Sentenced but not found guilty...

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Southern California

Hello everyone this might be a little long but please bare with me I hope someone can help me out. My boyfriend is on probation with 4 year joint suspension which means if he gets into any kind of trouble even the tiniest little thing he will get 4 years no questions asked. So for over a year now he's been doing good complying with what the probation asks of him working and going to school at night he's learned his lesson and changed his life for the better. But back in August he was borrowing his moms van because his car was gonna be in the shop for a few days. One night I asked him if he could go do me a favor but on the way there he got stopped and when the cop found out he was on probation he searched the van. Way in the back of the van under the spare tire the cop found a box and in the box was a machine gun. We later found out the gun belonged to his little brother and he's the one who put it there. So back to the story they took my boyfriend in but we bailed him out, When We went to his court date we couldn't find his name on any of the papers that say which court room to go to so we went to the clerk to ask why and while we were waiting in line a police officer that was involved in the case I'm assuming came up to my boyfriend and told him he can go home and they will notify him when and if they file a case.

We went home and on with our business and two months later he received a letter in the mail saying that they filed a case and that he had a court date. On the day of court they took him in and gave him another court date at which he explained to the public defender that he's not guilty and wants to hold off on the probation violation sentence if possible because he wants to take the case to trial since his little brother agreed to admit the gun was his and my boyfriend had no knowledge of the gun in the car. The public defender either didn't want to help him or he didn't know how to because he didn't mention a thing my boyfriend spoke to him about to the judge. So they went on and gave him another court date. On that day he spoke to another public defender they assigned to him for that day about his case and told him he was not guilty but the public defender told him to plead guilty to the charge and take the time. He ended up pleading not guilty since he was guilty to begin with and they sentenced him to the 4 years anyway and gave him another court date to take the case of the gun charge to trial. At each court date he was never allowed to speak up for himself and the public defenders he had failed do anything to help him even though he explained his case. I know they must hear the story that the person is innocent everyday but by law the person is innocent till proven guilty and I just don't feel like he was treated fairly.

My question is how can they violate him if they haven't proven that he even violated his
probation yet? Also If they do find him not guilty will they take the 4 years back and
reinstate his probation? I'm sorry that this is so long but I hope I explained everything
correctly so maybe someone can help me.

Thanks In Advance

The four years 'ESS' sentence was given with the understanding that he stay 'squeaky clean'. If he was not in full compliance with the law, he does the 4 years.

Being around any guns is a violation.

Even if he was found innocent of the 'felon with a firearm' charge, the ESS sentence should go into effect.
The new charge's standard of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt and the ESS violation is just preponderance of the evidence.

garrula lingua said:

The four years 'ESS' sentence was given with the understanding that he stay 'squeaky clean'. If he was not in full compliance with the law, he does the 4 years.

Being around any guns is a violation.

Even if he was found innocent of the 'felon with a firearm' charge, the ESS sentence should go into effect.
The new charge's standard of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt and the ESS violation is just preponderance of the evidence.

Click to expand...

Ok so the 4 years will still stand no matter what huh. I feel so bad for him but I guess thats what happends when you break the law. No ones perfect he just made a little mistake but now he has to pay for it and then put it behind him. Well thank you very much Garrula Lingua I really appreciate you takeing your time to help me out with my question I hope you have a great day.

So at his next court date what should he do? Because the public defender told him if he takes it to trial and looses he'll get the max which is 9 years. I don't feel that he would lose the case because he is being honest about the gun not being his and he really had no idea the gun was in the van. They also checked the gun for finger prints and said in court his finger prints where not on the gun. So although he wants to prove his innocence his biggest concern is trying to dismiss the 4 years or lessen the time. What should he do?

He always has the right to a trial.

Most Prosecutors would make an offer of the 4 years Execution of Sentence Suspended and drop the current charges - it's cost efficient (saves court & jury time) and the standard of proof is low.

Again, he has the right to a trial. Unfortunately, if he takes it to trial and loses, he can get consecutive time (time in addition to the 4 yrs).

He'll do either 50% or 80% or 85% time (and get credit for time served), so he'd be out a bit sooner than 4 yrs.

SIN EATER said:

He always has the right to a trial.

Most Prosecutors would make an offer of the 4 years Execution of Sentence Suspended and drop the current charges - it's cost efficient (saves court & jury time) and the standard of proof is low.

Again, he has the right to a trial. Unfortunately, if he takes it to trial and loses, he can get consecutive time (time in addition to the 4 yrs).

He'll do either 50% or 80% or 85% time (and get credit for time served), so he'd be out a bit sooner than 4 yrs.

Click to expand...

Yeah your right they gave him the 4 years with 80% plus 260 something days credit so he'll do about 2 and a half years I think it is, plus the time he's already been in there since November 7th I hope that goes towards the time they gave him to.

So basically even though he has a right to trial as everyone does maybe its best for him to play it safe and accept a deal if they decided to drop the current charges? Is that the only thing good if anything that could happen? It would be so hard for me to tell him that because he really is innocent but if thats whats best I will let him know so he can think about that option. I just wish there was something more we could do its just so hard because of the darn probation. Anyway thanks so much for your reply and your help its really appreciated.

Felon in possession of a firearm is a very serious offense. In May of this year a Los Angeles man was sentenced to 46 months for the same charge another California man got 15 years. The man that got 15 years also had the habitual offender tag. The case against your boyfriend seems pretty solid. He can expect to be convicted if he fights it. You need to realize that if there was a kilo of cocaine in his spare tire well and he said he didn't know it was there, he would still be charged.

Unfortunately for him, ownership is not the same thing as possession. He was in control of a vehicle that had a firearm inside of it. There is no way to argue that away. The case against him is not going to get dropped, its a federal case providing him with some time in the federal prison. The funds for the prosecution against your boyfriend comes from a different and much larger pool. Again, there is little to no chance the charges will be simply dropped because of his story and I am pretty sure it won't be the first time someone used the same story.