Sex Offense

Sex Offense

SEX OFFENSES IN THE BATON ROUGE AND NEW ORLEANS METRO AREAS

Misdemeanor or felony, your life has been turned upside down. First, your family has to worry about a bond. If they use a bondsman, they will have to put up 12% of the bond. This is non-returnable. By hiring an attorney before posting a bond, an attorney may be able to get the bond reduced, get the defendant released on his own recognizance, or help with a property bond. A property bond is like a refundable mortgage to the Parish. If the person arrested shows up for court, the bond is released after trial, plea or dismissal with $0 out-of-pocket expense. A condition of your bond will be to not leave Louisiana. If your job or school requires travel, you will need an attorney to get this restriction lifted or changed.

The charge may be for carnal knowledge of a juvenile, prostitution, rape, sexual battery, child pornography, obscenity, molestation, solicitation, pandering or crime against nature. It will be screened by a senior assistant district attorney, who will make the decision about which charges will be accepted or refused, whether the case will be dismissed, referred to diversion, or sent to trial. Information can be traded for leniency.

Next comes arraignment. For a felony, the case will be assigned to a division for trial. The assistant district attorney in that division may make a plea offer, or decide to multi-bill the accused as a habitual offender. Multi -bill means that the minimum sentence will be increased.

Preliminary examination, Motion to Suppress, Lunacy Hearing and other Motions hearings follow. Exhibits must be viewed, witnesses interviewed, lab test results reviewed, photographs, videos & recordings turned over to the defense attorney in discovery. Defense witnesses may need to examine or test the State’s evidence. Before trial one or more pre-trial conference will follow and there may be several if other cases are tried ahead of yours on the trial docket.

There may also be several continuances of the trial date because there are other cases set for trial before yours. But delay is good for your defense in many ways, law enforcement officers retire or move, evidence can be lost, witnesses may lose interest or move Trial will be with a judge if it’s a misdemeanor. For a felony, there is the option of a jury.

If the outcome is unfavorable at trial, sentencing will follow. There can be a hearing to mitigate the sentence. An appeal can be taken following trial.

For sex offenses there are mandatory reporting requirements in addition to probation or parole following any prison sentence.

The attorneys at Ellen Cronin Badeaux, LLC, at 985-892-1955, have 30 years of experience representing people who have been arrested for drug offenses in the cities of Amite, Baton Rouge, Bogalusa, Chalmette, Clinton, Covington, Denham Springs, Donaldsonville, Franklinton, Gonzales, Greensburg, Gretna, Hammond, Kenner, Livingston, Madisonville, Mandeville, Metairie, New Orleans, St. Francisville and Slidell in Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Jefferson, Livingston, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, West Feliciana and Washington Parishes.