Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: drastic changes in charges

No.

I hope your friend has a lawyer. If the case against him really is weak, the lawyer will have a far better chance of beating it than would your friend on his own. He would also be in a better position to evaluate the deal being offered.

One more point: You say your friend is facing two felony charges, but you also say he is being prosecuted by the city attorney. The city attorney usually prosecutes only misdemeanor cases. If that is really the office handling this case, it's possible that the charges aren't felonies after all -- and that the deal you describe is thus less generous than you seem to think.

Re: drastic changes in charges

Here is my uptake of this situation. Your friend hit on a jackpot of discovery. When the D.A. looked into the items he requested, he saw a problem. So he reduced the charges and came up with a tempting offer to try and get a conviction anyway.

He doesn't have to explain why he reduced the charges, and if he did he sure as heck would never say, "Because I discovered he was framed by the police", so don't bother pursuing that.

Instead, put off any plea decision and push to get the original documents he wanted. When he gets them, THEY will answer why they reduced the charges. Sounds like what should happen is a dismissal, and it may happen after those documents are out in the open. Good luck to him.

For further information on criminal investigations, he can see

http://dinday.com/info04.htm

Re: drastic changes in charges

A competent attorney will sniff out signs of weakness in the prosecution's case and act accordingly. Your attorney should have already obtained the police logs, etc.

Usually a drastic downward move in the offer should redouble your attorney's efforts to gain a total acquittal. In other words, don't plead guilty, and if you think you might have a civil case for damages against the police for planting evidence, consult an attorney with specific experience in police misconduct litigation.

All this assumes you do not have a public defender. If you do, good luck with your guilty plea, community service and criminal record.