Recently, at the Pasadena, Los Angeles County Superior court, Mr. Escovar represented a client accused of violating Penal Code sections 273.5 and 243(e)(1). The first charge involved alleged battery with injury on a spouse or amorous cohabitant, and the second involved battery on a cohabitant without injury. In this particular case there was evidence that our client committed the alleged acts, which included admissions, witness statements and Officer Body Worn Camera (BWC) videos.
However, whether the person committed the alleged act is only part of the analysis in defending a criminal case. Factors that the prosecution will consider include, the egregiousness of the conduct, input from the complaining witness and the suspects criminal history and personal background. We presented an equities packet relating all the relevant information that we could gather. Once the prosecution reviewed the information, they did their “Due Diligence” and we were able to negotiate a resolution named “Prosecutor’s Informal Diversion”. This entails continuing the case for several months, while the client completes certain conditions and obeys all laws. Once the conditions and terms are completed the case is completely dismissed per Penal Code section 1385. In this case we resolved the case with No guilty plea and no conviction!
