Understanding the legal process is crucial in sexual assault cases, especially in Los Angeles County, where both criminal and civil lawsuits are being filed, particularly in Hollywood and against athletes. Knowing when a case can be filed criminally or civilly is key, as often, the activity falls under both categories.
If you attack somebody with the intent to assault them sexually, you're going to be criminally charged if the police and prosecutors find out about it and can prove it. But also, on the back end, the other party can sue you civilly.
I often see that the party hires an attorney while the criminal case is ongoing or even before it begins, in an attempt to secure financial compensation related to the incident. Or they wait until the criminal case is done.
The person gets convicted or pleads guilty; then they use that conviction or guilty plea against the person to sue them civilly. To me, that is a prevalent thing.
Sexual Harassment
If somebody is sexually harassing another person, like at work, for example — bothering them, making stupid comments to them, making sexually-related comments to them — this probably is not going to be a filed criminal because there's no criminal activity involved in that type of scenario where it's more work-place sexual harassment versus unlawful sexual touching.
And that's the key. Usually, when you're talking about a sex crime, you're talking about somebody inappropriately touching another person.
Therefore, many of these civil harassment suits—even though the other party may dislike them or find them unwanted—aren't necessarily criminal. We will need some unwanted touching to elevate them to a criminal situation.
Another thing that I see going on a lot now is that women will be trying to get something from men by using sex, and then, when things go awry because the man doesn't want to pay them money, doesn't want to give them a job, or whatever the case may be.
Now, all of a sudden, the woman turns around and says that the man, impermissibly, had sex without her consent, and now they're going to the authorities, trying to claim a criminal charge.
So, obviously, in that scenario, we'd want to obtain proof that the woman is attempting to extort the man for money and that if the man had paid money, helped her with a job, or furthered her career.
There would have never been any criminal charges filed, but it was simply the fact that the man didn't do what he promised to do or what the woman believed he was going to do, which is why she turned on him and is now suddenly claiming that there was no consent.
So, this whole sexual assault area is very ripe for someone to be prosecuted criminally, so obviously, you don't want to get yourself in a position where someone is claiming you did something of a sexual nature that you did not do. This is why it's crucial to have the right attorney by your side. Your attorney will guide you through the legal process, advise you on your rights, and develop a defense strategy to protect your innocence.
Developing a Defense Strategy
If you find yourself in this scenario, you have to get in front of a criminal defense attorney like me who's familiar with these sexual assault-related offenses in Los Angeles County. We'll sit down. You give me the whole rundown of what happened, and then we'll develop our strategy to defend you properly, whether it's at the pre-filing stage, which happens frequently, so I'll speak with the police.
I can provide them with your version of events without you having to make a statement that could be misinterpreted or used against you, as I'll be the one conveying the information and acting as a buffer between you and the police officers.
Or, if it's a situation where the sexual assault charges have already been filed — and by the way, there's no such thing as really sexual assault charges even though a lot of times the prosecutors will talk that way, you're going to need to have some specific crime that the person committed related to whatever the prosecutors want to charge.
Consult With Our Defense Lawyers
So, if they're saying somebody assaulted somebody with the intent to rape them, that certainly is a crime under the Penal Code Section. However, the term' sexual assault' is often used in a broader sense, which can lead to confusion. In legal terms, sexual assault refers to any unwanted sexual contact or behavior. But again, this whole nebulous concept of sexual assault — what does that mean?
What did the person specifically do? And that's why when we get together, we break everything down to talk about it and see what type of investigation we can do to refute the charges against you.
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