Daily Archives: June 20, 2016

Aggravated Assault Case with Some Immigration Complications

Today in court I had a couple of cases I was working on.  The one which took up most of my morning was actually me trying to get off of an aggravated assault case.  A family hired me to help their family member who was charged with a serious felony.

We went back and forth for days trying to get him to bond out.  The problem was it involved an aggravated assault case that needed a protective order (restraining order).  In these types of aggravated assault cases they don’t put a bond until the individual sees a judge.  So finally he saw a judge and a bond was set, along with a court date.

The family was able to get the funds to bond him out, but unfortunately once he made it to the county jail from the processing center an Immigration ICE hold was placed on him.  An ICE hold is basically a federal hold placed under someone’s name that makes it impossible to bond them out.  They are held in the county jail until their case is over.  Once their case is over they are sent over to the federal immigration detention center where deportation proceedings are commenced.

Many times if we can “win” the criminal case, and if the individual has a clean record otherwise, there are certain immigration defenses that can help the person once they are with immigration.  Unfortunately, in this aggravated assault case the defendant has prior convictions that make him deportable from the country.  So even if the criminal case were to be dismissed, he would still be looking at being deported.

In these situations my job is the same, do the best I can to assist him in the criminal case.  At the end of the day, he is still facing a charge that carries a range of punishment from 2-20 years in prison.  If he gets sentenced to jail, he will have to serve that before he ever gets to immigration. Based on what I learned about the case, this person has a very good defense.  I was eager to help, but when the family found out that no matter what happens he would be deported, they decided it was best to just proceed with a court appointed lawyer.  I understand, and I wish that client the best.

Possession of Synthetic Marijuana

My other case was a possession of synthetic marijuana case and it was a quick reset as we are still waiting on some important evidence.  Tomorrow I have a very interesting new case with unique issues.  Time to start preparing for that.

Case Results

• Felony Aggravated Assault w/ Deadly Weapon – Withdrew from the case
• Felony Possession of Synthetic Marijuana – Reset