Apex Law Service: Wobbler Felonies – Reduction to Misdemeanor – Expungement of Misdemeanor & of Felony.
Hi, James Polk here with Apex Law Service. www.ApexLawService.com is our website and we do outsourced paralegal work in the criminal defense arena for Attorneys who hire us to find Clients who need to defend themselves against criminal charges. If you’re a Client and you need to hire an Attorney you can hire us first and then what we do is we do paralegal hours at a lower rate than most Law Firms. We charge $150 an hour whereas most Law Firms charge up to $280 dollars an hour. The Attorneys charge $300 to $350 an hour depending on if it’s the main Attorney or an Associate Attorney.
A “Wobbler” is a Criminal Charge in the State of California which can be either charged by the Prosecutor’s Office as a Misdemeanor or as a Felony. Proper communications with the Prosecutor’s Office can result in a Wobbler being negotiated to a Misdemeanor in a Plea Bargain process. It is possible to pursue a Post-Conviction Relief Strategy called “Reduction of Felony to Misdemeanor” under PC 17(b) if one is convicted of a Felony Wobbler, but there are 2 eligibility requirements. The eligibility requirements are: 1. Applicants for Reduction of Felony to Misdemeanor must have been convicted of a wobbler felony. 2. Applicants for Reduction of Felony to Misdemeanor must have been granted probation (only probation and NO STATE TIME).
It is the safer route to accept a Plea Bargain from the Prosecutor’s Office for a Misdemeanor when charged with a Wobbler Felony because it is not always certain whether a Defendant will be sentenced to State Time or not. If sentenced to State Time it is not possible to reduce the Felony to a Misdemeanor under PC 17(b). If the offense was a Strike (Serious or Violent Felony), the offense will remain a Strike on a person’s record even after reduction of Felony to Misdemeanor. Firearms Rights may still be affected. Licensing Issues may still exist.
It is always still possible to expunge a Felony as is, but it is better to have an expunged misdemeanor on one’s record via a CR-180 (San Diego has a PKT-026 for Misdemeanors and PKT-027 for Felonies) filing under PC 1203.4 than it is to not first reduce the felony to a misdemeanor and just expunge the felony because there are rights like the right to bear arms that will be affected even though the felony has been expunged. It is best to stay at a misdemeanor level or to first reduce a felony to a misdemeanor and then expunge the misdemeanor. Don’t risk becoming a felon if at all possible.
We really believe in the access to justice element of our business structure. We know the Attorneys who we have as clients are just top-notch Criminal Defense Attorneys. We look forward to helping you go through this very touchy situation and we look forward to getting you all the way through and helping you move on with your life out and past this situation. Thank you for tuning in to www.ApexLawService.com.
Regards,
James F. Polk
Senior Administrative Coordinating Paralegal for Apex Law Service