Probation typically comes with a list of conditions that you must meet and if you fail to meet any of the conditions of your probation you may find yourself going back to court to face a judge for a probation violation hearing. This was the situation a young man found himself in by not paying attention to the terms of his probation. Years earlier, the man was convicted of a felony charge of concentrated cannabis possession. His case resulted in probation and he moved from away in hopes to improve his life, but in doing so, he neglected to meet the conditions laid before him and bench warrants were issued. When he became aware of the seriousness of these warrants, he sought legal representation from San Diego criminal defense attorney Jessica McElfresh.
It was apparent to attorney McElfresh that her client had completely turned his life around since moving away and worked diligently to help address his probation violation. After speaking to the judge and explaining that her client was now enrolled in school, with a 4.0 G.P.A. with hopes to transfer to the University of California, Berkley in the near future. The judge stated that ignoring his earlier probation requirements was a mistake, but agreed he had reformed himself. Therefore, he removed the bench warrants, and reinstated his probation with the option to serve his probation in the county he now resides in, rather than San Diego.
Additionally, the laws in California have recently changed regarding marijuana possession under proposition 47, which requires all personal drug possession charges to be considered misdemeanors and attorney McElfresh used her knowledge of the new law to petition the court to retroactively resentence the individual under the updated guidelines. The court quickly processed the petition and under the new terms, our client will need to complete one year of informal probation before he is eligible for a complete dismissal of the charges. With effective and knowledgeable legal representation, our client can continue moving forward in life, free of looming legal issues.
The outcome of an individual case depends on a variety of factors unique to that case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any similar or future case.