Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

The thing you need to do before court is to retain an attorney well in advance of your first court date. DO NOT talk to the prosecuting attorney or the judge by yourself. You have no criminal record. Be smart and keep it that way.

This is not some do-it-yourself project, like fixing a leaky faucet, that you can handle yourself with a little advice from the Internet. You need an attorney to assist you.

If you can't afford to hire your own lawyer, the judge will appoint one at your first court date.

You should not be talking with ANYONE about this case except your lawyer. That includes trying to gather your own witness statements. Your lawyer will have a private investigator handle that part of the case.

I have seen many cases where people tried to talk their way out of criminal charges, but wound up giving the prosecution a stronger case instead. If you hire an attorney now, your lawyer may be able to convince the District Attorney not to file charges, or file something less serious.

Penal Code 243(d), assault with serious injury, can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor. As a misdemeanor, it carries up to a year in jail; as a felony, it carries a maximum prison sentence of four years and is a "strike" under the Three Strikes law.

If you don't know how to effectively represent yourself in court against a professional prosecutor seeking to convict you and put you in prison or jail, then hire a criminal defense attorney that does. No amount of hints or tips here is going to make you effective. The only worthwhile advice I can give here is to exercise your 5th Amendment rights to SHUT UP, and say nothing to anyone but your attorney. Have you not heard TV cops say 'everything you say can and will be used against you'? If you are serious about hiring counsel, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me. If you can't afford private counsel, apply for the Public Defender.