Rancho Cucamonga criminal defense attorney.

Arraignment is the first court appearance. The charges are formally read (usually waived) and you enter a plea, almost always not guilty at this stage. The court then addresses custody status and bail. Future dates are set: a pre-trial or settlement conference, and for felonies a preliminary hearing. It is short, often under five minutes, and it is not the moment your case is decided. What matters is that counsel is there, that discovery is formally requested, and that nothing is conceded before anyone has read the file.

Sometimes, and it depends entirely on the evidence. The realistic avenues are the stop itself (was there reasonable suspicion?), the administration of field sobriety tests, the calibration and maintenance records of the breath instrument, blood draw chain of custody, and rising-blood-alcohol arguments where the timeline supports them. Outcomes range from dismissal through reduction to a “wet reckless” under Vehicle Code § 23103.5, to a negotiated first-offense disposition. Remember also that the DMV administrative hearing is a separate proceeding with its own deadline: generally ten days from arrest to request it, or the license suspension proceeds automatically.

A misdemeanor in California carries a maximum of one year in county jail; a felony can carry state prison. Many California offenses are “wobblers”. They may be charged either way, and can sometimes be reduced from felony to misdemeanor under Penal Code § 17(b), either at the preliminary hearing stage or at sentencing. Whether a wobbler stays a felony is frequently the single most consequential negotiation in a case, because it determines firearm rights, professional licensing exposure, and how the conviction reads to every future employer.

Often, yes. Penal Code § 1203.4 allows many convictions to be dismissed once probation has been completed successfully and there is no open case. The record is not erased, but the conviction is set aside and the case dismissed, and for most private employment applications you may lawfully answer that you have not been convicted. Certain offenses are excluded, among them particular sex offenses and some serious felonies. Related relief includes reduction of a wobbler under § 17(b), early termination of probation, and Certificates of Rehabilitation. A consultation can establish quickly which of these are open to you.

Not without counsel present. This is not evasive advice and it is not an admission of anything. It is the single most reliable way to avoid making a difficult case worse. Officers are permitted to be untruthful about the evidence they hold. A statement given in good faith to clear things up becomes a transcript that follows the case to trial, and inconsistencies in it will be read to a jury. You may state that you wish to remain silent and that you want a lawyer. Then do exactly that.

It varies with charge, complexity and how far the matter is likely to travel. A first-offense misdemeanor resolved before trial and a contested felony with expert witnesses are not comparable pieces of work. This firm quotes flat fees where scope is genuinely predictable and hourly rates where it is not, and the arrangement is put in writing before any work begins. The initial consultation is $150 for thirty minutes or $225 for an hour, and you will leave it with a real number rather than a range.

It can, and these consequences are frequently more damaging than the sentence itself. Certain convictions carry immigration consequences including removability and inadmissibility, and a plea that looks favorable in criminal court can be catastrophic in immigration court. Similarly, nursing, teaching, real estate, contracting, commercial driving and alcoholic beverage licenses all carry reporting duties and discipline exposure. Raise these at the first meeting. They change which dispositions are acceptable, and they have to shape the negotiation from the start rather than be discovered afterwards.