California criminal defense attorney

September 26, 2025

Understanding Grand Jury Indictments

If you have been indicted for a federal crime, or with any capital crime or felony at the state level– you likely have questions about the grand jury process. It is a procedure that is cloaked in secrecy, making it something of a mystery to the public. While we hear terms like “grand jury” and “indictment” in relation to high-profile cases, making sense of the terms when they directly affect you can be seriously troubling.

Understanding the Role of the Grand Jury

A cross-section of adults living in the area where a purported crime occurred will comprise any grand jury. Randomly identified individuals are notified by mail that they’ve been called to serve. Police and/or other investigative bodies have already delivered evidence to a prosecutor, who will then present that evidence—including documents, witness testimony, and more– to the grand jury. At the conclusion of this presentation, the jury will weigh the evidence and decide whether the prosecutor has demonstrated that the crime occurred at the hands of the accused. To put it more succinctly, they will decide if there is probable cause to justify bringing the case to trial.

The Indictment

If the grand jury finds that there is probable cause to charge a suspect on one or more counts, they will indicate so by providing an indictment – a formal finding–to the prosecutor. At that point, the prosecutor must either elect to pursue the case in a trial, use the indictment(s) to pressure a suspect into cooperating in a deal that provides immunity in exchange for testimony against someone else, or drop the case altogether.

Grand Juries Differ from Other Juries

Grand juries are made up of everyday citizens who are arbitrarily selected, just like other juries. Still, they differ from other juries in many important ways:

Grand juries are undisclosed until after an indictment is delivered, with the public—and the suspect– typically unaware they are meeting.
Anywhere from 16 to 23 people typically serve on grand juries, higher than in criminal cases.
Grand juries are tasked with deciding whether there is enough evidence to support bringing the case to trial, as opposed to criminal juries, which are charged with determining innocence or guilt.
There is no defense presentation for a grand jury, as it is not a trial.
Criminal juries must unanimously find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, while only half plus one is required to move the case to trial in a grand jury (a much easier standard to meet).
A defendant attends a criminal trial but is never present for a grand jury proceeding, as he or she is not even aware that a grand jury is looking into them until after there is an indictment.
Unlike typical juries, the grand jury can call witnesses with the help of the prosecutor,
Because a grand jury proceeding is not a trial, double jeopardy does not apply; therefore, if there is no indictment, the prosecutor can always gather more evidence and try again with a new grand jury in the future.

September 19, 2025

Charges of Violating a Protective Order

by David M. Boertje

If you have been accused of violating a protective order, you are not alone. Studies indicate that half of all survivors of domestic violence who have obtained protective orders in the country report their abusers violate those orders, with a result of escalating violence. When those orders are violated, survivors say nothing happens to abusers when the violation is reported to authorities. While that may be the case in some states, in California, the legal consequences for violating a protective order are significant.

Protective Orders

A protective order can be issued in a civil court in an attempt to protect applicants from harassment and harm from another person. An Emergency Order may be granted if the alleged victim of a crime calls 911 and requests help, and typically lasts no longer than one week. If the defendant is ultimately arrested and charged with a crime, a judge can issue a Criminal Protective Order, which is designed to protect alleged victims of domestic violence and witnesses. A restraining order might also be issued, which orders the accused to stay away from the victim while continuing requirements to pay child/spousal support.

August 29, 2025

Defending Against Charges of Date Rape

by David M. Boertje

When someone is accused of acquaintance rape, or date rape, the charge is exactly the same as for any other rape. The fact that the parties knew one another is beside the point. A guilty verdict could result in prison time and having to register as a sex offender. The reputational damage, along with the emotional toll these charges take on a person, cannot be overstated. These are consequences no one wants to live with. If you are facing such charges, you need a no-nonsense criminal defense attorney fighting for your rights.

First Things First

It is a good idea to hire an attorney the minute you realize there could be a legal issue—even before charges are filed. That way, you will have someone by your side who understands the law and who can guide you when it comes to answering questions, submitting evidence, and more. Additionally, it will be necessary to take some additional steps:

Get off all dating sites. Do not communicate with anyone through such a site, the accuser in particular. The problem with these kinds of “blind” communications is that you cannot ever know if the person inquiring about you is an innocent individual who happened to like your profile, or if it is a friend of your accuser who is trying to get some dirt on you.
Do not discuss the case with anyone. The only person who is protected by the attorney-client privilege is you. Friends and family could be compelled to elaborate on anything you say to them in a courtroom.
Assuming both parties stipulate that there was a sexual encounter, DNA evidence will likely not be a major factor in the case. The issue at hand will be whether the sex was consensual. If the victim had an examination, often referred to as a rape kit, we will carefully examine the results, looking for any physiological evidence that might be consistent with your accuser’s claims.
If there was no physical examination, the case will rely more heavily on witness statements and circumstantial evidence. Typically, there are strong protections for alleged rape victims, and it can be difficult to bring up previous actions or relationships.
We will analyze the circumstances and try to determine if there was a misunderstanding of some kind or if your accuser is overtly lying. We will look for omissions and inconsistencies in the accuser’s story and highlight those issues in our defense.

August 1, 2025

Defending Charges of Sexual Abuse of a Child

by David M. Boertje

It is tough to imagine a more sinister crime. In a criminal case alleging child sexual abuse, public sentiment is essentially guaranteed to be against the defendant, which is just one of the reasons that these kinds of cases are innately difficult to fight. For the person on trial, the unqualified trepidation associated with the charges and trial is logical. A defendant’s life will never be the same—the verdict notwithstanding. Being accused of child sexual abuse or exploitation— whether it’s viewing or filming pornography, lewd acts, incest, or actual assault of a child— will have grim consequences delivered by society, regardless of whether a legal penalty is deemed appropriate.

The Challenges of These Cases

The cases themselves contain vile details that elicit a strong reaction from the public, who simply cannot conceive of a child fabricating such a tale. Most of the time these cases are based primarily on what a child reports, and, because a huge portion of such cases are reported long after the alleged abuse occurred (the law allows plaintiffs to initiate a case up to the age of 40 for childhood incidents, or within five years of suffering psychological injuries), there is often literally no forensic evidence available to imply guilt or innocence. Additionally, there is generally no eyewitness testimony to support claims of criminal acts. Even though these cases rely heavily on personal recollections and circumstantial evidence, defending someone facing these charges is extremely difficult due to the nature of the charges and the reasonable obligation to shield innocent children. This leaves defense with three key points to examine:

1- Whether Plaintiff’s Claims are Plausible

The defense must attempt to create reasonable doubt as to the likelihood that the events occurred as reported. That will entail reconstructing the timeline of events down to the last detail and attempting to provide autonomously-verifiable facts to support the defendant’s version of events. It will require a search for records to confirm that the defendant was in a different location when the alleged crime occurred or other evidence to create doubt in the jurors’ minds. Phone records, receipts, credit card statements, and events around the time of the accusations should be examined to see if they can implicate innocence.

2- Whether the Witness is Credible

The defense must examine any inconsistencies in the plaintiff’s statement by communicating with anyone possible to get an image of the child’s personality. Friends, neighbors, teachers, and others may be able to shed some light on the conditions of a child’s life at the time of the purported crime. The defense may be able to utilize facts about the child’s home life, including aspects related to conflict, the need for attention, and so on. They will also conduct an investigation to discover whether the child was ever involved in any episodes of dishonesty about serious matters, and to see what, if anything, an examination of social media reveals. Does the plaintiff discuss the accusations? Is there a tendency to seek attention or exaggerate? All of these issues will be examined.

3- Whether an Event was Misunderstood or Misinterpreted

Although a person may honestly and credibly believe that something inappropriate occurred at the hands of the defendant, is it possible that the plaintiff’s view was contaminated by someone else who has leaned into the idea that the defendant committed a crime? While the complaint itself may be delivered truthfully, is there a possibility that what occurred has been misinterpreted, exaggerated, or otherwise shaded by the impulses of someone else who was not present for the event in question? Is there a possibility that the memory of events could have been influenced by others? A nasty divorce, for example, could feasibly be a factor in such accusations made by a child. Memories from long ago could be muddled with other facts. Did the plaintiff receive counseling in advance of the accusations? After the allegations? What could that mean for the veracity of the claims? Continue reading

July 11, 2025

Malicious Mischief in California

by David M. Boertje

As a way of expressing discontent, some people may choose to engage in malicious mischief, which generally refers to things like graffiti, vandalism, or other forms of damaging or defacing property. But anyone who’s tempted to take this route could face some unpleasant consequences for their actions.

Defining Malicious Mischief

Malicious mischief includes a range of activities, all of which must be performed with malice. In other words, it must occur intentionally, not accidentally. It could be graffiti, damaging mailboxes, throwing rocks through windows, or any other form of damaging public or private property. It could also include damaging or tampering with a vehicle, signs, or other property belonging to someone else.

What Constitutes Graffiti?

Most have seen examples of graffiti as spray paintings across bridges, walls, and so forth. While these are, indeed, graffiti, the legal definition of graffiti is much more expansive, and includes:

Markings of any kind that are made on someone else’s property without their permission;
Markings made with a variety of materials, including paint, markers, chalk, etchings, carvings, and even stickers;
The damage does not have to be permanent in order to be considered graffiti.

Penalties

Violating state law related to malicious mischief could result in up to $1,000 in fines and six months behind bars if the damage done amounts to less than $400. (The penalty for a second offense doubles the time in jail and bumps the fine up to $5,000). If the damage exceeds $400, it could land the offender in jail for a year, along with up to $10,000 in fines. Finally, if the damage amounts to over $10,000, the offender’s fine could jump to $50,000.

The judge could also tack on some additional punishments, including:

Requiring an offender to clean up the graffiti;
Requiring an offender to keep a particular area in the community graffiti-free for up to one year;
Suspending the driver’s license of the offender for a full year for each offense (or delaying the issuance of the license for younger individuals).
Up to 80 hours of community service for minors.

Parents Will Feel the Pain, as Well

In addition to the hassle and expense associated with getting a youth offender into court to address the charges, parents can be held civilly liable for the cost of clean-up and fines, to the tune of $25,000– if the court finds that the minor child engaged in willful, malicious misconduct. Continue reading

July 4, 2025

Battling Charges of Domestic Violence

by David M. Boertje

If you are facing charges of domestic violence (DV), you are looking at a case involving high emotion and the possibility of serious changes to life as you know it. That is why now, more than ever, you need a dedicated criminal defense attorney to protect your rights.

Who are the victims of Domestic Violence?

In years past, domestic violence, or domestic battery, was considered to be only violent crimes against someone with whom a perpetrator formerly or currently shared an intimate relationship. But we now know that DV is a crime centered on intimidation and power—often in the form of violence—used to control another person. In general, DV abusers tend to escalate control over time using threats, deprivation, force, manipulation, and violence. Victims may be intimate partners, children, or even grandparents.

Types of Domestic Violence

Spousal abuse: Violence between intimate couples, whether or not they are married, heterosexual or otherwise, occurring when one partner wields dominance through verbal, financial, or physical abuse. It may include threats related to immigration status, homophobia, or to injure property, pets, or loved ones.
Sexual assault: Pressure or coercion to engage in unwanted sexual activity may occur between couples as a form of control.
Stalking and criminal threats: Stalkers who pursue someone physically or online and harass and/or threaten their victims.
Child abuse: Parents, step-parents, grandparents, or the partners of a parent may abuse children verbally, emotionally, or physically.
Elder abuse: Children or grandchildren who live with or care for grandparents and who attempt to control them using financial, verbal, emotional, or physical abuse.

Penalties

Misdemeanor domestic battery charges in the state of California could land you in jail for up to a full year, set you back $2,000 in fines, and stick you with up to three years of probation, during which you may be ordered to engage in a batterer’s treatment program.

All of these legal penalties are in addition to having to deal with the potential of a restraining order, being kicked out of your house, and even the possibility of losing contact with your children. Continue reading

April 25, 2025

Are Confidential and/or Jailhouse Informants Reliable?

by David M. Boertje

Confidential informants (CIs) and jailhouse snitches are used by law enforcement to gather information and tips so suspects can be put behind bars. The practice of using these informants is not uncommon in the least. Unfortunately, there are some real problems with the custom:

There are no reliable mechanisms in place to figure out if an informant (or a police officer) is telling the truth;
When informants are used, they are offered tempting incentives to produce information.
Police raids based on informant tips can be hyper-aggressive.
Innocent people can get caught up in serious legal issues when named by an informant.

Regulation is Non-existent for CIs

Basically, the police have no rules when it comes to using informants. In fact, there have been many court cases that have concluded that law enforcement’s dependence on testimony from informants is not a Constitutional violation. Thus, the use of informants is a prime way to get the information officers are seeking. However, informants generally have pretty good incentives to provide false testimony, especially if providing the right tips could mean receiving a lesser sentence for their own crimes. On top of that, since many law enforcement organizations lack suitable control systems to address the issues associated with confidential informants, it is not far-fetched to imagine that an officer could manufacture a fictional CI to create the evidence needed to obtain a warrant or make an arrest. Sadly, innocent people have been killed in various police raids that were based on nonexistent confidential informants. That led to calls for better controls on the use of CI’s in a Congressional hearing on the matter, but no definitive changes in the law made it into practice.

Jailhouse Informants

Testimony from jailhouse snitches is unregulated as well, and therefore, the information gleaned from them is not necessarily unreliable. Even so, it has been used in myriad situations to put others behind bars. These informants generally get some sort of benefit in exchange for helping law enforcement, including:

Having their own charges reduced or eliminated;
Getting monetary compensation;
Getting special privileges while they are incarcerated.

Unreliable Information

Informants may claim that a confession or details of a crime were shared by a defendant, or that they got second-hand information from other people. This is often true with cases that are high-profile or gang-involved, and police are under extreme pressure to solve the crime. But testimony from jailhouse informants often leads to wrongful convictions. In fact, estimates have the number of convictions that relied heavily on jailhouse snitches was later overturned with DNA evidence at nearly 20%. Unfortunately, this testimony frequently occurs without the defense team or the jury ever hearing about precisely what incentives were offered in exchange for damaging testimony. Since national standards relating to such testimony do not exist and there are no rules relating to the tracking and management of it, innocent people have lost their freedom time and again due to inaccurate and downright dishonest testimony. Continue reading

April 11, 2025

Did Participating in a Protest Lead to Legal Woes?

by David M. Boertje

Did you attend a public protest, only to be arrested? You thought you had a First Amendment right to express your views, so why did you wind up behind bars? The laws on the books may seem murky at times, but if you feel you were wrongfully arrested, you need a tough criminal defense attorney fighting for you.

Your Rights

Anyone is allowed to assemble and speak out in any traditional public forum, including streets, sidewalks, and parks, as well as in front of government buildings. However, blocking access to those buildings is a no-no. A permit is not required to march on sidewalks or streets, but pedestrian or vehicular traffic cannot be obstructed. When you choose to engage in a legal gathering in a public location, you may photograph anything you see, including police interactions. (On private property, you must abide by the owner’s rules.)

When a Permit is Obtained

If a permit for the event has been acquired, a march can occur that requires street closures for a few blocks, or just the blocking of traffic. Such protests may use amplification systems, while rallies that don’t have permits cannot. When it comes to private property, everyone must abide by the rules set by the property owner.

Counter-protesters have the same rights you do. While police may try to keep groups apart from one another, they should be allowed to be within earshot and sight of one another,

Can Undocumented Individuals Protest?

Everyone in this country, including undocumented individuals, shares the same rights to free speech. That means undocumented people have the right to protest, gather, or march to express their views. However, it’s important to note that the risk of a police encounter could be substantially more dangerous for undocumented individuals, since it could ultimately lead to deportation, whether or not an arrest occurs. While it is true that the First Amendment also protects people from acts of retaliation from the government, we have seen numerous arrests in recent times of students, immigrant leaders, and activists who speak out against policies they disagree with.

Hope for the Best; Prepare for the Worst

If you choose to participate in a protest of any kind, it’s smart to be prepared for anything to happen. You can increase your chances of escaping problems by taking some cautionary steps:

Identify the route of the march and pinpoint potential escape routes before you start;
Carry an attorney’s phone number with you;
Have a backup plan for childcare or other necessities just in case you do not make it home as planned;
If police stop you, ask if you are under arrest or if you are free to go;
Legal residents must carry a green card;
Exercise your right to be silent;
Avoid resisting arrest;
Never consent to a search;
Either leave your phone at home or turn off the fingerprint and facial recognition system so law enforcement cannot access your phone against your will;
Try to get contact information of potential witnesses;
Photograph officers’ badge numbers, patrol cars, injuries, and other details that may help later.

April 4, 2025

Immunity in Lieu of Criminal Charges

by David M. Boertje

If you are familiar with the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, you know that it provides protection against self-incrimination. That means you cannot be forced to disclose information that is directly incriminating or that could lead police or prosecutors to discover incriminating evidence against you in the future. It is pretty important for anyone who has been arrested. There is a reason that you are believed to have been involved in criminal activity, being that you have been placed under arrest. But sometimes prosecutors are looking to catch a bigger fish, and really are not too concerned with you, even if they suspect or have strong evidence that you are responsible for a crime. That could mean an opportunity for you to trade information and testimony for your own immunity. But this can be tricky; you always want an experienced criminal lawyer by your side as you make decisions related to immunity.

Transactional Immunity

Transactional immunity, sometimes called Total immunity, protects you from all future charges related to your testimony. While total immunity is not offered in federal cases, many states, including California, do allow it at the state level.

Use and Derivative Immunity

This type of immunity protects you from having what you say, or any evidence discovered as a result of your testimony, from being used against you. It is basically the protection provided by the Fifth Amendment. Although you could eventually be tried for crimes that you testify about, any charges must rely on evidence that is completely independent of your testimony or evidence related to your testimony. In other words, the more details you testify to, the wider the protections against future prosecution.

Why Offer Immunity?

As mentioned earlier, prosecutors tend to offer immunity to people whom they believe are responsible for minor crimes in the hopes that their testimony will lead to enough evidence to convict someone guilty of more serious crimes. It is not uncommon for these deals to be made in cases related to gang or organized crime activity. The low man on the totem pole is offered a deal to get immunity if they agree to testify against a ringleader. If you change your mind and back out of testifying, you will likely wind up in jail.

If Prosecutors Try to Prosecute You Anyway

What if you do your part and testify as requested by the prosecutor, and later the prosecutor comes after you despite your promised immunity? You can use your immunity deal as your defense. The prosecution will have to provide specific evidence that is in no way linked to your testimony in order to proceed. Anything they have that is related to the immunized testimony will be excluded from consideration. If they cannot prove they obtained new evidence from another source, it will be the end of their case. Continue reading

March 14, 2025

Making Motions in Court

by David M. Boertje

Anyone who has seen a courtroom drama on the big screen or on television has heard lawyers make motions. Although you have probably never really thought about them, the truth is they can make an enormous difference in the outcome of a trial.

What are Motions?

Motions are written requests made by prosecutors and defense attorneys in criminal courts for the judge to make certain decisions—judgments– before or during a trial. They are formal appeals for rulings that will boost their odds of success in the trial.

Motions Commonly Made

There are many types of motions that may be requested in a criminal trial. Some of the most common motions include:

A Motion to Dismiss: In some cases, a request is made for the judge to dismiss a case completely before it even starts. The request could be on the grounds that the court does not have jurisdiction on the matter, there is not enough evidence to support the charges, the alleged facts do not amount to a crime, or the statute of limitations has run out, for example.
A Motion for a Change of Venue: In widely publicized trials, pre-trial publicity may threaten the impartiality of any potential jurors, so an attorney may ask that the trial be moved to another county or state in order to protect the right of a defendant to a fair trial.
A Motion to Suppress: This is a request for the judge to exclude particular evidence at trial. There could be multiple reasons for this, such as because one side believes the evidence has been tampered with, it was illegally obtained, there were problems with the chain of custody, or there is some other issue with the evidence in question.
A Motion for Discovery: There are times when the opposing party drags their feet in sharing documents, witness lists, and other information they have uncovered during the discovery process, even though the law requires them to provide such information to opposing counsel. An attorney may file a Motion to Compel, which can force them to produce information, witnesses, and documents they have been withholding.
A Motion for Summary Judgment: One party may ask the judge to decide the case midway through a trial based on what has already been presented. It is based on a belief that the material facts of the case point to an obvious conclusion that is indisputable. If the judge agrees that the facts of the case are not in dispute, a summary judgment can wrap things up quickly and easily.