As even the most casual of observers would not, there’s a lot more to criminal law than “innocent until proven guilty”. Unfortunately, every year seems like an election year in most District Attorney offices. There is no escaping the interweaving of politics and law.

I recently had a three strikes case where my 21 year-old client with a history of violence was facing life imprisonment, for breaking another man’s jaw at a party. The “victim” actually initiated the physical contact just after groping my client’s girlfriend in front of him. Although the “victim” had to be pulled off of my client, the aggressor ended up with his jaw broken in two places.