Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

shooting at an inhibited dwelling

I will try to make this brief and descriptive. I have a friend who got busted for a pound of meth and a few guns, It turns out that it was an illegal search and the case gets dismissed, but he had a warrent in another county for negligent discharge of a firearm, shooting at an inhibited dwelling, possesion of burglery tools and vandilisim. Now, my question is, because it says that shooting at an inhibited dwelling is not less than 6 months or more than a year in county, or 3 5 or 7 in prison, and he already has 9 months already served in county, How much more time do you think he will do? He has pled not guilty, there was no evidence except for bulletholes, and his brother said that he did it. He is now waiting for them to give him a deal, and has to wait another month for a court date for that.Do you think that it will be ran concurrent with the time already served, or is it just all up to the judge? if you don't have any fingerprints or solid evidence, and it's just his word against his brothers how can they say for sure it was him!!! thank you for your time and cooperation. I hope it wasn't too much to ask

sincerely,

ronnee


Asked on 2/06/05, 1:23 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: shooting at an inhibited dwelling

It sounds like the time your friend already served was on an unrelated incident, and that it was not even in the same county as the case now pending against him. If that is so, his sentence on the new charges will not be made concurrent with the other sentence.

You have not provided enough information to assess the strength of the case against him. If he actually *told* his brother that he shot the house then that will be very strong evidence and will support a conviction. If his brother is just speculating then his testimony will have no value at all.

It is difficult to say what kind of sentence your friend will receive. Remember that he is facing three charges; the options you listed are for one of those charges but he might get additional time for the others. Also, the prosecutor might let him plead guilty to lesser charges instead.

Then again, she might not. You should not expect anyone to go easy on this man. You say he was caught with an entire *pound* of methamphetamine, which makes him a relatively major player in his local network of drug dealers. He is fortunate indeed that this evidence was suppressed, since he would likely have never seen the light of day again after being convicted on those charges.

The police and prosecutors know who he is and what he does, and they will do everything they can to maximize the time he spends behind bars. Don't be surprised if they decide not to offer him a deal at all and just take their chances at trial.

Finally, I suggest you take a long, hard look at how you select your friends.

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Answered on 2/07/05, 1:32 pm


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