How The Structure Of The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office Impacts A Criminal Case
When I talk about structure, I'm talking about a District Attorney's office in Los Angeles that's one of the biggest in the world. It prosecutes thousands of crimes every year, has over a thousand deputies, and you have to realize as a criminal defendant and also as a criminal defense attorney that they are set-up like the business.
You have a boss or CEO at the top. They have other people who are assigned to different departments – whether it be sex crimes, violent crimes, major fraud, or investigation of police officers.
There are a whole slew of different departments headed up by DAs, and then you've got the deputies out in the courts prosecuting the cases, conducting preliminary hearings, negotiating the cases, conducting the arraignments, and arguing the bail for the District Attorney's office.
You have to realize it is like a big corporation, and if you don't understand the criminal justice system and structure and how it works as a criminal defense attorney, you will have a really big problem.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen inexperienced criminal defense attorneys come in and think they can resolve the case – believe they can talk their way out of a case – and they end up just getting their client in more hot water because they didn't handle the case the right way.
They needed to come in prepared. They should have realized who they were negotiating against. They needed to learn the strengths and weaknesses of their case. They didn't know that the prosecutors would take an offensive position against their client by doing certain things.
Understanding The Structure of the District Attorney's Office
So, you must understand how the District Attorney's office is set up, its structure, and its power structure. They have a Grade 1, a Grade 2, a Grade 3, a Grade 4, and a Grade 5, and they have the big boss – the head DA. Depending on who you're talking to, some of those District Attorneys have no authority to do anything.
Some defense attorneys come in, and they're talking to a Grade 1 who just started as a DA and has no authority to make an offer, and they're trying to convince them of their case. Waste of time – making their clients look stupid because they are trying to negotiate with somebody who doesn't have the power or the authority to give them what they want.
You have to know that going into the negotiation. You have to understand the hierarchy in the District Attorney's office. Where do you go next if you need help getting something from a Grade 1 prosecutor? What are your choices? You go to their direct supervisor. You go to the court where the case is assigned to.
In other words, if they do the preliminary hearing in a felony case, they already know at the arraignment that many of these cases will end up in trial court. A trial deputy will be in charge of that court, probably a Grade 3, Grade 4, or Grade 5. That person will have the power to make you an offer to settle the case.
Eventually, you're going there to do the preliminary hearing, so sometimes the best move is to go to them. Then you have to figure out what happens if that particular prosecutor is tough, difficult, and hard to work with, and who will try to smash your client?
You don't want to deal with them. So, now you go to the preliminary hearing supervisor who deals with the initial hearings and is their boss. That person may be more reasonable. You may have to go to the number 2 in command.
You might have to go to the head DA. If you don't know the structure or hierarchy of the DA's office and you're trying to resolve serious felony cases in Los Angeles County, forget about it.
Reviewing Your Case For Best Resolution
So, when I meet with a client, we talk about the case, the courthouse, the charge, the client's criminal record, and how this case is going to be resolved.
I am coming with a wealth of knowledge. I worked for the District Attorney's office in 1992 when Ira Reiner was the head DA and Gil Garcetti came in. That's the father of the current Mayor of LA County. I've been dealing with criminal cases since the early 1990s.
I know the political structure. I know the changes in the law that have come into effect, including the three-strikes law, which came into effect in 1993. I know all these different changes—violent felonies, sex crimes, and gun laws.
If you don't know this and the structure of the DA's office, you will have to rely on luck to get a good result. Nobody wants to rely on luck in a criminal case.
It's going to take skill to either win the case, reduce the case, and/or resolve the case through a negotiated plea. One of the big things that you have to have as a criminal defense attorney when it comes to defending your client the right way is knowing the structure.
You must know the business of a District Attorney's office and how to use their size against them. You can get your client in a good position. A lot of times, these guys are unprepared for the bail hearing, the preliminary hearing, and even the trial.
But if you, as a defense attorney, don't know what you're doing and don't know how to handle the case the right way, you may help prepare them. You may get them wiled up and angry, and that's when they start putting extra time in—getting the police involved in the case—and that's when your client is going to have a real problem.
Lawyer To Effectively Negotiate With Prosecutors
So, to defense attorneys – you shouldn't be practicing criminal defense unless you understand the structure of the DA's office in Los Angeles. To defendants – you better find yourself an attorney who knows the ins and outs of LA county, the system, the judges, the prosecutors, how to negotiate cases, how to win cases, and if you're having any problems, come and sit down with me.
Hopefully, I can represent and help you, but if I can't, I can help guide you because I've been doing this for a long time. I know all the good defense attorneys. If you see how the District Attorney's office works and tell me where your case is and which court it's in, that gives me an idea of who the players are that we'll have to deal with.
So, knowing the structure and understanding how the District Attorney's office in Los Angeles operates like a business is a big advantage to a defendant and a criminal defense attorney.
