What a Violating Criminal Case Probation Really Means

If an individual is being charged with a criminal case, there is always a chance that the judge is going to order probation. There is a genuine myriad of criminal case types and some of those imply probation. One way or the other, probation, although not the most convenient sentence, is a far better option than some of the standard sentences that may even include prison time.

With that said, there are two types of probation a criminal court can order – informal probation and formal probation. If a person committed a misdemeanor offense, chances are, he will be sentenced to informal probation. Petty theft will imply informal probation, which means that the offender will be unsupervised. However, if we are talking about felonies, such as hit and run, formal probation comes into play. This is when the offender will need to check up with his probation officer. Furthermore, this type of probation may be applied after serving the jail sentence, depending on the circumstances.

Generally speaking, there are two types of probation violation (PENAL CODE SECTION 1191-1210.5) – external and internal violation. If a person fails to pay a fine, to submit him or herself to obligatory awareness classes, fail a drug test or will not meet his or her probation officer, it is considered an internal probation violation. However, if the offender is going to commit a similar crime during his or her probation period, it is considered an external probation violation.

If a person is going to violate the terms and conditions of probation, the judge will issue a warrant for his or her arrest. At times, a person is going to receive a notice about it, but in most cases he or she will simply be arrested. Furthermore, the judge is not obliged to reinstate probation and may or may not add new probation conditions or sentence the person to jail. The sentence will very much rely on what type of probation condition the individual failed to follow and the judge is going to base his verdict on it. For instance, an individual, who simply forgot to pay a small fine, is going to be judged mildly, whereas a person, who did not present himself for jail time is going to receive a much harsher sentence. People, who did not complete the obligatory classes, are going to have a whole lot more trouble than those, who failed to pay a fine on time.

In the end, if you or your loved ones were accused of probation violation, it is absolutely crucial to get in touch with a qualified as well as genuinely experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorney at the earliest opportunity. He will appear in court on your behalf and will do his very best to reinstate your probation in order for you to avoid all the harsh legal consequences. He is going to work with the judge and prosecution to minimize the sentence or to get the case dismissed to begin with.

Arrested for a violating your probation? Contact our law firm immediately to avoid harsh penalties!