Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

I'm pretty sure you made a typo and your brother entered a "not guilty" plea. A defendant can't enter a guilty plea to a felony without an attorney, unless he specifically gives up his right to counsel.

He won't be getting out of jail before his next court date unless he posts bail, or his attorney files a motion for release which is granted. I assume the 9/21 date is a preliminary hearing, where the judge will hear an abbreviated version of the evidence and decide whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial.

Penal Code 243(d) is assault with serious bodily injury. It is a wobbler, meaning it can be charged as a felony or misdemeanor. A felony conviction can result in a prison term of up to four years. The DA could also charge a special allegation of use of a dangerous or deadly weapon, which would add a year to that.

Of course, every case is different and the outcome isn't necessarily the maximum prison term. Your brother could wind up with probation, a misdemeanor conviction. a dismissal or even a not guilty verdict.

Does five staples constitute "serious bodily injury?" That's a question for a jury to answer. I got a not guilty verdict on a third strike case in 2007 where the jury decided that the injuries weren't serious, despite two victims who received stitches.

Your brother needs a good lawyer. If he can't afford to hire a private attorney, I assume he has already been appointed a public defender.

A guilty plea means the case is over. Obviously he pled not guilty, and there is a PreTrial hearing coming up. He can get out by posting bail, which I don't recommend as it uses money he could otherwise apply to hire an attorney. If he has no money to do so, he needs to apply for the Public Defender. The police and DA filed charges after concluding they could convict him. They don't do so, only to 'drop' the charges because the defendant wants them to. The attorney's mission is to either take the case to trial, or get a negotiated plea bargain using whatever facts, evidence, witnesses, sympathies, there are, including the father's desire not to prosecute. If serious about getting counsel, feel free to contact me; I've been doing this for a long time.