Defense Before Charges Are Filed and After
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What most people do not realize about a sex crime accusation is that the single most consequential decision in these cases is whether the charge is filed as a misdemeanor or a felony. This decision is often made before anyone has spoken to a judge, and in Burbank it may be made by either of two separate prosecuting agencies. That decision drives everything downstream, including whether you end up on the sex offender registry and for how long.
WHO FILES SEX OFFENSE CHARGES IN BURBANK
Burbank is one of the few cities in Los Angeles County with its own criminal prosecutor, which splits these cases along an important line.
- The Burbank City Attorney's Office files misdemeanors. Its Prosecution Unit handles state misdemeanors arising in the city, which includes offenses like lewd conduct in public, solicitation, indecent exposure, and misdemeanor sexual battery.
- The Los Angeles County District Attorney files felonies. Burbank felonies are reviewed and filed by Deputy District Attorneys working from the Glendale branch, which is why a felony case here often carries a Glendale case number.
Both are heard at the Burbank Courthouse at 300 East Olive Avenue, a small building with only a few criminal departments.
Many sex offenses are wobblers, meaning they can be charged either way. Sexual battery under Penal Code 243.4 and child annoyance under Penal Code 647.6 are common examples. Persuading the District Attorney not to file a felony, so the case goes to the City Attorney as a misdemeanor instead, frequently changes the registration tier, and sometimes removes registration from the case altogether. That is the fight worth having, and it happens before the complaint is filed.
CHARGES WE DEFEND
- Sexual battery, Penal Code 243.4
- Rape, Penal Code 261
- Unlawful intercourse with a minor, Penal Code 261.5
- Forcible oral copulation, Penal Code 287
- Sexual penetration with a foreign object, Penal Code 289
- Lewd acts with a child under 14, Penal Code 288
- Arranging a meeting with a minor for a lewd purpose, Penal Code 288.4
- Annoying or molesting a child, Penal Code 647.6
- Possession of child pornography, Penal Code 311.11
- Indecent exposure, Penal Code 314
- Lewd conduct in public, Penal Code 647(a)
- Solicitation of prostitution, Penal Code 647(b)
- Loitering with intent to commit prostitution, Penal Code 653.22
- Pimping and pandering, Penal Code 266h and 266i
- Failure to register, Penal Code 290(b)
REGISTRATION IS USUALLY THE REAL STAKE
California ended blanket lifetime registration in 2021. The state now uses a three-tier system, and which tier attaches depends on the offense of conviction, which is precisely why the charge that gets filed matters so much.
- Tier One requires registration for at least 10 years, and covers lower-level offenses including misdemeanor sexual battery and most first-offense indecent exposure convictions.
- Tier Two requires at least 20 years, and covers mid-level offenses.
- Tier Three requires lifetime registration, and covers the most serious offenses, including rape and offenses against young children.
Registration is not just paperwork. Depending on the offense and tier, your information may appear on the public Megan's Law website, you must update your registration annually and within days of any move, and terms of probation or parole can include residency restrictions or electronic monitoring. Failing to register is itself a chargeable offense.
The tier system also created something worth knowing about: once the minimum period has run, Tier One and Tier Two registrants can petition the court to terminate the requirement. If you are already registering from an older conviction, that petition may be available to you now.
IF YOU ARE UNDER INVESTIGATION BUT NOT YET CHARGED
Sex offense investigations often run for weeks before anyone is arrested, and that period is both the most dangerous and the most useful part of the case.
The danger is that police in these investigations frequently use a pretext call, where the complaining witness telephones you at the direction of detectives while the call is recorded, and tries to draw out an apology or an admission. People say things on those calls meant to calm a situation down that read very differently in a transcript. If someone connected to an allegation calls you wanting to talk about it, that is the moment to stop and call a lawyer.
The same goes for detective interviews. There is no version of that conversation that helps you. Decline politely and get counsel.
The usefulness is that no charging decision has been made yet. Evidence can be preserved before it disappears, including text threads, call logs, location data, and messages that establish context or timing. Witnesses can be interviewed while memories are fresh. And a defense lawyer can present material to the reviewing prosecutor before filing, which is one of the few times the defense gets to speak first.
If the allegation arose at work, and in a studio town a great many do, there is usually a parallel HR or production investigation running on its own schedule. What you say there can end up in the criminal case. Those two tracks need to be handled together.
WHEN THE ALLEGATION IS FALSE OR DISPUTED
Most of these cases come down to credibility, because there is often no physical evidence and no witness beyond the two people involved. That cuts both ways, and it means the work is detailed rather than dramatic.
We look at what was happening around the allegation: a custody dispute, a breakup, a workplace complaint, an immigration application, or any other circumstance that gives an account a shape. We examine how the account has changed between the first report, the follow-up interview, and the preliminary hearing, because inconsistencies in the retelling are often more informative than the story itself. We pull the digital record, which is frequently the only neutral witness available. Where memory itself is at issue, particularly in allegations about events many years ago, expert testimony on memory and suggestibility may be appropriate.
And we hold the prosecution to its burden. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is a demanding standard, and a case built on one contested account frequently does not meet it.
CONTACT A BURBANK SEX CRIME ATTORNEY
Cyrus S. Tabibnia has been licensed in California since 2005 and appears regularly in Los Angeles County criminal courts. You work with him directly rather than being handed to an associate, and he speaks English, Persian, and Spanish. Consultations are confidential.
If detectives have contacted you, or someone has told you a report was made, call before you speak to anyone else.
