Contact Us for a Free Consultation (213) 542-0979

Steps To Take To Protect Yourself If Arrested For a Sex Crime In California

Don't Talk to Police!

The first step is not to talk to the police.  I can't tell you how many times people decide they're going to talk to the police.  They think they can explain everything and the next thing you know, that ends up being the best evidence against them in a case and they're forced to either take a deal or they go down with a conviction because of their own statement.

So, do not talk to the police, it's a common mistake.  It's not easy to do because they'll come and threaten you, challenge you, say a bunch of stuff to you, use silence and keep you in a room for a long period of time.  Do not talk to the police related to a sex crime.

Also, another weapon that the police use in investigating sex crimes has to do with what's call the pretext phone call.  They're going to send either the alleged victim or someone close to the alleged victim to talk to you and challenge you and make statements to you to try to get you to make a statement that will incriminate you.

So, if you suspect you're being investigated, you're being questioned, you're being challenged related to a sex crime in Los Angels — keep your mouth shut.

Retain an Attorney Immediately

The next step is to get to an attorney as soon as possible.  Are you going to wait until you're arrested with a high bail and facing prison time before you make your move?  Once you find out that you're being investigated, get to an attorney, hire the attorney and let the attorney guide you through the process.

There's too much at stake for you to think you're going to just handle it yourself or bury your head in the sand and hope for the best.  If you're being investigated for a sex crime, you've got to get to an attorney.  Hire somebody you trust.  Hired somebody you respect — someone who you feel comfortable with when you talk to them because if you feel comfortable, likely your instincts are good and that attorney is going to anything they possibly can to help you.

The next step would be, get a game plan together.  It's crucial.  One of the first meetings I have with a client we start to develop the game plan related to their sex crime.  We're going to talk about everything.  We're going to talk about the potential evidence.  We're going to talk about their side of the story.

We're going to talk about the other party's side of the story.  Once we have those things laid out, we're going to be in a much stronger position to start making some moves and some decisions to help you related to your sex crime in Los Angeles.

Gathering Prosecutor's Evidence

The next piece of the puzzle we're going to need is the police report and any evidence that the prosecutors have.  Then we can look at that and evaluate it and then we'll have a pretty good sense of how the prosecutors are going to attack you and whether or not you have a defensible case or it's the type of case where you are going to have to take some sort of a deal.

The next steps is, if you are going to have to take a deal, getting character letters together — getting a mitigation package together and possibly a psych evaluation which is going to look at whether or not you will be a recidivist, do something like this again — that's what the prosecutors are going to be worried about.

That's what the judge is going to be worried about, so we have to get that psych evaluation if it's a situation where you're going to end up having to take a deal.  The most crucial thing is to figure out whether it's a case where you're going to take a deal or a case that's going to go to trial because that will dictate what you do moving forward.

You don't want to be taking offensive steps against the prosecutors if you're going to end up resolving the case, because that's going to anger them.  That's going to cause them to take an offensive position against you and you're going to suffer in the end.

The last thing I would say, the last step is listen to your attorney.  If you've hired an attorney let them handle the case.  Let them guide you through it.  Listen to them.  Be patient because some of these cases take some time to unfold.  They take some time for the attorney to do what's necessary to put you in a position to get the best resolution, to protect your criminal record, to try to avoid sex registration and to try to stay out of custody.

Pick up the phone.  Make the call today.  We will do everything we can to help you and guide you through the sex crime prosecution related to your matter.

Related Videos

Menu