What’s the difference between a Felony and a Misdemeanor?
Misdemeanors are crimes that are punishable by a maximum of one year in the county jail. Felonies are offenses that are punishable in the State Prison by more than one year. Misdemeanors are commonly crimes such as DUI, Petty Theft, and Domestic Violence. Violent crimes and Sex Crimes are commonly Felonies.
What’s a Wobbler?
A wobbler is a crime that could be either a Felony or a Misdemeanor. An example is Grand Theft or Burglary. An experienced criminal defense attorney can request that your felony wobbler be reduced to a misdemeanor.
What are “Strike” cases?
A “Strike” offense is any felony that is serious or violent in nature. Some examples of “Strikes” are Residential Burglary, Robbery, or Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
Anyone with a strike on their record, who picks up a new felony, has his sentence doubled and is no longer eligible for probation. That means you are facing not only state prison but twice as long.
Anyone with 2 prior strike convictions, who picks up any felony will face 25 years to life in State prison. This is true even if your prior strikes happened years ago.
Is there anything we can do about “strikes”?
Absolutely. If you have prior strikes on your record, they can be stricken (dismissed) by a ROMERO motion. This motion urges the judge to dismiss your prior strike for reasons such as 1) not a valid strike 2) changed circumstances 3) interests of justice.
Attorney Anthony Arzili has extensive experience with strikes cases and motions to dismiss strikes.
What are some alternatives to jail time?
Depending on the specifics of your case and court, alternatives to jail are house arrest (also known as E.M.S.), work release, community service, tree farm, community labor/cal-trans, work release, rehabilitation, private jail and local city jail.