Bench Warrant, Van Nuys, Solicitation of Prostitution

In 2013, our client was arrested on Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys and taken to the police station for solicitation of prostitution (Penal Code § 647(b)) and loitering for purposes of prostitution (Penal Code § 653.22(a)).  She was booked and then release after signing a promise to appear in the Van Nuys Superior Court in about two months.

Our client was living in Las Vegas at the time and immediately went back there, never appearing in the Van Nuys Superior Court as she promised.  The judge presiding the department there for our client’s arraignment then issued a bench warrant for $30,000.

Fast forward to the year 2022 and our client was living in Long Island, New York and managing a home health care program in one of the cities on Long Island.  She was doing much better in life and had finished her bachelor’s degree at DeVry University in New York City.  She had also enrolled in an online nursing program at Columbia University and was enrolled in an MBA program at Stony Brook University. 

As part of the nursing program, she had to undergo a background check to participate in part of the program in a hospital.  During this background check, she was notified of a bench warrant for her out of the Van Nuys Superior Court.

The client then called Greg Hill & Associates and spoke with Greg Hill about the 2013 arrest and her life since that time.

Greg explained that under a recent change in California law, under Senate Bill 357, loitering for purposes of prostitution, Penal Code § 653.22(a), was abolished as a crime.  So, our client just faced one charge and Greg explained how he expected the bench warrant to be handled.

Greg warned the client that normally, recalled and quashing (or setting aside) a bench warrant on a misdemeanor is not a big deal, but for one judge in Van Nuys, he demanded that the defendant appear in person, even if she or he lived out of state.  He was the only judge we knew who required this on a misdemeanor bench warrant for even very minor offenses.

The client then retained Greg Hill & Associates and Greg appeared in the Van Nuys Court a few days later.  Greg had the client’s case added to the court calendar and the matter was assigned to a judge upstairs from the second floor clerk’s office.

Greg went up to the courtroom and luckily, the judge was not the strict one mentioned above.  Instead, it was another judge who recalled the warrant without even asking why our client failed to show up for court in 2013.

The case was then reassigned to another judge for pretrial hearings and it was the “tough judge,” but since the bench warrant was no longer pending, he could not assert that requirement on the client.

Greg then discussed the case with the handling Los Angeles City Attorney, who dismissed the Penal Code § 653.22(a) charge due to Senate Bill 357 and agreed to dismiss the 647(b) charge if our client did an AIDS and HIV test in New York and had a discussion with her doctor about the dangers of prostitution.

Since our client worked in the health care field, she was familiar with where to get such a test for free in New York City (there were many places) and she just had a short chat about the health risks of prostitution with one of the doctors she regularly interacted with.  The doctor then signed a short letter stating that he and our client had this discussion.

Greg then returned to the Van Nuys Superior Court about two months later and, with the AIDS / HIV blood results in a sealed envelope, had the judge there open the envelope to view the results and the prosecutor noted the letter from our client’s doctor.

Many clients ask what happens it the blood results show a positive result for HIV or AIDS.  The answer is that the judge then orders the Los Angels Department of Health to contact our client and try to find out where he or she contracted the virus and who he or she had sexual relations with thereafter.  The client does not fail diversion either.

In our case, this was not an issue and the case was dismissed.  The client was happy with this result.

For more information about bench warrants, please click on the following articles: