Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

My ex was arrested on 03/09/10 on three charges. felony possesion of a controlled sbstance, felony attempted theft with a prior, and misdemenor possesion of paraphanelia. he is currently in jail. when he was arrested he was on probation for threats to me and petty theft, which he had pled guilty for on 12/28/09 so he could be released with time served. What is the likelyhood that he could get some serious jail time?

Also, he has a pretrial hearing on 3/18/10 and a preliminary hearing on 3/25/10. What do these hearings mean?


Asked on 3/16/10, 3:24 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

The hearings are part of the process leading to either a trial or a plea bargain, just like every defendant. He faces potential prison time with enhancement under '3 strikes' rules, so you should get him an attorney to help defend against the charges and to try to obtain a good 'deal' for him. If serious about doing so, feel free to contact me. If he can't afford private counsel, he should apply to the Public Defender.

Read more
Answered on 3/21/10, 4:24 pm
Joe Dane Law Office of Joe Dane

The 3/18 date is a pretrial - to see if there is a chance to settle the case by plea bargain or to reset the future dates.

The 3/25 date is a preliminary hearing. The DA has to put on enough evidence to convince a judge to hold him for trial. It's a fairly low burden of proof, but they can be beat.

The charges are enough to potentially land him in state prison, but I'd have to know the details and his entire record in order to fully assess the situation.

The new charges can also be increased by any probation violation time they want to try and tack on top of the current case.

Read more
Answered on 3/23/10, 5:38 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in California