Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: co-defendant turns state witness

The co-defendant who agrees to testify usually gets a deal under which he pleads guilty to something less than the charges he initially faced and receives a sentence lighter than the maximum he might have faced had he not agreed to testify.

There is no way to say what "usually" happens to the other defendant. The jury may convict him, acquit him or hang, in which case the prosecution may or may not decide to try him again. Most criminal defendants are convicted of at least some portion of the charges against them, but there is no way to say how the testimony of a former co-defendant will affect a case without knowing quite a bit about the facts and the charges.

Re: co-defendant turns state witness

Somebody goes to jail, and somebody gets a 'deal'. Time for somebody to get good counsel to try to stay out of jail. Feel free to contact me if serious about doing so, and this is in SoCal.