El Monte, Fleeing Arrest, Brass Knuckles, DA Diversion

Our client, age 26, was driving home one evening along northbound Walnut Grove Avenue when, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff waiting at the intersection of Walnut Grove  and Valley Boulevard, our client ran a red light.

The deputy then activated his overhead red and pink lights and began to pursue our client on Walnut Grove to make a traffic stop.  According to the deputy sheriff, our client then turned off his car’s lights and made a right turn onto Scott Avenue, a residential side street. 

The deputy sheriff then turned into the side street and found our client parked in a driveway with his lights off, apparently trying to evade the officer.

The officer, mad at our client for doing this, pulled in behind our client, blocking him in the driveway and preventing him from reversing out back into the street to leave.

The officer immediately asked our client what he was doing and our client allegedly told the officer that he was lost and just tried to make a three-point turn, using the driveway, to reverse course and return back out to Valley Boulevard.

The officer did not believe our client and demanded to search the interior of our client’s car.  Our client said he did not consent.  The officer laughed at our client and said, “just make your motion in court.”  He then proceeded to go into our client’s car, finding brass knuckles in the center console of the car.

The officer then told our client, “these are illegal, you know?”  Our client responded, “they are?”  The officer, now unable to contain his satisfaction, said, “Yes, they are, put your hands behind your back” and arrested our surprised client for violation of California Penal Code § 21810 (“Unauthorized Possession of Brass Knuckles”) as a misdemeanor, as well as Vehicle Code § 2800.1 (“Evading a Police Officer”). 

 

The client was then booked and released after signing a promise to appear in the El Monte Courthouse in about three months.

Two months passed before the client called Greg Hill & Associates, but then he spoke with Greg Hill and explained what had happened.  The client was a barber in a barbershop in a mall and was concerned he might lose his job with a conviction for a misdemeanor.  He had also read online about the punishment for having brass knuckles and was worried about jail time for this.

Greg explained his prior experience with brass knuckles cases and evading arrest matters.  Greg also explained how the El Monte Courthouse was traditionally tougher in plea bargains than in other courthouses in Los Angeles County, but that there was  program called judicial diversion that might be available in the client’s case.

Greg then explained what judicial diversion involved and how it was good for the client to avoid a conviction and then, once he completed judicial diversion, he could file a petition to seal the arrest record and court file, which would delete or remove the record of the arrest and criminal case filing from his criminal history.  This would preserve a clean record for our client because he had no prior convictions.

The client asked what the terms of judicial diversion might be and Greg predicted that if judicial diversion were granted, the terms would probably include surrendering the brass knuckles (giving up them for destruction), doing a safe driving course for the evading arrest charge, and 40 hours of community service.

In speaking with the assigned District Attorney to the case, Greg asked if the DA would oppose judicial diversion for our client.  The DA said he would not, but offered him DA diversion, which was possibly shorter, on the following terms: surrender the brass knuckles, completion of an eight-hour traffic school online, 50 hours of community service, attendance at a new “Why’d You Stop Me?” class and attendance at the Hospital and Morgue (HAM) program.

This was a bit more than Greg thought was appropriate for this case, but Greg discussed it with the client, who just wanted to avoid jail, get the case dismissed and then the record sealed, so he accepted the terms.