For a sample of some of our sexual offenses, click on the following case summaries to read a detailed description of each case.
The above results should not be seen as guarantees of specific results in your particular case because no two cases have the exact same facts, the same prosecutor and the same judge. However, these results should give the reader a general idea of how such cases proceed and what facts are considered most heavily, while what other facts are regarded as collateral or less determinative.
Each of these cases involve a victim, often horribly traumatized and other times, of dubious credibility herself or himself. It is up to us, as the client’s attorney, to take utmost care in how we characterize this person when speaking to detectives and the prosecutor. Sometimes, the detective may have his or her own doubts about the victim’s credibility and motivation.
When there is no rape kit as evidence of the alleged harm, the case really can become a “he said, she said” type of case. When this is a fair description, we often recommend that the client submit to a polygraph test. In law school and in academia in general, such tests are scoffed at as having dubious reliability and no evidentiary value as “junk science.”
However, polygraph results can be helpful at the early stage of a case when one is dealing with only a law enforcement agency. Law enforcement in many counties must pass a lie detector test to become a police officer or a sheriff. In addition, when there is a complaint of misconduct by an officer, many departments immediately place the police officer under oath and strap the officer to a polygraph machine to resolve doubt. Therefore, officers do appreciate a polygraph test more than one might think. If nothing else, in the overall analysis of competing credibility between the victim and our client, such results can tip the scale toward the officer recommending against filing charges.
When fault is clear, in contrast, the issues change to primarily one: damage control. Our office prides itself on being staffed with enough manpower to prepare a thorough “Defense Position Letter and Mitigation Packet” that the client deserves. Such a letter will address the client’s good reputation in the community, his family responsibilities, his accomplishments and his high capacity for rehabilitation. We like to assemble such a letter with great care to inspire a reciprocal, careful response from the prosecution.
If the client has a STATIC 99 report done on himself, assuming the score is low, we like to add that to the analysis in arguing for a plea bargain that avoids registration under Penal Code § 290 and avoids prison, or even custody at all, if possible.