San Diego Three Strike Crime Lawyers

The most minor offense can result in a life sentence under the California Three Strikes Law. Not a lot of people know that. Anyone in California who has been convicted of two or more prior strikes face a life sentence for the third felony conviction, even if that final offense is not a "strike." There is no question that this law is flawed and unfair. The California Three Strikes law was originally passed in March 1994 and was meant to put away career criminals who are a danger to society. But it ended up putting away people who committed nonviolent drug crimes and petty thefts and let the other more dangerous individuals slip through the cracks.

As of September 2003, in less than 10 years, California had incarcerated 42,445 people under the Three Strikes Law. The law is named after the strikes in baseball (Three strikes you're out). But a "strike" under California is a felony that meets certain requirements, such as a violent or serious crime or any crime that involves a deadly weapon.

This is exactly why the focus of our San Diego County Three Strikes defense attorneys at Wallin & Klarich focus on reducing our clients' charges to misdemeanors or non-strike felonies. Our goal is to stop the Three Strikes process before it can damage your record. If you have been charged with a strikeable felony, it is vital that you seek the advise of an experienced criminal defense law firm such as Wallin & Klarich before entering a guilty plea. It is critical that your California strike crime defense lawyer has significant experience defending Three Strikes cases. At Wallin & Klarich, our team of highly skilled criminal defense lawyers has been successfully handling Three Strikes cases for many years.

Our focus in every Three Strikes case is on the new case and to do everything possible to make sure that our client is not found guilty. However, if that does not happen, we file a motion to ask the court to "strike a prior strike" for the purposes of sentencing. This means that we ask the judge, based on the totality of the circumstances, not to impose a Three Strikes sentence. This can have a significant impact on your case and can reduce a life sentence to a much lower sentence. The court, on a case by case basis, must consider whether the defendant's crime was in line with "the spirit of the Three Strikes law." If you facing charges in San Diego County that may result in a strike conviction, please contact Wallin & Klarich without delay for a free consultation and evaluation of your case.