Accused of a Crime in California?

Hire Los Angeles Criminal Attorneys Jennifer B. Gardner and Mark McBride

Criminal law involves the government’s prosecution of persons who have allegedly violated a law and committed crimes. This is opposed to civil law, which involves individuals and organizations seeking to resolve legal disputes among themselves. In a criminal case, the prosecutor (i.e., the District Attorney, City Attorney or the Department of Justice) represents the government and files criminal charges. Whether you are involved in a state or federal criminal case, Los Angeles criminal attorneys Gardner + Associates can help you.

Gardner + Associates fights for the underdogs in criminal cases and represents an elite number of cases for which they can create winning strategies. An exclusive boutique-style law firm, Gardner + Associates provides a high level of client loyalty and worldly service. This business model is to be distinguished from a great many criminal law firms that operate on a volume basis.

Crimes

A crime consists of an act of omission or an act of commission, which violates a public law banning or ordering it. What is and what is not a crime is contained in a jurisdiction’s penal code statutes. Federal crimes are contained in the U.S. Code, while each state and city has their own laws, which define crimes.

There are four categories of crimes:

• Crimes against the individual
• Property crimes
• Crimes against justice
• Inchoate offenses (e.g., conspiracy, aiding and abetting a crime, and accessory after the fact)

Crimes against the person include assault, battery, robbery, kidnapping, rape, murder, and manslaughter. Property crimes include burglary, larceny, arson, embezzlement, false pretenses, extortion, forgery and computer crimes. Crimes against justice involve acts, which impede or pollute the judicial process such as obstruction of justice, bribery and perjury. And, inchoate crimes involve acts which lead to the commission of an additional offense such as solicitation, attempts, conspiracy and accessory after the fact. Los Angeles criminal attorneys Ms. Gardner and Mr. McBride, fearlessly defend against all these offenses.

Burden of Proof

The burden of proof in the above cases lies with the prosecution, who must prove that each part of an offense, as described in a statute, has been violated. Most crimes have at least two types of elements:

• A criminal act (actus reus)
• A specific mental state (mens rea)

For example, in the crime of common law battery, the offensive touching another individual with the intent to cause harm, the actus reus element is the harmful contact while the intent to cause harm is the mens rea. The law across the country is simply this: everyone is innocent before proven guilty, and the prosecution must convince the jury or judge beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of both the act and the mental state.

Criminal law can get very complex. Consult Los Angeles criminal lawyers Jennifer B. Gardner and Mark McBride of Gardner + Associates to represent you.