Under California law, as amended by the voters in 1994, anyone who has been convicted of or plead guilty to 2 or more serious or violent felonies (including rape, robbery, arson, murder, residential burglary, kidnapping etc.) and subsequently is convicted of another felony will be subject to the three strikes laws sentencing mandate 25 years to life. It is crucially important that a qualified Orange County three strikes defense attorney is hired to help that person out. I have often been able to persuade the courts to strike strikes and save clients from very long prison terms. A variety of factors can influence the courts decision to strike a strike. If the defendant’s two prior strikes occurred in the same complaint, prior strikes were very old, if the harm or loss in the prior cases was minimal or non-existent, the court may decide that the defendant doesn’t deserve 25 years to life and may strike one or more of the prior strikes. I have had cases where the district attorney has agreed to strike both of the prior strikes and give the defendant a grant of probation so the client could attend drug rehabilitation.

If someone has been convicted of a prior serious or violent felony, and is convicted of a new felony, he or she can expect to serve 80% of his or her sentence, if sentenced to prison. Orange County Criminal Defense attorney has been very successful in obtaining probation for clients in this situation. If the defendant is charged and convicted of a second strike case (serious or violent felony) they will have to serve 80% of custody time and the DA will often add a 5 year enhancement for the commission of a new serious or violent felony after a previous conviction of the same period. Our office has been successful in persuading the DA to dismiss the 5-year enhancement on numerous cases.

The basis for three strikes law in California grew out of a frustration of the voters over repeat offenders being given short sentences for new crimes. The voters believed that if the offenders could simply be locked away, logically they could not re offend. Unfortunately, the costs of incarcerating people are climbing and California, like many states, has seen an aging prison population with increasing heath costs.

In cases where the third strike is a drug offense, I have been very successful in obtaining treatment instead of prison for my clients. Of course, all this depends on the client’s willingness to succeed in treatment as well as the cooperation of the DA and the courts.

Please call me @ 949.474.8008 for a no-cost consultation.