September 2, 2014 Felony (Strike) Charges Dismissed, Prison Avoided. Settled For Misdemeanor. Client Is Released From Jail
Mr. Baranda was arrested for first degree residential burglary. He was arrested because the arresting officer believed he had sufficient probable cause to arrest Mr. Baranda. Mr. Baranda was brought to court and offered 2 years state prison with the assistance of the public defender. Mr. Baranda always proclaimed his innocence and told everyone that he did not burglarize anyone’s residence.
On July 31, 2014, I met with Mr. Baranda and we discussed this case. I told him that he had a strong defensible case and that we would set the matter for trial. The trial date was set for August 28, 2014. I appeared on August 28, 2014 with Mr. Baranda and we told the court that we were ready for trial. The court told us to come back on September 2, 2014 to start trial and picking a jury.
All of our witnesses and evidence was in order to start trial and prove that our client was NOT GUILTY of these charges. On September 2, 2014, the prosecutor re-evaluated their case against Mr. Baranda and offered him a misdemeanor Burglary charge to resolve this case and allowed him to be released. He was placed on Summary Probation. He does not have to report to any probation officer, is not a convicted felon and does not have a strike on his record.
Mr. Baranda was innocently jailed for 112 days. He did not want to go through the ordeal of a trial and agreed to accept a misdemeanor and be released and allowed to go home. While we thought that Mr. Baranda should have gone to trial, we respect his decision and still consider it a great outcome.
Attached below are the minutes from Mr. Baranda’s case. You can see when our office substituted in as the attorney of record, as well as the state prison offer and the final misdemeanor resolution.
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