Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Felony or Misdemeanor

You had better get an attorney for your son. A felony conviction will haunt him all his life, and the attorney you retain may well be able to beat the charge or have it reduced to a misdemeanor.

Re: Felony or Misdemeanor

The amount of damage is what matters and not the number of people who caused it. It would make no sense to call this particular incident a felony if only one person had done it and a misdemeanor if two or more people were involved -- the damage is the same either way.

Besides, even if what mattered was the dollar amount per defendant your son's share would still probably exceed $400. Your figure of $365 counts only the cost of materials and not the cost of labor; the fact that your son and his friend performed the labor for free does nothing to change the value of the work that was required. If these two kids had not been caught the church would have surely spent more than $800 on repairs, and it makes no sense to say that catching the vandals converted what had been a felony into a misdemeanor.

You need a good lawyer for your son, and his friend may need a separate lawyer; after all, one (or both) of them may need to argue that the other is more culpable, and no attorney can make such an argument against one of his clients on behalf of another.