Long Beach Criminal Defense Lawyer

Being arrested and charged with a crime or DUI can be a traumatic experience. You may be facing jail time, fines, fees and other penalties. But you also risk your reputation, losing your job, your license, and impacting your loved ones.

Misdemeanor and felony criminal charges can have life-changing consequences. Our experienced Long Beach criminal defense attorney and Long Beach DUI attorney will build a vigorous defense and fight to beat your criminal charge.

There is no substitute for experience and knowledge when your future is at stake. We are here to navigate you through the justice system and weather the storm:

• Our lawyers are skilled former prosecutors that know the legal system and have over 65 years of combined experience.
• We understand the Long Beach courthouse and how prosecutors and judges work there. Having experience in both Federal and California state courts, we can confidently handle any criminal or DUI case.
• We have an excellent track record in LA and Long Beach courts.
• We will give your case the personal time and attention it deserves. It all starts with a FREE consultation, where we learn details about your case and your objectives.

If you’re facing any felony or misdemeanor crime, DUI or DUI with injury, we can help. We can also work to try and get charges reduced or dismissed before they’re filed.

There are many ways to resolve a criminal charge. The primary goal is to achieve the most favorable outcome possible. That can be achieved via a case dismissal, a skillfully negotiated plea deal or not guilty verdict in a hard-fought court trial.

Once you’ve been arrested in Long Beach, you have rights during the process. After arrest, prosecutors must then decide what type of criminal charge to file, based upon the category and seriousness of the offense as follows:

• Infractions are petty offenses punished by fines that do not involve jail time penalties. Traffic offenses are the most common infractions. If you’re charged with an infraction, you will not have the right to a jury trial and the government does not have a duty to provide a public defender.
• Misdemeanor offenses are punishable by up to 364 day jail sentences and fines up to $2,000. Examples of misdemeanor offenses include: battery, disorderly conduct, domestic violence, drug possession, drunk in public, DUI, indecent exposure, juvenile crimes, petty theft, prostitution, receiving stolen property, and shoplifting.
• Felony offenses carry more severe penalties such as prison sentences between 1 year to life or even a death sentence. Fines vary widely depending on the nature of the offense. Example felony offenses include: burglary, domestic violence, drug crimes, DUI with great bodily injury, embezzlement, federal crimes, grand theft, homicide, insider trading, manslaughter, robbery, sex crimes, violent crimes and white collar crimes.
• Wobbler offenses can be filed by the District Attorney as either a misdemeanor or felony, depending upon the facts of the case, prior convictions and presence of aggravating factors. The most common wobbler offenses include: assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, child endangerment, child pornography, criminal threats, DUI with injury, forgery, grand theft, hit and run, lewd acts with a minor, sexual battery, spousal battery, stalking, statutory rape and vehicular manslaughter.

Defendants in California are subject to a “Three Strikes” sentencing law which can significantly increase the prison term for multiple convictions. The law requires that any third strike offender convicted of a serious or violent felony receive a state prison sentence of 25 years to life.

If you are looking for expert criminal defense and compassionate lawyers committed to fighting for you, call (562) 800-4080 for a Free consultation.

We offer affordable fees and flexible payment plans.

Criminal convictions for non-US citizens for many types of crimes can cause deportation and make an immigrant inadmissible. While crimes of moral turpitude and aggravated felonies cause the most problems, visas can be revoked just for getting arrested.

Noncitizens must be very careful when facing a criminal or DUI charge. Most crimes are prosecuted under state law, whereas immigration law is federal law. It is critical that you hire a lawyer that is an expert in both criminal and immigration law.

Tsion Chudnovsky is a top Long Beach criminal immigration lawyer skilled in defending immigrants charged with crimes in state and federal courts. She knows how to build successful criminal defense strategies while minimizing immigration consequences.

Ms. Chudnovsky represents any noncitizen including DACA recipients, green card permanent residents, international F1 visa students, undocumented immigrants and all visa holders (H-1b, E-2, EB-2, L-1 and L-2 visas) facing criminal charges.

Call (562) 800-4080 to schedule a Free consultation.

All professional licensees including registered nurses, medical doctors and dentists need to be extremely careful when facing criminal allegations or charges. The DCA Division of Investigation and licensing boards carefully scrutinize alleged crimes, complaints and misconduct.

Arrests, criminal charges and misconduct allegations can cause license investigations and disciplinary actions that put your license and practice ability to work at risk.

How your criminal defense case is handled can directly affect the license investigation and disciplinary process. Professional licensees charged with a crime should hire a lawyer that is an expert in both criminal defense and professional license defense law.

Robert K. Weinberg is an experienced criminal defense attorney and Long Beach professional license defense attorney skilled at defending all healthcare licensees:

• Long Beach medical license defense attorney
• Long Beach nursing license defense attorney
• Long Beach pharmacist license defense attorney
• Long Beach dental license defense attorney
• Long Beach chiropractic license defense attorney

Mr. Weinberg represents professional licensees facing any criminal allegation including: Long Beach nurse DUI defense, medical doctor DUI, DEA registrant investigation, nurse criminal defense, nurse disciplinary actions, doctor criminal defense, Nurse Practice Act violations, nurse license defense, dentist DUI, Medical Board investigation, medical license criminal defense and dental license defense.

Call (562) 800-4080 to schedule a consultation.

Getting arrested for DUI in Long Beach is a serious matter that can risk your drivers license, your record and have a major impact on your life. But an arrest does not have to mean you will be convicted. Our Long Beach DUI attorney team has over 65 years of combined experience handling thousands of DUI cases.

Challenging a DUI almost always makes more sense than just pleading guilty. Even a simple first offense DUI in California has serious DUI penalties. There are also collateral consequences that can affect you for years.

As former prosecutors and public defenders, we use our inside knowledge of the system in your defense. We know how the DA will build their case for 23152 vc, how to find weaknesses and what they’ll need to see in order to dismiss or reduce the charges.

Usually we will start your defense by searching for evidentiary or technical reasons to get the case dismissed. DUI cases can be challenged by using legal arguments, objections or motions that may have nothing to do with whether you were actually over the legal blood alcohol BAC limit.

If it is not possible to get the charges dismissed, your DUI defense lawyer will then negotiate lowering the charges and/or penalties you face. The best outcome us typically secured without holding a trial. But there are instances when the prosecutor is unreasonable and a trial is the best course of action. Our highly experienced trial lawyers will effectively defend you in every scenario.

Our Long Beach drunk driving defense lawyers can usually make all court and DMV admin per se hearing appearances in your place for misdemeanor DUI charges. This can save you and your loved ones the annoyance of having to go to court.

There are many ways that driving under the influence cases can be charged, depending on the number of prior offenses, the intoxicating substance and whether there was an accident or injury. Our team has the expertise to handle every DUI charge, including:

• Misdemeanor first DUI
• 2nd, 3rd or 4th DUI
• Felony DUI
• DUI with injury
• Driving under the influence of any drugs
• Commercial license DUI
• DUI involved accident with property damage
• Non-US citizen DUI with immigration issues
• Vehicular manslaughter and “Watson murder” cases
• Hit and run DUI
• Driving without a license
• Wet reckless

The consequences for DUI conviction can increase substantially if DUI is found to be the cause of an accident with injury. It is important to hire a top Long Beach DUI injury attorney when facing these serious cases.

California Vehicle Code 23152(a) and 23152(b) specify that charges should be increased from misdemeanor to felony DUI if there are injuries. Long Beach prosecutors typically file DUI injury charges as 23153 VC felonies, even for minor injuries.

Conviction of a felony DUI offense can bring serious consequences, including a prison sentence, felony criminal record and a financial restitution award for the victim. Our experienced lawyers know how to attack these tough cases and protect your rights.

You only get one chance to defend yourself. Call (562) 800-4080 for a Free Consultation to review your case and effective defense strategies.

Felony DUI convictions can have serious penalties that include mandatory prison sentence of up to 3, 4, 6 or even 10 years. While driving under the influence is usually charged as a misdemeanor, DUI felony charges can be triggered by:

1. Repeat DUI offenses: fourth DUI or prior conviction for felony DUI.
2. DUI involved accident with injury.
3. Vehicular manslaughter.

Chudnovsky Law attorneys have extensive experience implementing effective defense strategies to fight these challenging charges. We have a long track record of successfully resolving tough felony DUI charges.

If you are facing a felony DUI in Long Beach, contact us for a free consultation.

While there are many vehicle code statutes that can apply in DUI cases, the two most commonly used DUI charges are contained in California Vehicle Code 23152 vc:

23152(a) vc

• Definition: Driving with alcohol-impaired physical or mental abilities such that you are unable to drive as well as a cautious, sober person.
• How is this proven? This subjective standard is not based upon a blood alcohol level test. A prosecutor must use other evidence such as police officer testimony, dash cam or body cam video, or witness testimony. Police testimony would usually discuss sobriety test performance, observed driving behavior, what you said to the officer, smell of alcohol, slurring speech, red or watery eyes, and other physical evidence.

23152(b) vc

• Definition: Driving a vehicle in California with a BAC level of .08% or higher.
• How is this proven? This “per se” standard requires that the prosecutor prove your blood alcohol level was .08% or higher while you were driving the vehicle. The DA must show “probable cause” for the traffic stop, provide a valid BAC level test, and prove you were driving the vehicle while your BAC was above .08%.

Law enforcement often file both 23152(a) and 23152(b) charges in DUI arrests to give the DA options when prosecuting the case.

For an explanation of all DUI laws, visit our California DUI Laws Guide to review all the DUI California Vehicle Codes including: 23152(c) vc, 23152(d) vc, 23152(e) vc, 23152(f) vc, 23152(g) vc, 23153 vc, 21221.5 vc and 21200.5 vc.

Penalties for DUI conviction in Long Beach can vary significantly depending on the DUI charge, your prior record and whether there was any accident or injury.

Sentencing can include various levels of fines, jail or prison time, DUI classes, license suspension and probation terms. In most instances it is possible to obtain a restricted license that allows driving with an ignition interlock device (IID) in your vehicle.

Your DUI defense attorney will work to get the DUI penalties reduced or eliminated by working to get the charge reduced or dismissed. Your lawyer can also negotiate with the prosecutor to make the case as to why reduced penalties should apply to you.

Court penalties for each type of DUI are as follows:

• First DUI penalties →
• Second DUI penalties →
• Third DUI penalties →
• Commercial license DUI penalties →
• Felony DUI penalties →
• Foreign citizen DUI penalties →

Besides DMV and court-imposed penalties, there are other collateral consequences caused by DUI conviction. Immigration, certifications, insurance, career prospects, and professional license such as nursing and medical licenses can all be affected.

If a DUI lawyer is unable to get your DUI dismissed, Long Beach DUI court judges at Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse will usually require that you enroll in an approves DUI program for 3 to 18 months, depending on your case.

Los Angeles County has a list of approved programs throughout southern California. The three approved programs in Long Beach are:

Alcohol Education and Recovery Center (website)
1355 S. Redondo Ave, Suite 2, Long Beach, CA 90804. Phone: (562)986-5046

Harbor Area High Gain, Inc.
315-A E. 11th St, Long Beach, CA 90813. Phone: (562)436-9801

Safety Consultant Services, Inc. (website)
25518 Long Beach Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90805. Phone: (562)428-6426

Chudnovsky Law’s multi-lingual criminal defense lawyers are native Spanish, French, Italian, Hebrew, Portuguese and Amharic speaking lawyers. Our firm offers multi-lingual representation for immigrant noncitizens in DUI, criminal defense and immigration cases.

• Abogado criminalista | Abogado criminal Long Beach
• Abogado de DUI Long Beach (en Español)
• Avocat criminel | Avocat penaliste Los Angeles (Français)
• Avocat DUI Long Beach (Français)

Chudnovsky Law represents students for DUI and criminal defense at all universities in LA county including: California State University Long Beach, Long Beach City College, DeVry University, and the American University of Health Sciences. International F1 student visa DUI arrests trigger a variety of problems since an F1 visa is revoked due in most instances when there is any criminal arrest with fingerprinting.

International students facing criminal charges should speak with an experienced criminal defense lawyer and immigration attorney at Chudnovsky Law in order to protect their ability to continue to study in the United States.

Chudnovsky Law – Criminal & DUI Lawyers is located at 309 Pine Ave Suite 200, Long Beach, CA 90802. We are near Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse. You can call us at (562) 400-4080, we are open 24 hours.

When looking for a criminal defense or DUI lawyer near me, note that we serve clients throughout Los Angeles County, Long Beach and surrounding areas including: North Long Beach, Wilmington, Downtown, San Pedro, Poly High District, West Side, Wrigley, Hellman, Bixby Area, Belmont Heights, Torrance and Naples. Our criminal defense lawyers in Long Beach are available 24/7 to help.

Getting to Chudnovsky Law from Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse is easy, just follow these simple driving directions. First, head north on Magnolia Ave toward W 3rd St. Turn right on W 4th St, then turn right on Pine Ave, Chudnovsky Law will be on your right.

Our senior attorneys have decades of experience guiding individuals and corporations through the dangerous waters of the criminal justice system.

We have been recognized as Top 100 Trial Lawyers by National Trial Lawyers and rated best criminal defense lawyers and best Long Beach DUI lawyers by Expertise.com:

Tsion Chudnovsky

Highly skilled in criminal defense and immigration law and their complex intersection for foreign citizens. Tsion is a recognized authority in criminal defense, DUI defense and criminal immigration law for both US and foreign citizens. Fluent in Spanish, French and Italian. She has practiced law for over 17 years. Read bio →

Robert K. Weinberg

Highly skilled former government prosecutor and trial lawyer that has unparalleled courtroom experience and legal knowledge from handling more than 5,000 cases and jury trials over the last 30 years. Robert is a strategic and tenacious defense attorney with an impressive track record of wins in tough cases.

Mr. Weinberg is an authority in state and federal criminal defense, DUI and professional licensing defense. His license defense practice represents medical doctors, nurses, dentists and other healthcare licensees accused of crimes or misconduct. Fluent in Spanish, Italian, Hebrew and Portuguese. Read bio →

Suzanne M. Crouts

Highly experienced criminal defense attorney who has successfully defended more than 1,500 cases and court trials. Suzanne is an accomplished criminal defense trial lawyer known and respected by Long Beach judges and prosecutors alike. She has been practicing criminal defense law for over 19 years. Read bio →

David A. Stein

Passionate advocate for clients accused of any DUI or criminal offense. David has a broad range of experience in all aspects of criminal and DUI defense, and is known as a fierce protector of his client’s rights. Read bio →

Delivering excellent case results and customer service has allowed our team of lawyers to achieve 5-star ratings on:

• Martindale-Hubbell 
• Google Reviews 
• Findlaw 
• Lawyers.com 

Read our client reviews to learn more about how we’ve helped protect client rights and win cases in the Long Beach court system.

We help clients with bail bonds and release from jail custody and handle negotiating with prosecutors at the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office in Long Beach to resolve bench warrants, investigations, probation issues, restraining orders and criminal charges.

• Arrest: If you are arrested in Long Beach, you’ll be taken to Long Beach Jail for booking. The jail can house up to 200 inmates at any given time, and books around 18,000 inmates each year. The jail is located at 400 West Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802.
• Court hearing: Criminal cases in Long Beach are heard at the Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse at 275 Magnolia Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802. For court information, call (562) 256-3100.

How to find inmates in Long Beach

• You can search for inmates in Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department custody using the online inmate search. If held by Long Beach Police, call (562) 570-7260.

How bail amounts are set

• Bail for Long Beach inmates are set by judges based on the Los Angeles Superior Court bail schedule: Felony bail schedule | Misdemeanor bail schedule.

How court penalties are set

• Penalties are set at the judge’s discretion within parameters defined in California Penal Codes and the Judicial Council Uniform Penalty Schedules.

What happens after arrest?

After your arrest, you might stay in Long Beach Jail for one to three days until you:

1. Post bail,
2. Are transported to court for your arraignment, or
3. Are transferred to another LA County jail, or
4. Are released on your own recognizance, known as an O.R. release.

It may be possible to get out of jail if you promise to make all court appearances. This is known as an O.R. release. The court may grant an O.R. unless:

• The crime is punishable by death,
• The release would not reasonably ensure your appearance in court,
• Your release would be a risk to public safety.

Our Long Beach misdemeanor lawyer can seek an O.R. to get you out of jail. If that’s not possible, we can help with bail bonds.

A plea bargain is an agreement between a prosecutor and a defendant. Under this agreement, the defendant pleads guilty or “no contest” to a crime and the prosecutor agrees to:

• Reduce the charges to a lesser offense
• Drop one or more changes, or
• Recommend a sentence to the judge

Plea bargains are very common. Only about 5% of criminal cases go to trial, which means 95% of cases are either dismissed or resolved through a negotiated plea agreement.

Although similar in nature, parole and probation are two different things. Probation is a criminal sentence that keeps you out of jail as long as you comply with certain conditions. These conditions can include keeping a job, reporting to a probation officer, avoiding drugs and alcohol and staying out of trouble.

Parole, on the other hand, affects prisoners. Prisoners may be granted supervised release into the community before the end of their sentence. Parole conditions are similar to probation conditions.

Long Beach Police Department publishes detailed crime statistics by year. The city has been making great progress in reducing the rate of crime since their peak in 1990. This historical crime graph shows that from 1990 to 2017:

• Murders declined 78% from 104 to 22/year
• Aggravated assaults declined 63% from 4,421 to 1,642/year
• Grand theft auto declined 62% from 7,137 to 2,708/year

View Long Beach city map with Police Reporting Districts, Divisions & Beats →

View Long Beach crime incident mapping application →

We represent clients throughout Los Angeles County and the following Long Beach, CA zip codes: 90712, 90715, 90716, 90740, 90755, 90801, 90802, 90803, 90804, 90805, 90806, 90807, 90808, 90809, 90810, 90812, 90813, 90832, 90833, 90834, 90835, 90840, 90842, 90844, 90846, 90847, 90848, 90853 and 90899.

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Written by Tsion Chudnovsky and Robert Weinberg