What can cause you to go to prison for a California Penal Code 459 PC first-degree residential burglary case in Los Angeles County? People are increasingly being charged with residential burglary throughout LA County.
Many find themselves in the unenviable position of staring down a state prison sentence. Not only are you facing prison, but you're also facing a strike on your record that will be there for the rest of your life if you get convicted of first-degree residential burglary.
Of course, the way to avoid this is to hire a great attorney and have the facts on your side to fight the case and get a not-guilty verdict. Otherwise, that attorney will have to figure out how they can negotiate a resolution for you that does not include a prison sentence and preferably a solution that does not include a burglary conviction.
The best way to do this is to first sit down with that attorney and go over all of the facts and circumstances of your case and be honest. A lot of times, what I say, and I've been doing this for over 30 years, defending people for residential burglaries throughout LA county is starting from the end.
Tell me what the police are going to claim you did wrong. Then, I can see as you go through your story how there may be some facts and details that are helpful to you.
Many people start trying to defend themselves right from the beginning as they tell their tale of what happened. I can't understand where the pieces of their puzzle go because I still don't know what the punchline is, what happened, what they're being accused of doing, or what evidence the police might have to prove this burglary case against them.
Criminal Record
The factors that are going to be looked at by the police and prosecutors in determining whether or not somebody goes to prison is, number one, they're going to look at their criminal record.
A clean record puts them in an excellent position to avoid a prison sentence. It's not a foregone conclusion. It depends on the following:
- How many burglaries they were involved with,
- What they took,
- What the sophistication level was of what they did.
Case Circumstances
The second thing after the record is they're going to look at the facts and circumstances of a particular case, such as the following:
- Whose home did you break into?
- Were they present when the burglary took place?
If someone's present, that's a much more dangerous situation than if the person is not home, which would be a factor against you. In fact, instead of it being a severe felony strike, if someone is present, it is a violent felony strike. You would serve 85% of any prison or county jail time you received on the case.
Mitigation Package
After they look at your record and the circumstances of the case, they're going to look at you as a person, assuming your attorney puts together a mitigation package on your behalf that lays out your life, which is all the good things about you, such as the following:
- If you're working,
- If you've got a family,
- If you've got kids,
- If you have done some good things in your life.
We want to inform the judge and prosecutor about that to try to avoid that prison sentence –prevent you from catching a number, going upstate, and having that strike on your record for the rest of your life.
That gives you a thumbnail sketch of what people face regarding residential burglary cases. To avoid a prison sentence, the critical language that the judge and prosecutor look at is, can your defense attorney show unusual circumstances in your case, such that you shouldn't go to prison?
That's when we put that mitigation package together. That's where somebody who has experience comes in to help you with that residential burglary case in Los Angeles County under Penal Code Section 459. You need the best. Pick up the phone now. Ask for a meeting with Ron Hedding. I've worked for the district attorney's office in Los Angeles.
I've worked for a superior court judge in LA County and, most importantly, worked for people like you as a criminal defense attorney since the early 1990's. Pick up the phone now. Make the call. The Hedding Law Firm offers a free case evaluation.
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