reduce felony to misdemeanor

A lawyer recently told one of our Wallin & Klarich attorneys in San Diego that he had a client that was sentenced to prison for a felony. The lawyer asked the Wallin & Klarich attorney in our San Diego office whether the felony could be reduced to a misdemeanor after the defendant was released from prison.

Our San Diego Wallin and Klarich attorney explained that there are some crimes that be charged as either felonies or misdemeanors. Criminal defense lawyers call these crimes “wobblers.” If a defendant is convicted of a felony wobbler and sentenced to jail and probation, he can later ask the judge to reduce the felony to a misdemeanor. However, if a defendant is convicted of a felony wobbler and is sentenced to prison and parole, he cannot later ask the judge to reduce the felony to a misdemeanor.

As you can see, it is very important for a defendant to have a lawyer who knows what all of the consequences of a guilty plea are. A San Diego criminal defense lawyer who does not know the law very well is putting his clients at a disadvantage. On the other hand, you can see how a knowledgeable and experienced criminal lawyer can be of great help to a criminal defendant. Knowing that a defendant will not be able to get the crime reduced to a misdemeanor later on gives the lawyer even more incentive to fight to get the felony reduced to a misdemeanor at the time of the guilty plea. The experienced San Diego felony criminal defense attorneys at Wallin & Klarich can be reached by phone at 1-877-230-1529 or through our website at www.wklaw.com. We will be there when you call.