Prepared to Handle Any Case

Our client was facing a serious charge involving fraud and deceit: filing a false police report. Due to a language barrier and some overzealous and aggressive interrogation techniques by the Pleasanton Police, what started as our client attempting to find out information about her duties under a different case, she ended up being arrested and taken to jail!

After a number of contentious pretrial hearings and discussions with a number of different deputy district attorneys, we decided to set the case for trial. Just before trial, we were able to work it out so that our client merely performed 30 hours of community service, had to continue to be a good citizen for 6 months longer and commit no new law violations, and the DA completely dismissed the case. She now has no record of any criminal convictions and can put this nightmare behind her.

Our client was passenger in the car with his girlfriend and both were the victims of a road rage incident where the other car followed them into their apartment complex and partially blocked him in. This understandably scared him, so he decided to get out and find out what was going on. Because he feared for his safety, he grabbed the only thing available inside of his car, one of his work tools, a socket wrench and got out of the car to try and scare away the other driver and passenger. When he came around to the driver's side of the aggressor's car the driver began to get out and move towards him, so he blocked the aggressor in a defensive manner. Because he still had his house keys in his hand, the aggressor suffered a very minor abrasion on their thumb. The District Attorney charged my client, who was merely defending his family, with 2 misdemeanors: The violent crime of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Vandalism for the minor damage to the car. After a long series of negotiations with the attorney for the people, we were able to achieve a very good result in that the assault charges were dismissed and our client entered a plea only to the vandalism charge which carried with it a sheriff work program informal court probation and a fine instead of jail time. Most importantly, he will avoid having any violent crimes on his record. This case demonstrates the importance of having competent legal counsel at your side as our client was merely defending his family, yet found himself facing very serious criminal charges when he was not the aggressor.

Our client was stopped by the California Highway Patrol after almost swerving into a 18 wheeler. He admitted to smoking a blunt just 30 minutes prior to driving. District attorney charged with driving while under the influence of a drug as a misdemeanor. After intense negotiations with the district attorney, the people's first offer was a "Wet Reckless." After further negotiation, we were able to achieve a standard reckless driving charge, which resulted in only informal court probation only, and a very small fine instead of jail, mandatory DUI classes, large fines and mandatory license suspension. This is also important because, unlike a "wet reckless," a standard reckless driving charge is not "priorable," meaning if the client should pick up a DUI within the next 10 years it will only be his first instead of his second.

Our client was charged with driving on a suspended license as a misdemeanor in addition to several other driving violations. After long negotiations with the District Attorney's office, we were able to argue for The People to drop all misdemeanor charges and the client pled to only ONE infraction charge with the balance of the complaint DISMISSED. Instead of paying thousands of dollars in fines and facing potential jail time, the client only needed to pay one small fine which we arranged a payment plan on.

Client DD was facing his 3rd DUI in less than 5 years. He was arrested with a high Blood Alcohol Content of 0.21, which, with the recent past DUI convictions, meant the District Attorney would be seeking a stiff sentence with mandatory jail time.

Mandatory jail time on a 3rd DUI has a MINIMUM sentence of 120 days jail that cannot be served through the Weekend Work Program / Sheriff's Work Program.

Such a long jail term meant the client would certainly lose his job.

The Arant Law Group, APC worked first to secure the client's wellbeing and got him enrolled in a detoxification / inpatient alcohol treatment center.

Because his client works full-time and cares for his young daughter, Mr. Arant also negotiated with the District Attorney and court to avoid his client being taken into custody to set bail, which is usually mandatory in a 3rd DUI scenario.

Mr. Arant arranged to avoid bail setting by arranging for the client to be placed on an electronic monitor known as a Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor or "SCRAM" bracelet, which ensures that the individual being monitored does not consume any alcohol while in the program.

Due to the negotiations by The Arant Law Group, APC, and the client's excellent progress in the difficult path of recovery from substance abuse, Mr. Arant worked out a deal where the client served his sentence through weekend jail at the North Alameda County Jail.

This was extremely important for the client because it meant the client could keep his job and work during the week to continue to support his family.

Another great victory for the defense!

Client ST was charged with 2 Felony counts of California Health and Safety Code Section 11350 - Possession of a Controlled Substance.

Client fell asleep at the wheel of his SUV while driving home from a friend's house in Union City and flipped his vehicle off the side of the road. Upon contact by police, Xanax pills were found in his wallet and several ecstasy pills were found in his vehicle.

Although the initial negotiations by Mr. Arant with the Alameda County District Attorney resulted in a good offer of one misdemeanor count of Health and Safety Code Section 11350 - Possession of a Controlled Substance, Mr. Arant knew that his client was a student who hoped to transfer to a 4 year college soon and being on a probation for a criminal drug offense would make it difficult, if not impossible to transfer to the schools of his choice.

After additional negotiation with the District Attorney and a conversation with the District Attorney and Judge in the Judge's chambers, Mr. Arant was able to negotiate for a Deferred Entry of Judgement, which meant that as long as the client did not get any new offenses for a period of several months, Mr. Arant and the client could come back to court at the end of that time and get the case dismissed. This meant the client would not be on probation during that time and would therefore not be hindered in his application to schools / jobs by any criminal record - an excellent and hard-fought victory for the defense!

Client J.R. was overly tired after a long night of drinking, and thought that after a substantial amount of sleep she would be okay to drive home from her friend's house. However, not long after getting on the freeway, she began to get very sleepy and felt the safest thing to do would be to pull over and "sleep it off" on the side of the freeway. Although this is certainly safer than continuing to drive, it alerted the CHP, who encountered her pulled over and stopped behind her to do a "welfare check."

Although the police typically need a reason to contact you, such as alleging that you committed a vehicle code violation while driving like speeding, swerving, running a red light, or driving without your headlights on, the "Community Caretaker" exception allows the police to contact any person who may appear to be in danger or in need of assistance, such as any person pulled over on the side of the freeway.

After contacting our client, the CHP officer detected the presence of alcohol on her person, and asked her to complete a series of roadside Field Sobriety Tests. She completed those tests, and lawfully refused the roadside Preliminary Alcohol Screening test, (the handheld breathalyzer). The CHP officer arrested her on suspicion of DUI and took her to the police station to draw her blood and then booked her on DUI charges

Her Blood Alcohol Content came back at .19, nearly 2.5 times the legal limit, so our client faced a possibility of up to 20 days jail and the 9 month DUI school. However, after careful negotiation with the Santa Clara County District Attorney, we obtained an excellent result where our client would only serve FOUR days of Sheriff's Work, (Sheriff-supervised community service), NO JAIL and a requirement to complete the 3 month DUI school, which is the minimum school term for a DUI!

Client with a case in Pleasanton Court was facing DUI charges. Her car had run out of fuel on the freeway, so she had pulled over to the right - hand side and waited for her boyfriend to bring her some more gas. While waiting for him, the CHP came by to do a welfare check to make sure she was ok.

The CHP officer detected the odor of alcohol and then conducted the standard Field Sobriety Tests. Our Client performed well on the physical tests, but unfortunately blew a .12 at the roadside Preliminary Alcohol Screening (P.A.S.) test, which necessitated bringing her to the local jail for further testing. At the jail, she blew a .11 on the breathalyzer, which meant she would be arrested for DUI.

The client is a single mother who works 7 days a week to support herself and her family, so she absolutely needed the best possible defense team to reduce these charges.

After reviewing all of the discovery in the case, The Arant Law Group, APC successfully negotiated for a WET/RECKLESS, a charge with much better consequences for the client since there would be absolutely no jail time, sheriff's work, or community service, which means she would not have to take any days off of work. The fine is cut in half, and she is required to complete only the 12 Hour DUI school vs the 30 Hour class. Our client left with tears of joy and our office pleased with the justice served.

Santa Clara County is extremely tough on crime, especially DUIs, and even tougher on multiple DUI offenders.

My client was facing his 3rd DUI with a BAC of 0.23, nearly 3 times the legal limit. He also had 3 prior Drunk in Public charges (PC 647(f)), with one even occurring earlier this year. At arraignment, the DA stated she wanted to remand my client into custody due to him being a "clear danger to the community" but I was able to negotiate a possibility of a low bail amount and put the issue over to the next hearing 4 weeks later so my client could remain out and work.

Meanwhile, I had my client begin attending AA classes immediately, seek outpatient therapy through his health care provider, and begin the process of enrollment into a Sober Living Environment to attempt to lower the amount of any actual jail time.

At the next hearing, I had my bail bondsman at the ready to post bail at the courthouse so my client would not actually see the inside of a jail cell prior to sentencing. However, due to my efforts, I negotiated with the judge and DA for the client to walk out of the courthouse WITHOUT having to post any bail!

Even better, although the DA was seeking 180 days jail (mandatory minimum of 120 days for the 3rd DUI + 60 days), which meant my client would lose his job, I worked out a deal where my Client will serve two separate 30 day sentences which will be 60 days apart, so he can return to work in between so he can keep his job. He will wear an electronic SCRAM bracelet to monitor his blood alcohol levels while out of custody, which helps ensure he will not drink any alcohol when he is physically out of jail.

Perhaps even more importantly, I encouraged him to seek counseling and perform community service voluntarily to show the court that he is both remorseful about his past mistakes, and also grateful for the opportunity to remain out of custody and serve his community.