For those people who are charged with California Penal Code 311 PC child pornography, they're looking for a way out, trying to figure out how they can avoid a lengthy prison sentence and a lifetime of registration as a sex offender.
The first step is to figure out what route you're going to take – whether it's going to be a route where you're fighting the case or it's going to be a scenario where your attorney is trying to negotiate the case for you by way of a mitigation package, character letters, maybe some psychological evaluation that assess whether or not you are a danger to the community.
To make this evaluation, you must hire a seasoned criminal defense attorney familiar with defending child pornography cases. So I began protecting people like you, going down the road you're about to take to defend a child pornography case.
Review of the Evidence
When we use the word defense, that doesn't necessarily mean we will fight, as we need to do the following:
- We will first have to assess the strength of the case against you;
- We'll look at what the charge or charges are;
- We'll see what the elements are that the prosecutors have to prove by way of looking at the jury instructions for those particular crimes, and
- We're going to evaluate the evidence honestly.
That's why I need you to talk to me, tell me your side of the story and what the other side will claim you did because we have to start there.
If I don't know what you're being accused of, assessing how we can defend the case is complex. So I need to know what they're saying you did, specifically.
Not just the charges, but what are they saying that you did that amounts to the charges you're being accused of?
Review of the Potential Defenses
Once we have that, we need to discuss your defenses. Then, it will make more sense, and I can properly evaluate and use my years of experience to help you decide which roadmap to defend yourself.
Once we decide that, then the piece will fall into place. Suppose we determine that the roadmap will be that we will mitigate the case and try to get you the lowest possible charge, keep you out of prison and jail, and limit the effects of the case.
Then we can assemble a mitigation package and sit down and discuss what happened in the case or do a psychological evaluation.
This is where we can assess whether or not you are the type of person that would do this type of crime again or some other crime involving children because that's really what the judge and prosecutor are concerned about when they are looking at somebody who is charged with child pornography. So they only have to look at precisely what you did. Such as the following:
- How many images were involved?
- Were there videos involved?
- Was there a situation where you would visit with the child?
Once you enter that realm, they start to get serious about the punishment they will exact against you.
So, if you need the best, you've come to the right place. We can go over your case. We can talk about it. We can strategize it and set a course to get you out of the criminal justice system as quickly as possible. So, pick up the phone now. Ask for a meeting with Ron Hedding.