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Two Convictions for Violating a Restraining Order Expunged
In 2018, our client, then 43, was going through a rough patch with his wife, who was having an affair. Our client was trying to preserve the family for the couple’s two young kids, but his good faith efforts backfired on him.
In the first case, in May 2018, the Torrance Police Department arrested him on suspicion of committing four misdemeanors, arising out of a civil protective order our client’s wife had obtained against our client in an earlier domestic violence case where he was convicted of domestic violence. Our client had gone over to his wife’s house for a birthday party for one of his children and was told to leave by his wife, but he refused and the police were called.
The Torrance City Prosecutors’ Office later charged him in a criminal complaint with two counts of violating Penal Code § 273.6(a) (violation of a criminal protective order issued in a criminal case for domestic violence) and two counts of violating Penal Code § 166(a)(4) (violation of a court order arising out of the same criminal case). However, when the case resolved through a plea bargain, the City Prosecutor dismissed three counts and our client pleaded no contest to just one count of violating Penal Code § 166(a)(4).
The terms of the plea bargain were that our client was placed on three years of summary probation on the following terms and conditions: payment of a court fine of $720 (this includes the $500 contribution to a battered women’s shelter); enrollment in and completion in a 52-week domestic violence treatment program (also called a batterer’s program); performance of eight hours of community service, payment of a domestic violence fund of $500 and service of two days in Los Angeles County Jail, less credit for two days.
In the second criminal complaint, the underlying facts were that our client went back over to the same house the very next day after he called his daughter and she did not answer his calls. The client became concerned about her safety, so he went over to the house and literally witnessed his wife engaging in sexual intercourse with a man our client did not know.
Our client was extremely angry at his wife for having such a relationship because of the influence this would have on their children and told his wife this. The wife tried to push our client out of the house and our client resisted her efforts. The wife then called the police and our client was arrested again for violation of 166(a)(4), as well as Penal Code § 242 (“battery”) and § 243(e)(1) (“battery upon a spouse or former spouse, girlfriend or someone with whom one shares a child”), even though our client was merely acting in self-defense.
The Torrance City Prosecutor’s Office then charged our client in a second, separate complaint for such violations and after nine months of negotiating, our office resolved the second case, also for one count of violating Penal Code § 166(a)(4).
The terms of the plea bargain in the second case were the same as in the first case and the prosecutor permitted our client to get credit for one 52 week batterer’s program for both cases.
Our client complied with all terms and conditions of probation in each case, which ended in April 2022 after probation had been revoked and reinstated several times due to our client having difficulty performing eight hours of community service, which was ultimately deemed completed by applying time in custody he had credit for serving.
However, to do so, Greg had to ask the judge to issue an order nun pro tunc (back in time) to revoke probation so our client could have more time to complete eight hours of community service in one case because otherwise, his probation had ended without his completion of the community service.
Completing probation was critical for our client so he could have each conviction expunged because he was a state-licensed wealth advisor and asset manager at a large bank and without expungement, his license to work would be suspended. This would then mean he would be unemployed and unable to make his child support payments.
Our office then filed petitions for dismissal of the complaint (“expungement”) in each case and the judge granted each petition, thereby allowing our client to avoid suspension of his securities license and allowing him to keep his well-paying job (seven figures annually) in an industry he had worked in for over thirty years.
In the first case, in May 2018, the Torrance Police Department arrested him on suspicion of committing four misdemeanors, arising out of a civil protective order our client’s wife had obtained against our client in an earlier domestic violence case where he was convicted of domestic violence. Our client had gone over to his wife’s house for a birthday party for one of his children and was told to leave by his wife, but he refused and the police were called.
The Torrance City Prosecutors’ Office later charged him in a criminal complaint with two counts of violating Penal Code § 273.6(a) (violation of a criminal protective order issued in a criminal case for domestic violence) and two counts of violating Penal Code § 166(a)(4) (violation of a court order arising out of the same criminal case). However, when the case resolved through a plea bargain, the City Prosecutor dismissed three counts and our client pleaded no contest to just one count of violating Penal Code § 166(a)(4).
The terms of the plea bargain were that our client was placed on three years of summary probation on the following terms and conditions: payment of a court fine of $720 (this includes the $500 contribution to a battered women’s shelter); enrollment in and completion in a 52-week domestic violence treatment program (also called a batterer’s program); performance of eight hours of community service, payment of a domestic violence fund of $500 and service of two days in Los Angeles County Jail, less credit for two days.
In the second criminal complaint, the underlying facts were that our client went back over to the same house the very next day after he called his daughter and she did not answer his calls. The client became concerned about her safety, so he went over to the house and literally witnessed his wife engaging in sexual intercourse with a man our client did not know.
Our client was extremely angry at his wife for having such a relationship because of the influence this would have on their children and told his wife this. The wife tried to push our client out of the house and our client resisted her efforts. The wife then called the police and our client was arrested again for violation of 166(a)(4), as well as Penal Code § 242 (“battery”) and § 243(e)(1) (“battery upon a spouse or former spouse, girlfriend or someone with whom one shares a child”), even though our client was merely acting in self-defense.
The Torrance City Prosecutor’s Office then charged our client in a second, separate complaint for such violations and after nine months of negotiating, our office resolved the second case, also for one count of violating Penal Code § 166(a)(4).
The terms of the plea bargain in the second case were the same as in the first case and the prosecutor permitted our client to get credit for one 52 week batterer’s program for both cases.
Our client complied with all terms and conditions of probation in each case, which ended in April 2022 after probation had been revoked and reinstated several times due to our client having difficulty performing eight hours of community service, which was ultimately deemed completed by applying time in custody he had credit for serving.
However, to do so, Greg had to ask the judge to issue an order nun pro tunc (back in time) to revoke probation so our client could have more time to complete eight hours of community service in one case because otherwise, his probation had ended without his completion of the community service.
Completing probation was critical for our client so he could have each conviction expunged because he was a state-licensed wealth advisor and asset manager at a large bank and without expungement, his license to work would be suspended. This would then mean he would be unemployed and unable to make his child support payments.
Our office then filed petitions for dismissal of the complaint (“expungement”) in each case and the judge granted each petition, thereby allowing our client to avoid suspension of his securities license and allowing him to keep his well-paying job (seven figures annually) in an industry he had worked in for over thirty years.
This summary is offered to show how a creative solution to our client’s probation violation was applied to preserve our client’s career and income. Greg’s suggestion to the judge to issue an order revoking probation months earlier was something neither the judge nor the prosecutor had ever seen before and Greg suggested this without the benefit of seeing some other attorney do so previously. Greg arrived at such a solution, which worked for our client, after a sleepless night of trying to find a solution for the client, which he did.
For more information about expungement, please click on the following articles:
