Probably one of my favorite memories in my 26-year career so far was a case where my client was charged with sexual battery.  He had gotten very intoxicated and did something stupid that he would normally not do.

No criminal record, he had kids and he really didn't want to register as a sex offender which is what is required for a sexual battery case.  That's what is required in Los Angeles county if you're convicted of a sexual battery.

So, that was my job.  He knew he had done something wrong.  He knew he was going to be punished, and obviously, he knew he had to take a conviction of a case that hopefully we could later get dismissed once he successfully completed probation, and there was no question he was successfully complete probation.

The issue was the sex registration.  What a lot of people don't realize in these sexual battery cases where they're trying to make you register as a sex offender, is that it's the charge which requires a sex registration typically, not the prosecutor just getting rid of it.  In other words, if you plead to that sexual battery you have to register as a sex offender.  So, the key was getting him a different charge.

I remember the head prosecutor in the particular court in Los Angeles county was a real jerk and would not move off the sex registration.  We basically waited until he retired and a new head prosecutor came in.

He was much more reasonable, much more of a level head, could see that my client was not a sexual predator, did not need to register as a sex offender, and finally was willing after many months of battling it out, because the prosecutors control the charges, not the judges.  Judges only control the sentence.  So, we needed the DA's office in this case to agree to give a different charge other than the sexual battery.

Fortunately, we were able to get it, and I'll never forget coming out of the DA's office and walking down the hallway of this particular courthouse and my client and his father were there and I said, we got it gentlemen and I remember them coming and giving me a big bear hug.

Both of them nearly killed me, and just how happy they were because he was going to be able to live out his dream of coaching his kids and interacting with his family.  He was going to be punished for what he did, but not punished to such a degree that it would affect him the rest of his life and pretty much ruin a lot of the thoughts that he had about his life and what he was going to do with his family.

That was such a great victory to me and it made me so happy because it was the right resolution and I was just glad that I was patient and waited until that prosecutor got out of there.  Sometimes you need a little bit of luck combined with skill in order to get the right resolution when it comes to a criminal case, and especially one like a sexual battery where registration is typically required.