Believe it or not, there's a lot of action at the federal level in San Diego related to federal criminal cases. Probably one of the biggest reasons for it is that it's near the border, so there's a lot of drugs moving in and out of the border. There's a lot of other activity that surrounds the drug cases. If you have a matter in one of the San Diego federal courthouses, there are some essential things to consider.
One, I would say, in general, is that the federal and even the state courts are conservative so that they will be tough on crime. But if you have a drug-related offense, they have something they call a fast-track, which means that you can get four levels off your sentence by way of a departure for resolving your case quickly.
Of course, specific rules are attached to that, but interestingly, a jurisdiction very close to San Diego — Los Angeles — does not have that same fast-track ability, especially in a drug crime charge. The reason they are doing that is they have so many drugs moving through the border that if they don't do that, their cases are just going to get stacked up. So, you can get that fast track by acting quickly.
Of course, they're going to have to prove the case against you before you're going to agree to any fast-track and a resolution in the case.
That's where you want to sit down with your federal criminal defense attorney, talk about the jurisdiction in San Diego where your case is pending, and make an informed decision as to whether or not you're going to try and work out a plea negotiation or file some motion in one of the San Diego federal courts or fight the case at the jury trial level and try to get a not-guilty verdict.
Experienced Federal Defense Lawyer
So, suppose you have a San Diego federal criminal defense case. In that case, you're going to want to talk to somebody who has experience with these courts, knows how the prosecutors deal with the cases, knows how the judges are typically sentenced on a particular type of charge that you're charged with, and who also knows how to evaluate whether you've got a good motion that you might be able to file in your San Diego federal case that could either put you in a better position — charge-wise — or even get the case dismissed outright.
It's obviously not easy to win a motion at the federal criminal level because prosecutors are usually smart enough to know not to file a case with built-in problems.
Sometimes, though, there are cases where you have a gray area, and you can't tell whether you might win a motion. Obviously, in that circumstance, you're going to want to file it and prosecute it, and many times, there are built-in weaknesses that the prosecutors simply don't see in the federal case. So, do your homework and research.
Attorney, You Are Comfortable With
What you're also looking for is to talk to your attorney. Get a look at him. I put videos on my websites because I want people to see who I am, what I have to say, and what type of person I am, and that's important for choosing a federal criminal attorney in San Diego is making sure that you've got somebody that you feel comfortable with — that you respect — that sounds to you like they know what they're talking about and is likable because they're the ones that are going to be dealing with the prosecutor and judge in your case, so you want to make sure that you feel comfortable with him because if you feel comfortable, then likely that will translate to the judge and the prosecutor, and even the jury if your case ends up going to trial.
So, pick up the phone. Make the call now. We can do a consultation over the phone with you if you have a case pending in one of the San Diego federal courts, or we can set up a face-to-face meeting and get down to the nitty-gritty as to exactly how your federal case should be handled and what type of strategy should be employed because that's one of the first things you want to do — get the attorney and then decide exactly how you're going to handle your case, this way you have the best chance to end up with the best possible result.
