Retaining a Criminal Attorney for a Bureau of Automotive Repair Investigation
Itโs always interesting to get the call โ the call of a frantic individual who has learned the truth โ his lawyer doesnโt know what he is doing.
Itโs quite often we receive this call โ an individual runs a shop, Bureau went to the local City Attorney and or District Attorney who filed criminal charges against the individual based on some BS. ย Weโve talkedย about previous criminal complaints before.
Individual explains this to the Criminal Attorney who then proceeds to tell the individual โoh weโll get this dropped.โ
Months go by, charges get added, the attorney doesnโt return your phone calls, and finally youโre told to โtake the dealโ offered by the District Attorney/City Attorney because โyouโll lose at trial.โ
Bullshit โ the Criminal Attorney doesnโt know what heโs looking at.
Hereโs how it works.
The Bureau presents an โiron cladโ case of fraud. Perjury, or other infamous felony to the local City or District Attorney for your area promising a โslam dunk caseโ with political implications and pressure โ so he files the charges.
Youโre informed of the charges against you โ outlining serious felonies that will affect your permament record, not to mention ensuring you will never hold a Automotive Repair License ever again.
You ask around and your friend, family member, colleague โknowsโ of a good criminal attorney. You make an appointment, he sounds confident, you retain his services. A few months later youโre being told to โtake the deal.โ
What deal? You didnโt do anything wrong!
Exactly.
I canโt count how many times weโve come into a case midstream, asked to โassistโ the vaunted criminal attorney who doesnโt seem to understand the complications of what the Bureau is pleading.
Hereโs what you and I both already know โ automotive knowledge is a specialty. If you canโt explain to the DA that the PCV is a visual test, where the technician inspects the engine visually to determine if the PCV system is in tact where if it wasnโt the engine would have blown out itโs fair share of gaskets, show visible smoke, or trip a check engine light if itโs a monitored system. If the technician passes the vehicle itโs because the system appeared to be intact โ and the technician is not certifying that he pulled the PCV from the valve cover, shook it to ensure there was a rattle confirming the presence of the check valve โ despite the Bureauโs undercover runs gluing a plastic like piece looking exactly like a PCV to the valve cover โ you canโt convince a DA his case is a fraud โ not the technician.
Now then, when a Bureau Program Representative fills the DAโs ears with sweet nothings of perjury under the automotive repair act or fraud under the business and professions code, the DAโs eyes get big โ a freebie for the win column researched and documented with little or no work to perform.
The problem is the Bureau Program Rep is full of it โ but most criminal attorneys donโt know it.
They are presented with reams of paperwork that are intentionally irrelevant to bog down an attorney who doesnโt know what heโs looking at – who then becomes frantic that heโs not prepared to fight something like this and decides to cower and offer to settle with opposing counsel.
It happens all the time.
This isnโt a small matter โ these are criminal charges. They affect everything from this point forward. You now have a raptโ sheet.
My advice is simple. If youโre charged with a DUI, you hire a DUI specialist. If youโre charged with tax evasion, hire a former IRS Auditor who is now an attorney.
If you are Criminally charged with an investigation from the Bureau of Automotive Repair you hire an Attorney who specializes in analyzing Bureau of Automotive Repair investigations. It will save you time, money, and possibly result in the full dismissal of Criminal charges against you.
Make sure your Attorney knows what he is doing.