District Attorneys

California District Attorneys

In every criminal case, there is a government agency that exists to prosecute the Defendant. In state courts, the vast majority of crimes are prosecuted by District Attorney offices. There are a few places where misdemeanor crimes are prosecuted by the local city attorney`s office. In those places, the City Attorney`s office functions exactly like the District Attorney`s office. Only the District Attorney`s office can charge misdemeanors and felonies. If you were arrested by the police for a crime, the officer may say that he/she is arresting you for a misdemeanor or a felony, but that doesn`t mean that you will be charged with that crime. The police report is forwarded to the District Attorney`s office and then an individual Deputy District Attorney decides what charges to file against you. Oftentimes, the District Attorney`s office will follow the suggestions of the police report, but they have the power to reject a case, or file less or more charges in each case. Infractions, however, are usually filed by the police agency directly with the courts, and the District Attorney`s office usually does not get involved with infractions. In criminal cases involving misdemeanors and felonies, a Defendant should always hire an experienced criminal defense attorney to represent them. Representing yourself is never a good idea. Deputy District Attorneys are trained prosecutors who will not show sympathy for people representing themselves. They will prosecute you to the best of their ability (as I did when I was a former prosecutor) and if you do not know what you are doing, you will end up with a terrible resolution to your case. In fact, I don`t even like representing someone after they`ve represented themselves, because they will have said all the wrongs things to the prosecutor, and it will be much harder to re-negotiate the case.