Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Solicitation

Hire a lawyer, and he or she will go to court for you, without you having to be there, and the case will be postponed. Simple as that. Maybe the lawyer can arrange things such that you never have to appear in court at all.

Or, you could go to court yourself on any day at 8:30 AM -sharp-, tell the clerk you want to "advance and continue" the arraignment until some later date (have a date in mind). The clerk will tell you what courtroom to go to, and you will get to go before a judge, at which time you say, Good morning Your Honor, may name is so-and-so, and I will be out of town on such-and-such a date, I am looking for a lawyer to represent me, and I would like to advance and continue the arraignment until (date). Say -nothing else-. Not one $&@#% word.

However, I would not recommend this course of action to you, since you seem to be a complete idiot. You would like to plead guilty right away, without knowing what sentence you will receive, or whether there are any legal defenses to your case. Do you feel like doing a year in county jail? Don't assume you will get probation or some counseling program just because you pled guilty. Also, if you appear before a judge without a lawyer, you might (probably will) inadvertently say or do something to foul up your situation even more than it already is. Criminal cases are serious business and mistakes can haunt you the rest of your life. I would hire a lawyer, immediately.

Since you are free on bail or on your own recognizance, it is in your interest to have the case postponed and dragged out as long as possible. Don't be in such a damn hurry to plead guilty. You might well regret it later.

Re: Solicitation

A misdemeanor defendant does not have to appear personally at his arraignment and may send his lawyer to enter a not guilty plea for him. Note that the person who attends in your place *must* be a lawyer -- you can't just have a friend do this for you (unless he happens to be an attorney).

You cannot keep this off your record, but in time you may be able to get it expunged. An expungement will remove the information from your public record, but law enforcement agencies will always be able to find it and so will some very comprehensive background checks.

"Sexual addiction" therapy is not likely to help you here. Actual sex addiction is quite rare (if it really exists at all), and most people charged with solicitation don't have it. You can't escape prosecution just by saying these two words and get therapy instead. Even if you actually are a sex addict, your condition does not excuse your crime unless it led to actual insanity.

Within the past few years California has started a diversion program for minor drug offenses to help people deal with their addictions instead of going to prison, but these programs are not available to people who claim sex addiction. If they were, people would also start claiming theft addiction, assault addiction, embezzlement addiction, and so on.

As for the judge being lenient, few judges would throw the book at a first-time defendant in a case involving a relatively minor crime like this one. Unless there is something unusual about your case or you get a particularly harsh judge, you will probably not be jailed for this.

Re: Solicitation

sometimes stings are done against certain laws. you should have your counsel review cases where certain stings were not judicially sanctioned.

Re: Solicitation

Fortunately we have handled may cases just like yours. Your attorney may appear in court instead of you having to show up. We may be able to get this case dismissed or lowered to another crime. Please call me tomorrow at (818) 313-6870.