Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

You should have a lawyer. If you cannot afford one the judge will appoint a lawyer to represent you. The court will either take you into custody or it will OR you and order you to come back on a future date. If it takes you into custody it will set bail as long as you are not on probation. If you have not been arrested in the past seven years that should work for you. Your best bet, if there is a public defender in the courtroom, is to arrive early and talk to the public defender before court.

Without knowing more details there is not much more I can say.

Good luck.

The honest answer is that no attorney can predict the outcome, nor even give an intelligent opinion, without reviewing and knowing all the charges, evidence, police reports, expected testimony, priors history, defenses, sympathies, etc. Nobody can tell you what is going to happen, only that the potential penalties include jail time and fines. And, no amount of free 'tips and hints' from here or elsewhere are going to effectively help in a legal defense. 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 dismissal, charge reduction, diversion, programs, or other decent outcome through motions, plea bargain, or take it to trial if appropriate. If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me. I�ll be happy to help fight and get the best outcome possible, using whatever defenses and sympathies there may be.