When I was a relatively young attorney, the three-strikes law came out in California. It was a relatively new concept designed to incarcerate career criminal offenders for an extended period. The legislature basically touted it as going after individuals who simply will not stop committing crimes and who are the worst violent offenders in our system.

Since its inception in the early 1990s, the three-strikes law has seen its fair share of challenges. While it has been misused, leading to many individuals being affected in Los Angeles and across California, there have also been numerous successful challenges. This offers hope for those currently facing similar situations, showing that the law is not without its vulnerabilities.

If you're facing a three-strikes case, understanding the history of the law and how to use it to your advantage is crucial. This knowledge can be a powerful tool in demonstrating to the prosecutor and the judge that you should not face a sentence of twenty-five years to life. It's not just about the law, it's about how you can use it to protect your rights and future.

For instance, under the three-strikes law, a 'strike' refers to a serious or violent felony conviction. If you have two prior strikes and commit a new felony, or if you commit a new felony after having served time for a prior strike, you could face a significantly longer sentence.

There are many effective ways to do this. When the three-strikes law was enacted, prosecutors had the discretion to decide when to apply it.

This created numerous problems because the prosecutors held significant power. They basically filed the case, and depending on how they filed it, the person could be taken out without any recourse to appeal to the judge, who should usually have the power and authority when it comes to sentencing.

Then, the Romero case emerged, which also granted the judge the authority to strike depending on the circumstances surrounding the case. Of course, this was the right result and has saved many criminal defendants from the wrath of prosecuting agencies across Los Angeles County regarding the three-strikes law.

So, essentially, the three-strikes law can be used to deter individuals from committing serious and violent felonies. There is a comprehensive list of serious and violent felonies in the law that essentially define what constitutes a strike and the corresponding percentage of the time.

So, really, the ways you can get a strike stricken in Los Angeles County have to do with first making an argument that the current case is not a strike. If you can prove that it's not a serious or violent felony, then obviously, it cannot be litigated as a strike.

Now, you might ask yourself, ' Why would they file it if it wasn't a strike? ' It's important to remember that prosecutors, like everyone else, can make mistakes. They may assume that they've filed it properly and it is a strike, but this is not always the case. Understanding this can help alleviate some of the anxiety that comes with facing a three-strikes case. 

If the defendant has a prior strike, they can appeal to the prosecutor or their superior, who often make strike decisions for consistency in Los Angeles County. By presenting mitigating circumstances related to the offense and the defendant's life, they can argue for the strike to be stricken. 

When the prosecutors are looking at it, they are going to look at the current offense that you're charged with. They're going to look at the prior strike that you had – how long ago it was. Prosecutors usually have a ten-year rule – it has to be at least ten years before they'll consider striking a strike.

I've seen this rule broken repeatedly. Sometimes, they will do it earlier, but again, it will have to be under the right circumstances and presented in the right way.

Furthermore, judges also have the authority to strike a strike, as established in the People v. Romero case. They will consider factors such as the age of the prior strike, the circumstances surrounding it, the nature of the new case, and the defendant's overall criminal record before making a decision.

They will also review the new case. How close is it to the strike? How serious was it? Was there any violence? Then, they will examine the person's overall criminal record, because, remember, the three-strikes law was intended for career criminals.

 If the person is a career criminal, you can probably guess that they're not going to strike, and they will want to put the person away for as long as humanly possible. So, once they weigh all of those facts, they look at how the person is doing in life—do they have a job, do they have a family?

We receive a character letter, and then the judge will decide whether to strike it.

How Do They Figure Out What The Resolution Is?

After a strike is struck, the next step is to negotiate a new sentence. Prosecutors often have a proposed sentence ready, which they will present once the strike is struck. It's important to have a plan in place for this scenario.

In other words, they'll say – yeah, we'll strike the strike, and your client won't get the thirty-two months at 85%, for example, but instead, we'll over two years at half-time or a year at half-time. So, they're usually going to come right in behind it with an offer.

So, when you go to talking about striking a strike, obviously, you're going to want to have a plan in mind – okay, when they strike, what happens next? What's the client going to plead to? What type of time are they going to be looking at?

And when the judge strikes a strike, it's a little trickier because a judge can ask the prosecutor, once they strike the strike, what they think the sentence should be. The judges themselves can propose a potential sentence for the defendant.

Still, the prosecutor will have to be present when they discuss what sentence they are willing to give the defendant if he pleads guilty after the strike is stricken.

Usually, when prosecutors agree to strike, it's for the limited purpose of taking their deal. If you don't take their deal or whatever deal your attorney and the prosecutors work out, then they're going to put the strike back on you.

They don't strike it, and then you don't work out a deal; you go to trial, and the strike is no longer there. They're going to put the strike back unless you take the deal.

On the other hand, it's up to the judges – they can say, yeah, I'll strike the strike if your client takes this, or they can say, well, yeah, I think I'm going to strike the strike regardless, and then you make the decision whether you want to go to trial or not.

So, it's a little bit of a tricky thing. It's going to take a criminal defense attorney who has experience, who knows how to approach a judge and a prosecutor in a particular courthouse, knows what to say, and knows what type of things to argue in order to get you the best possible resolution when it comes to the three-strikes law.

The bottom line is that the three-strikes law has been around for over twenty-five years. It's not going away anytime soon. Many clients who have one or two strikes simply move out of California because they don't want to be in a position where they are facing a lengthy sentencing, which is often served at a high percentage of the time.

Of course, if you don't commit any more crimes, then you don't have that problem, but some people just don't want to take that risk.

So, if you're dealing with a third-strike case or second-strike case, when it comes to the three-strikes law in Los Angeles, California, get in front of an attorney who has handled these types of cases before and can advise you on what your best course of action is based on your overall picture. I have clients come to the office, and we sit down and talk.

We go over their whole package. Then we can provide them with what I think is an effective plan to address their three-strikes case.

Still, that plan is going to have to be fluid and sometimes changing, depending on the type of evidence the prosecutors have, the judge's or prosecutors' attitude towards the particular defendant, and what arguments are available to achieve the best possible result in your three-strikes case.