The court often grants criminal defendants an opportunity to succeed in the community instead of incarceration in county jail or prison. This opportunity is called probation. However, if you violate any terms of your probation you may be sentenced to years in prison. Probation violations include anything from missing required meetings or classes to picking up new crimes. The court will determine by a preponderance of the evidence if you are in violation of probation. This means that if the court believes that more likely than not, you violated the terms of your probation, then the court can incarcerate you for years on your open probation cases depending on what crime you are on probation for.
It is important to speak with attorneys that have experience litigating probation violation hearings. The attorneys at HHJ have successfully litigated hundreds of probation violation hearings and constantly use creative alternatives to avoid a client from receiving actual jail time.
Drug Diversion (Penal Code section 1000 et seq)
Drug use is on the rise in California and throughout the United States. Turn on the TV or radio and you will hear countless news stories about drug epidemics ravaging communities across the United States. Drug users fall on a wide spectrum, from the occasional and experimental user to the daily maintenance user with a severe addiction and dependence. Whatever the case may be, the increase in drug use has led to one thing—a significant increase in drug crime convictions. More and more people are charged with criminal drug charges and are facing a significant amount of time in jail. California’s Legislature recognized this trend and decided to give first-time drug offenders a chance to avoid a criminal conviction entirely. This diversion program is known as PC1000.
A person charged with a drug offense has the ability to partake in the PC1000 diversion program and potentially get their charge entirely dismissed if they meet the following requirements:
The person has no conviction for any offense involving controlled substances; and
The charged offense did not involve violence and there is no evidence of a violation relating to narcotics or restricted dangerous drugs other than a violation that qualifies for the program; and
The person’s record does not indicate that probation or parole has ever been revoked without being completed; and
The person’s record does not indicate that he or she has been granted diversion, deferred entry of judgement, or was convicted of a felony within 5 years prior to the current charged offense.
If a person meets all of the four requirements listed above, then that person would qualify for PC1000’s pretrial diversion program. The person would plead not guilty to the drug offense, waive his or her right to a speedy trial by jury, and the criminal proceedings would be suspended in order for the person to enter a drug treatment for 12 to 18 months. There are many types of “drug treatment” programs that qualify under PC1000. An attorney at HHJ will help you find the program that best fits your needs and personal schedule. If the person successfully completes the program and does not pick up a new offense, the court will dismiss the criminal charges entirely and the arrest will be deemed to have never occurred.
The attorneys at Hepburn, Hernandez, and Jung have helped countless clients charged with a first-time drug offense get into the PC1000 diversion program and have their charges dismissed. A person should not have to live their life with a criminal conviction simply because they made a mistake. If you are facing a criminal charge for a drug offense, contact Hepburn, Hernandez, and Jung Trial Attorneys today and let us help you get into a diversion program to have your criminal charges dismissed.
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