Being arrested for a crime does not necessarily mean you will be convicted. Often we can help you get charges reduced or dismissed, and avoid jail and a criminal record.
California Criminal Defense
Being arrested for a crime does not necessarily mean you will be convicted. Often we can help you get charges reduced or dismissed, and avoid jail and a criminal record.
California DUI
DUI arrests don't always lead to convictions in court. Police officer mistakes, faulty breathalyzers and crime lab errors may get your charges reduced or dismissed. Visit our California DUI page to learn more.
Lawsuits for Dangerous Drugs & Medical Devices
Shouse Law Group represents victims throughout the U.S. who suffered serious complications and injuries from dangerous drugs and failed medical devices.
California Personal Injury
If you've been injured in an accident, our personal injury lawyers will fight to get you compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and even punitive damages.
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Please note: Our firm only handles criminal and DUI cases, and only in California. We do not handle any of the following cases:
And we do not handle any cases outside of California.
Call Us NowOur California criminal defense attorneys handle
We practice throughout
Our team of California criminal lawyers includes several former prosecutors and former career police officers. Together with our private detectives and forensic experts, we work as a team, drawing on more than half a century of law enforcement experience.
We know firsthand how cops and district attorneys put together cases. We used to be in their shoes. We have the playbook. Now we use this insider knowledge to your advantage in fighting your criminal charges.
Some California criminal defense lawyers take a wait-and-see approach. They stall until the first court date, or until they receive the police reports, before investigating and working up your case.
By contrast, we believe there’s no time to waste. The most critical window for defense work may be the first few days following an arrest, or even prior to formal charges being filed. By getting to work immediately, often we can locate favorable defense evidence and witnesses, and get a “head start” towards defeating the charges.
Make no mistake. Cops concern themselves mainly with aiding the prosecution and building up a criminal case against you. They should not be relied upon to gather favorable evidence that helps exonerate their suspect. To put it simply: they are not on your side.
Our private defense investigators are former career police officers. But now their job is to find evidence that will benefit you. We assign them
Every county and every courthouse has its own way of doing things. The criminal court process in Los Angeles County, for example, differs significantly from the process in San Bernardino. But even within San Bernardino County, the procedures at the central courthouse vary considerably from Rancho Cucamonga or Victorville.
We assign each of our California criminal defense attorneys to a specific set of courthouses. By working day in and day out in the same places, we develop trusting relationships with
Moreover, we know how things work in particular courtrooms and with particular prosecuting agencies. We have learned
Facing criminal charges traumatizes people. Nothing compounds the stress more than the inability to reach your attorney.
At the Shouse Law Group, we put a premium on the accessibility of our criminal defense lawyers and support staff. We are here to provide moral and emotional support as well as legal representation. To do this, we observe two policies:
Sometimes it’s possible to stop criminal charges from being filed in the first place.
After making an arrest or investigating a suspected crime, the police take their evidence to the district attorney’s office. The D.A. evaluates the potential case and decides what criminal charges (if any) to file. Usually, the prosecutor makes this decision based solely on what the police are telling them. But often there is much more to the story.
Many times our California criminal lawyers can also meet with the D.A. during this same time period. We can present
Knowing your side of the story may affect the D.A.’s calculations. When the prosecutors see the whole picture, not just what the police (or the alleged “victim”) have to say, they may decide to file lesser charges (a misdemeanor rather than a felony, for example) or not to file criminal charges at all so you remain out of the criminal justice system completely (we call this a “D.A. Reject”).
Perhaps you already have a criminal defense lawyer. Your case has been pending for a while. Your attorney advises you on a certain case strategy, such as accepting the D.A.’s offer or taking the case to trial. Now you face a major life decision. And you are just not sure what to do.
We can evaluate your case and offer our independent judgment as to your various options and the merits of each. Much like a patient may see another doctor for a “second opinion” before deciding whether to undergo elective surgery, we can give you a legal second opinion.
In the end, we may concur with your present attorney’s position. Or we may not. Or we may suggest a totally different approach. But our advice to you will be
If your loved one is in custody, our California criminal defense attorneys can often arrange a “bail hearing” to get bail reduced or to secure an “OR release.” We assist inmates in custody at any of the state’s jails, including the Twin Towers Jail, the Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail, the Orange County Central Jail, the Ventura County Jail, the West Valley Detention Center, the Robert Presley Riverside County Jail and the Clark County Detention Center (Las Vegas Jail).
Our California DUI defense attorneys include former DUI prosecutors and law enforcement officers with decades of experience both prosecuting and defending cases brought under California DUI laws. We also fight the DMV in an effort to save your driver’s license.
As a former Deputy District Attorney, Los Angeles DUI lawyer Neil Shouse worked closely with the CHP and police toxicologists, compiling evidence, and presenting cases in court. Now he fights DUI/DWI charges. Among the drunk driving cases we handle are
Prosecutors and judges take violent crimes the most seriously. California’s mandatory sentencing laws can lead to harsh prison sentences.
But many people accused of violent offenses are truly innocent. Often the situation is justified by California self-defense laws, accident, misidentification, false accusations, or mental illness. Our criminal attorneys can help you explore these defenses and fight the charges. We also defend clients prosecuted under California’s Three Strikes Law and California’s gang enhancement.
Among the violent crime charges we defend against are:
A conviction for a criminal sex offense can lead to years in California State Prison, getting ostracized from the community, and having to register for life as a sex offender. But many innocent people get falsely accused of sex criminal offenses, especially
Our California sex crimes lawyers start by scrutinizing the accuser’s background. We look to see if the accuser has a history of telling lies and a bias against our client. We independently investigate the case with our own private detectives and forensic experts. Often times we can get charges reduced or dismissed or secure an acquittal at trial.
We defend against all sex crimes charges, including
Most people accused of theft or financial crimes are good citizens with minimal records who simply took a wayward path. And some are factually innocent. In any case, our criminal defense attorneys can help you fight the charges, oftentimes keeping the stigma of a criminal conviction off your record.
Our practice areas include all financial-, property-, and white-collar crimes, such as
More people get wrongfully accused of domestic violence than any other type of crime. Sometimes a person strikes his wife or girlfriend by accident or in self-defense during a mutual struggle.
Other times the accuser lies to the police and makes up false allegations of abuse. Accusers fabricate stories out of anger or jealousy or to gain the upper hand in divorce or child custody proceedings. Whatever the case, our criminal attorneys can help you fight back.
We defend clients against any accusations of domestic violence, spousal battery, or spousal abuse, in particular
Police frequently use unreliable informants, defective warrants, and other illegal methods to make drug busts. Our California criminal lawyers can challenge these unconstitutional searches and search warrants, in an effort to get evidence and cases thrown out of court.
For clients struggling with addiction problems, we can often help you get
We represent clients in all misdemeanor or felony narcotics charges, including
Our California attorneys like to start every case the same way: By listening. We sit down with you (and your witnesses) to hear exactly what happened. The police and the accusers are going to have their stories. We will be presenting yours. So we want to start by hearing and understanding your side of it. Call us or email us to schedule a free consultation to see if we are the right criminal defense team for you.
We have local criminal law offices in Beverly Hills, Burbank, Glendale, Irvine, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Palm Springs, Pasadena, Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Torrance, Van Nuys, Ventura, West Covina, and elsewhere throughout northern, central, and southern California. Read our criminal defense blog.
Please contact our Las Vegas Nevada criminal defense attorneys and trial lawyers and Las Vegas DUI lawyers for cases anywhere in Nevada. Our Denver Colorado criminal defense lawyers defend clients throughout Colorado. Our California personal injury attorneys, dog bite lawyers and car accident lawyers can assist with any type of injury or mass tort case, including a hernia mesh lawsuit. Our California employment law attorneys represent workers who have been wrongfully terminated or unfairly treated by their employers.
Shouse Law Group is accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating.
¿Habla español? Visite nuestro sitio Web en español sobre nuestros abogados de la defensa penal de California.