One of the biggest problems for people is keeping their spirits up, keeping their faith up because they've lost control of their future once they're charged with a California criminal case. They could be facing jail or prison time, a criminal record, and the loss of fundamental rights, and their future becomes dim because they're not sure what will happen. They lose control, and once you lose power, you lose faith.

So, to keep the faith, I think about this all the time, and I try to guide my clients through tough times — you've got to believe in something sight unseen.  You've got to think that there is a resolution out there for you:

• whether it be a jury trial and a not-guilty verdict, or
• some negotiated plea by your attorney.

I think having a great criminal defense attorney by your side who has a lot of experience and understands you, what you need, and your case. Further, a lawyer who has dealt with the judge and the prosecutor that you will be in front of.

It can lock you into a position where you can have some faith because you can say, “you know what, I've got a great attorney on this thing.  I'm not an attorney, so I'm not going to be able to prosecute the case myself. What I can do is, I can hire an excellent criminal attorney and let them take over — let them help guide me through.”  That starts to get a foothold or a stranglehold on faith for you. Our Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers will explain further below.

What's the Best That Can Happen?

Also, taking some mental steps and saying, what's the worst that can happen in this situation? I think a lot of people come in and ask me that question, and I used to say; I don't understand why people keep coming in and asking what's the worst that can happen:

• why don't you ask me what's the best that can happen?
• why are they looking at the worst possible scenario instead of the best possible scenario?

And I finally realized that they're just trying to logic things out for themselves, and I agree. Look at the worst that can happen, accept the worst, and say, okay, the worst has happened.  That will happen to me because that helps you begin to deal with your case and your situation.

Once you accept the worst that will happen, you can start to live with it.  You begin to say, “okay, I can live with that.  I can handle that.  I can deal with that.  I can come back from that.” Then, once you've accepted that and know you have a great defense attorney on the case, say to yourself, alright, is there anything that I can do to improve my situation, and there's always something you can do.

Prefiling Intervention Mitigation Package

Sometimes we put together a mitigate package where we get some letters from family and friends who know you.  Sometimes that will help, and this is known as a prefiling intervention.

Other times, dealing with your criminal defense attorney and helping your attorney to make some mighty decisions in your case is the thing to do.  It can be all sorts of different things that you can do to help yourself. So, figure out what you can do to improve your situation.  A lot of times, your attorney will tell you.  I tell people, here's what you can do:

• talk to your pastor and ask him to write a friendly letter about you;
• talk to your friends and family and tell them you need something to show what good character you have.

We get that mitigation package together, cooperate with your attorney, do what your attorney tells you to do, and now you're starting to improve your situation.

Retain the Best Criminal Defense Lawyer

Hire the best criminal defense lawyer in California.  Find somebody who knows what they're doing and has a lot of experience. I love to meet people.  I want to hear your side of the story.  I also want to listen to the other side of the story.  Let's not just leave it at your side of the story because your side of the story is only half of the puzzle.

You've got to give your attorney an objective perspective.  Please don't lie to them.  Be honest with them.  Tell them the truth about what's going on so they can be in a position to help you. So, once you've done that, you know what you're facing, you know what you can do to help yourself, and you have chosen a great attorney to:

• champion your rights,
• your interests,
• your reputation,
• your freedom and
• all the essential things to you, then let it go.

There's nothing else you can do.  Now you can have faith that you're going to end up with the best result because you've done everything you can do. Why are you going to beat yourself up and torture yourself over something that you don't control anymore? Once you have got that great attorney by your side and feel confident that you've got somebody who knows they're going, you can then let it go.  You can then say:

• You know what, I've done what I can do;
• I'm not going to worry about it anymore, cause all worrying right now is going to do I eat away at me;
• it's going to make me feel sick;
• it's going to make me feel bad, and it's not going to solve my problem.

What's going to solve my problem is having faith and confidence in my attorney and trust and confidence in myself, and faith and belief in a higher power that will see me through this.”

Envision Best Possible Resolution to Your Criminal Case

Every morning when you wake up, envision the resolution you want in your mind.  Envision the result that you want. If you keep doing that, eventually you're going to get that or something very close to that, because once you put your hands in your attorney, put your hands in your faith, in the person that you believe in, then there's nothing else you can do — you've done what you can do.

So, just continuing to worry about things doesn't make any sense. I hope this little piece of information has helped you.  I don't think this information is limited to criminal defense cases in Los Angeles or anywhere.

I think it has to do with life.  If you want to live a solid life, if you're going to get what you want to get in life, you must have faith and believe in something sight unseen, and that's not easy to do. It's not easy because people often want to think about the negative, about the worst things in life, about the horrible things about, “Oh My God, what if it goes this way?”

Instead of saying, “you know, it's not going to go that way.  It's going to go the way I want.  I'm going to be successful.  I'm not going to think about the negative.  I'm going to think about the positive.”

Because if we think about the positive, you envision the best — you expect the positive — that's what you will get.  If you think about the negative, if you think about the worst thing that can happen, that's probably what you'll get.

What we think about every day and what our emotions cause us to believe in is what we're going to get, and if you're thinking about good things and positive things, that's what you're going to get. I wish you all the best in your case.  If you need the help of a great criminal defense attorney, you've come to the right place.  Take the first step.  Pick up the phone.

Ask for a meeting with Ron Hedding of the Hedding Law Firm.  I stand at the ready to help you. Hedding Law Firm is a criminal defense law firm based in Los Angeles County, and we offer a free case consultation by phone or contact form.