Child molestation cases are likely the most difficult to defend in front of a jury and they are among the most difficult to reach a reasonable settlement.  If that weren't enough, the consequences of losing a child molest trial are extremely onerous, a loss can very well result in a life sentence in prison, or a life sentence or a combination of prison and forced incarceration in a mental institution, not to mention lifetime registration as a sex offender if the client should ever be released from custody, which in turn restricts where a person can live and what that person can do for the rest of his or her life.  In a child molest trial constitutional rights are essentially thrown out the window because both the statutory law and case law are so focused on making it easy for the district attorney to win these kinds of cases.  An example is that any prior child molest allegation or accusation of sexual misconduct will very likely come into evidence even if the client does not testify.

          If you need to hire a lawyer for a child molestation case, you need a lawyer that has experience with child molestation cases and that has won child molestation cases before a jury.  Christine and Addison have not only done several child molestation trials, they have had a full acquittal in a child molest trial and acquittals in all child molestation charges and very favorable settlements in jury trials.  Trial success in these cases is important because only trial success is effective when negotiating a resolution of these cases with the district attorney.  Very few attorneys have ever even conducted a trial in this type case, so there's no reason for a district attorney to take an attorney seriously that says they're prepared to go to trial when the district attorney knows that the attorney doesn't have experience conducting a jury trial in this type of case.  So trial success is not just important if the case is eventually in front of jury, it's also important to be able to negotiate the case so it doesn't have to go in front of jury.

          Christine and Addison's child molestation trial successes and experience:

Jorge D.C., 1411049

• Charges:  Three counts of sexual acts with a child ten years old or younger, child rape (Penal Code § 288.7(a)) with lesser offenses of three counts of attempted sexual acts with a child ten years old or younger (Penal Code § 664/288.7(a)), lesser offenses of three counts of penetration of a person under fourteen (Penal Code § 289(j)), lesser offenses of three counts of attempted penetration of a person under fourteen (Penal Code § 664/289(j)) and lesser offenses of three counts of simple battery (Penal Code § 242).
• Exposure:  Jorge was facing forty-five years to life in prison.
• Outcome:  Despite a videotaped confession, Jorge was acquitted of all the child molestation-related counts by the jury.  He was only convicted of two misdemeanor lesser offenses of simple battery (the other count of misdemeanor simple battery was dismissed by the district attorney when the jury was hung on that count).  The two convicted counts did NOT carry sex offender registration.  He was given credit for time served on the two misdemeanor counts.

          This was a challenging trial because the investigating detective had coerced a false "confession."  Jorge had asked for an interpreter for the interrogation, but that request was ignored by the investigating detective and the interrogation was conducted in English, Jorge's second language.  The jury found the way the interrogation was conducted to be particularly offensive.  The alleged victim testified that an uncle had molested her and that it wasn't Jorge, despite that the district attorney pressed forward with full confidence that he would secure convictions and a life in prison sentence because the alleged victim had initially said that Jorge molested her.  The jury acquitted Jorge of all the charges except two counts of simple battery because Jorge told the jury that there were two times when he was bathing the child that he became frustrated with her not cooperating with taking a bath and that he set her in the bathtub a bit roughly.  Those charges were NOT in any way molestation related.

          Jorge and his family were very bothered that the actually child molester was not charged, they were also very bothered that Jorge was forever tainted by having been accused.  They asked Addison if there was any way that they could have it known that the jury found that the allegations were false allegations and if there was any way to get justice for the victim by having the actual molester prosecuted.

This is the Verdict Form for the lead charge.

Jorge was acquitted of all the molestation-related charges. 

He was only convicted of two counts of simple battery, given credit for time served, and released from jail.

This is the opening slide that Addison used in his closing argument.

The jury saw the truth and questioned if Casey would ever be prosecuted.

Antolin I.H., 1461668

Charges: Four counts of child molestation by means of force or fear (Penal Code § 288(b)(1)) with lesser offenses of three counts of attempted child molestation by means of force or fear (Penal Code § 664/288(b)(1)), lesser offenses of three counts of battery (Penal Code § 242) and lesser offenses of three counts of assault (Penal Code § 240), one count of attempted rape (Penal Code § 664/261(a)(2)) with a lesser of offense of battery (Penal Code § 242) and a lesser offense of assault (Penal Code § 240), one count of molesting a child that was fourteen or fifteen years old (Penal Code § 288(c)(1)) with a lesser offense of attempted molestation of a child fourteen or fifteen years old (Penal Code § 664/288(c)(1), with a lesser offense of battery (Penal Code § 242) and a lesser offense of assault (Penal Code § 240).

Exposure: Antolin was facing 48 years four months in prison.

Outcome: Despite a “confession,” Antolin was acquitted by the jury of all the felony counts and all the child molestation counts.  He was only convicted of a misdemeanor assault for pushing one of the accusers into a bush.

          This case was challenging because of the videotaped “confession.”  The interrogation was held in English despite English being his second language and having very limited communication skills in English.  Antolin had two nieces that accused of molesting them.  The evidence that we presented at trial was that Antolin was in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen and his nieces knew that.  They had a really trivial argument that resulted in Antolin pushing one of the nieces into a bush.  They then declared that they were going to call Immigration and make something up that would keep him from becoming a citizen. The jury acquitted Antolin of all charges except the misdemeanor assault of pushing his niece into a bush which he admitted.

          What particularly frustrated Antolin and his family was that the press had covered his arrest, but there was no press coverage at all when he was acquitted.  He specifically asked Addison if there was a way that he could tell the world that he was found not guilty and that the jury concluded that the allegations were false allegations.

This is Antolin, Addison and the investigator on the case.

This is the opening slide from Addison's closing argument.

The jury saw through the false allegations and understood that the "confession" was the result of coercion.

This is one of the many Not Guilty verdict forms from Antolin's case.

He was acquitted of all the felony counts and all the sex crime related offenses.

He had 25 acquitted counts in the case.

This is the only press that Antolin's case received, despite the extraordinary victory in the case, the was no press coverage of it

Felipe P., RIF108057

• Charges: Child molest by force or fear (Penal Code § 288(b)(1)) and ten counts of child molest (Penal Code § 288(a)).
• Exposure: Felipe was facing 20 years in prison.
• Outcome: Despite a videotaped confession, in the middle of the trial, Felipe was acquitted of five counts of child molest by the judge; he was then found not guilty of all the remaining counts by the jury.  He walked out of the courtroom with Addison, returned to work, and got on with his life.

          This case involved Felipe's teenage stepdaughter accusing him of molesting her.  Felipe was fully engaged in the raising of his stepdaughter, including discipline such as taking away privileges for poor behavior, Felipe's wife, the teenager's mother, did not like to engage in disciplining the teenager, she was able to do whatever she wanted unless Felipe took charge of maintaining order.  When the stepdaughter was getting to be an older teen she decided that she didn't like losing privileges because of poor behavior.  She then made false molestation accusations.  The challenge was that Felipe "confessed."  However the jury saw right through the confession.  The interrogation was in English despite Felipe asking for an interpreter and having limited understanding of English.  The interrogator was a very large white man, 6'8" and loomed over Felipe at 5'4", the jury was very bothered by how the interrogation was conducted.  Before the trial began the district attorney didn't understand why Felipe wouldn't accept her offer of six years prison when the case was in her opinion, "a slam dunk."  It turned out that the both the judge and the jury quickly saw through accuser's story.  During the trial, first the judge acquitted on about half the counts, then the jury acquitted on the rest of them.

          When Felipe and Addison left the courthouse after the verdicts he was concerned that everyone knew that he was accused and no one would know that the judge and jury found that the allegations were false allegations.

The verdict forms and Minute Order where Felipe was acquitted of all charges.

Lee M., RIF123536

(Even though Lee's case is public record, we're not using his full name because, after his first trial ended in a hung jury, he pled guilty to some of the less serious charges so he could finally get out of jail).

• Charges: Two counts of continuous child molest (Penal Code § 288.5), two counts of child molest (Penal Code § 288(a)), and two counts of child molest of a fourteen or fifteen-year-old (Penal Code § 288(c)).
• Exposure: Lee was facing 40 years eight months in prison.
• Outcome: There was a hung jury on all counts. I filed a motion to dismiss because the counts were hung.  The judge granted the motion for the two most serious charges.  Lee then pled guilty to the remaining counts to get out of jail and move on with his life after the judge indicated that he would give Lee credit for time served in jail if he pled guilty to the counts that were left.
  

Josef J., RIF131284

Charges: One count of attempted child molestation (Penal Code § 664/288(a)) and one count of indecent exposure (Penal Code § 314.1).

Exposure: Josef was facing eight years in prison.

Outcome: After opening statements the attempted child molestation and indecent exposure charges were dismissed by the district attorney. Josef pled guilt to two misdemeanor counts of child annoying.

Codey S., 1477699

Molestation and related cases with extremely favorable outcomes

without a trial

          These cases have VERY extreme consequences.  The exposure is often a life in prison sentence and can be hundreds of years to life in prison.  The myth that these kinds of cases are not aggressively prosecuted or that the consequences are light, is just that, a myth.  Christine and Addison have had very positive outcomes in cases without having to take the case to trial.

Gerald G., 1502241, on April 5, 2017 Settled his life sentence exposure case for probation.

          Most people are familiar with the landmark United States Supreme Court case  Gideon v.  Wainright (1963) 372 U.S. 335.  Gideon established that the right to an attorney meant a right to an appointed attorney if the person cannot afford to hire an attorney.  There is a juvenile equivalent of  Gideon with which all practitioners of juvenile defense are familiar.  That landmark United States Supreme Court case is  In re Gault (1967) 387 U.S. 1.  That child that was the subject of Gault, was as an old man accused of child molestation.  Addison was his lawyer.  He was facing spending the rest of his life in prison, more precisely 52 years to life in prison.  Gerry maintained his innocence and wanted nothing more than to fight the case with a jury trial.  Shortly before the trial was to begin he was offered probation and credit for time served (get out jail).  He was facing 52 years to life in prison if he lost at trial, and at his age even he won all but one or two counts and were to receive a much shorter prison sentence, it would still be a life sentence.  Addison's work on the case got him released from jail with probation.  Probation on any child molestation case is a huge victory, but it is even more so when the client is faced with life in prison as Gerry was.

This is Gerry and Addison after Addison saved him from a life in prison sentence and got him out of jail

This is Gerry with all the Addison and all the attorneys from the public defender's office

You can follow the press for Gerald from beginning to end here

Ramoan B., 1504038, On February 6, 2017 resolved his case probation with credit for time served, he was

facing twelve years prison

Daniel M., 1500744, On June 13, 2016 Saved from a life in prison sentence, resolved his case for eight years

Prison

Questions you should ask an attorney that you are considering hiring for a child molestation case:

• Have you done a child molest trial before?
• This question is important because a child molest trial involves complex legal issues and they are inevitably extremely emotional.  Somewhat like a murder trial, it requires specialized knowledge and experience.
• Addison has done nine child molestation trials, that may not sound like a lot, but there are very few defense attorneys that have done even one trial like this.  Christine has done a child molestation trial and a child trafficking trial.  Addison has also spend 102 court days in child molestation trials, if the average trial is five days that's the equivalent of 10 trials.  Christine has not only done a child molest trial, she did the first child trafficking case trial in Santa Barbara County.
• What were the results of your child molestation trials?
• This question is important because in a child molestation trial the defense has to be relentless and the attorney has to have the skills and experience to overcome the prejudices the jurors have after just having heard the charges.  If an attorney has won several child molestation trials, that attorney has the experience and skills to handle the level of complexity involved in a child molestation trial.
• Addison has had a full acquittal in a child molestation case where the client confessed on videotape and the child came into court and testified that she was molested.  He had an acquittal on all child molest-related charges, losing only two counts of misdemeanor simple battery, in a child molestation case where the client confessed on videotape and the child came into court and testified that she was molested.  He had yet another acquittal where the client confessed on videotape, but in that case the child testified that an uncle had molested her (despite that the district attorney pressed on because he was convinced that the child's initial statement accusing the client was the true statement).  In all criminal jury trials, the district attorney gets to file the charges and decide whether or not to have a trial.  They only do that with cases they believe they can win.  The result is that in most jurisdictions, the defense can expect to win no more than one in ten trials, and if that is the case, it may have a hung jury in one of twenty trials.  Addison has had a full and complete victory in three out of the eight child molestation trials has done and had positive outcomes in six of the nine child molestation trials he has done, he has had 39 acquitted counts, and these trials are really the most difficult trials to win.  If you find another attorney that has done the number of child molestation trials that Christine and Addison have done and that attorney has had more (verifiable) successful outcomes than Christine and Addison have had, and that attorney has had more clients go home free after a child molestation trial than Christine and Addison have had, hire that firm.  If you want the best possible chance of not going to prison for a long sentence or even a life sentence and potentially going home, you should contact Christine or Addison.
• Do you train other lawyers in your techniques for winning child molest trials?
• This question is important because typically only the leading lawyers in a field are invited to conduct training for other lawyers.
• Addison was a speaker at the California Public Defenders Association (CPDA) homicide defense training in 2011 to train on his winning trials by humanizing the client method.  He also has given that same training at the Riverside County Public Defenders Office, the Riverside County Barristers, the Santa Clara County Public Defenders Office, the Santa Barbara County Public Defenders Office, and the San Francisco County Public Defenders Office.   He was a speaker at the CPDA homicide defense training in 2012 to train on utilizing a neuropsychologist in a homicide case.  All these skills and techniques that he teaches are easily utilized in child molestation trials.
• How long were the child molestation trials you've done, and how many days of defense did you present?
• These questions are important because although some cases just call for a short trial, a short trial can also mean that the prosecution was not sufficiently challenged or that no defense was presented.
• A child molestation trial that lasts two, three or four court days is reason for concern because it's an indicator that the prosecution is not being thoroughly challenged and a complete defense is not being presented.  Addison has spent 102 court days in child molestation trials and Christine has 42 court days in child molestation and child trafficking cases.  They have a success rate in child molestation and related trials that is really unparalleled.