Legal Question in Criminal Law in California
I appeared in court as the Defendent in a case accusing me of one count of sexual battery ( a misdemeanor in CA). Was assigned a Public Defender. The case was basically "he said - she said". The trial ended with a hung jury. Plea bargained down and ended all further proceedings with my "no contest" to lesser charge.
Is there a way to make the Plaintiff pay my court fees, since I was not convicted? All in all, amounts to about $3000.
2 Answers from Attorneys
No. In part that's because you're wrong about not having been convicted. A no-contest plea results in a conviction.
Even if you had been acquitted or the case had been dismissed, you could not recover whatever costs you have in mind. The complaining witness does not have to reimburse the defendant when he isn't convicted. Such a requirement would be grotesquely unjust. And you could not successfully sue her either, since police reports and statements made during the course of litigation are privileged.
The most that could happen is that she could be prosecuted for filing a false police report or for committing perjury. Such a conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt not only that the report and/or testimony was incorrect, but that the complaining witness *knew* it was incorrect at the time. That seems very unlikely to happen, since the authorities obviously believe she was telling the truth and since your plea admits that there was at least some merit to her reports. Besides, nothing you have written suggests that even you believe she willfully made any false statements.
In a criminal case, the plaintiff is the People of the State of California. I'm assuming you mean the victim. I agree with Mr. Hoffman's response in that you do not have a result in your favor, because no contest is the same as a conviction.
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