Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

He needs a competent attorney, not some free hints and tips given to a friend that can't use them anyway without being an attorney.

The advice to him is: If you don't know how to represent yourself effectively against an experienced prosecutor intending to convict, then hire an attorney who does, who will try to get a charge reduction, or other decent outcome through motions, plea bargain, or take it to trial if appropriate. If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, feel free to contact me. If he can't afford private counsel, he should apply to the PD.

That's not what a Cruz waiver or Vargas waiver is.

A Cruz waiver is a plea agreement, in which a defendant agrees that should she or he fail to appear at sentencing, a greater term can be imposed by the sentencing court. Defendant must be fully advised of, and waive, right to withdraw plea under Penal Code section 1192.7. (People v. Cruz (1988) 44 Cal.3d 1247; People v. Vargas (1990) 223 Cal.App.3d 1107.)