More on Sex Crimes Criminal Defense....

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It is a fact that sex crimes criminal charges are among the most complex and emotionally involved cases in the entire criminal justice system. Sex cases often involve protected reports from Child Protective Services (CPS), novel scientific evidence, unidentified witnesses, sealed search warrants, biased jurors, adverse expert witnesses (doctors, therapists, psychologists), and complex sentencing structures. Consider the following:

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Specialized Evidence: Sex crimes incorporate evidence that is relatively unique to criminal cases, such as the use of pretext phone calls, forensic child interviews, polygraph exams, forensic electronic tracing, forensic medical and psychological reports, sealed warrants, cross-agency witness reports (CPS, Family Law Court, etc.,), and more.

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Forensic Interviewing: Making the defense of sex crimes more complicated is the fact that statements from alleged sex crime victims are often the unreliable product of improper and biased questioning by non-experts, such as well-meaning friends and family, who use suggestive and compound questioning that can create false, embellished, or adopted memories in a young mind.

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In fact, it is not uncommon for a highly impressionable child to give vastly different versions of the same alleged event to parents, police, doctors, CPS investigators, forensic interviewers, family law mediators, and lawyers.

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Seasoned Prosecutors: Sex crimes are prosecuted by seasoned, high-ranking, district attorneys, who are competent trial lawyers themselves. These experienced and competent district attorneys belong to an elite “special victim’s unit,” usually by merit. Only experienced sex crimes defense attorneys should be used to compete with these high-level district attorneys.

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Greater Prison Penalties: Sex crimes carry longer jail, prison, and probation sentences and the defendant is usually ordered to serve a much higher percentage of incarceration after a sex crime conviction than he or she would otherwise be ordered to serve for a non-sex crimes offense. In fact, incarceration for a felony sex crime must be served in a California state prison, as opposed to a local county jail, and no part of that prison sentence may be split or suspended. Also, consecutive prison sentencing, as opposed to concurrent prison sentencing, applies to most California sex crimes. This is in addition to the ‘one strike’ sentencing rule that can create a life sentence for the most serious of sex crime offenses.

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Sex Offender Registration: Most convicted sex offenders are required to register as a sex offender with local law enforcement in California (PC290). It is vital that a sex crime defendant secure an attorney who is familiar with the best options, and the legal processes, for avoiding sex offender registration.

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Complex Laws: There are hundreds of special laws and legal procedures that apply only to sex crimes, such as special rules that apply to demurrers (dismissal of the criminal case), plea bargaining, probation limitations, expungement limitations, diversion limitations, and more.

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Defense Limitations: Sex crimes have limitations with the use of otherwise typical defenses and post-conviction relief options, such as the defense of statute of limitations, coerced confession, entrapment, consent, intoxication, diversion, expungement, certificate of rehabilitation, and more.

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High Bail Amounts: The sex crimes defendant is often fighting his or her sex case from jail as bail is generally set so high in sex crimes cases that the defendant cannot afford to bail out of jail during the pretrial stages. This means the defendant needs an attorney with knowledge of the specific arguments that work in sex crimes cases to better secure an out-of-custody status during the pretrial stages.

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Other Penalties: Other common direct and indirect penalties associated with sex crimes include criminal protective orders against the defendant, restitution, fines, court fees, loss of a professional or occupational license, loss of immigration status (for non-U.S. citizens), loss of school benefits and enrollment, possible loss of civil liberties (firearm ownership, voting, jury service), listing as a child abuser under California’s Child Abuse Central Index (CACI), civil lawsuits, military service consequences, conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude, and even restriction on where the defendant can live.

Attorney Dorado has defended, and prevailed, against the toughest sex crimes cases, including cases where the district attorney used the defendant’s confession, multiple adverse witnesses, adverse DNA findings (semen, hair, blood), failed polygraphs, adverse photograph or video evidence, adverse electronic evidence (cell phone, computer, social media posts), adverse medical expert or forensic child psychologist’s reports, adverse witness-corroborating physical injury evidence, and more. Attorney Dorado has successfully negotiated no jail time offers for every type of sex crimes, including serious and violent felonies, such as lewd and lascivious acts upon a minor (PC288(a)).

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If you or a loved one is charged with a sex crime, or if you are interested in post-conviction relief, such as withdrawing a guilty plea, criminal appeal, terminating a sex offender registration, probation modification, expungement, or probation violation, call sex crimes criminal defense lawyer Christopher Dorado today for a free consultation!

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909-913-3138

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