charged as a misdemeanor, you do not have to go to Court. Under the law, I can waive your presence at all the Court appearances. If you live out of state or out of San Diego County, you do not have to fly or drive back to San Diego for any of your court appearances. If you are charged with a felony, you must appear in Court for all court hearings.
At your theft case arraignment, I will plead you not guilty and request the police report and lab report for the next Court appearance. The Judge will set the next court appearance, called a Readiness Conference which is my first negotiation on your case. The Court appearance for the first negotiation with the district attorney is set about three weeks after the arraignment. During this time I will receive the police report and lab reports from the district attorney’s office. When I receive them I will call you to set an office appointment or a phone conference to read you the reports and ask you what is accurate and inaccurate in the reports.
We will again discuss the facts as you remember them and I will evaluate the discrepancies in the report. I will evaluate all your defenses such as the police officer’s lack of a probable cause to stop you and the absence of probable cause for your arrest at the scene. You can ask me any questions that you have about the police report and your defenses at that time. You are also welcome to call me any time with questions that you may have.
THE FIRST NEGOTIATION OR READINESS CONFERENCE
The readiness conference is the first opportunity that I have to discuss your case with the district attorney. At that time, I will argue all your defenses such as the police officer’s lack of a probable cause to arrest you or the lack of probable cause to search you your house or your car. I will also present any inaccuracies in the police report.
I will aggressively seek a dismissal or a reduction in the charge or the sentence. The district attorney will make an initial offer based on my arguments in your case. At that time I will ask the Judge for another readiness conference to discuss the results of the initial negotiation with you. That court appearance will be set approximately three weeks later.
If you are charged with a felony, I will discuss the offer with you and a preliminary hearing will be set. After that, another Readiness Conference will be set in front of a different Judge.
THE SECOND NEGOTIATION OR READINESS CONFERENCE
After the first negotiation, I will call you to set up an appointment to discuss with you what happened at the Court negotiation and initial offer. We will discuss the positive and negative aspects of the offer and whether the district attorney needs additional information in order to extend a better offer.
The second negotiation will entail all the arguments at the first negotiation and additional arguments and information that the district attorney needed to extend a better offer. A third court appearance is set within three weeks to give me a chance to discuss the offer with you. If you choose not to take the offer at that time, a jury trial will be set. The jury trial will be calendared for approximately a month after the third negotiation.