Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney

Prostitution & Solicitation Defense in Los Angeles

Law enforcement in the Los Angeles area has specific task forces dedicated to the arrest and conviction of those who engage in prostitution or solicitation. They engage in a variety of "sting" operations to catch those who are offering sexual services for money, or for those who are trying to engage the services of a prostitute. When one has been arrested and charged with this crime, it is critical that you get legal representation from a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer to assist you in fighting the charge. As California law makes it possible to "enhance" penalties for repeat offenders, this is particularly important if you have a prior criminal record. At the Law Offices of Sean Tabibian & Associates, the legal team is prepared to aggressively defend any client charged with prostitution or solicitation charges. The firm has a successful track record with defending this charge and will fight for you relentlessly.

Criminal Defense Attorney in Los Angeles Defending Prostitution & Solicitation Charges

It is important that your criminal defense lawyer is extremely familiar with the criminal court system and its personnel, as when making negotiations on behalf of the client, it helps when you have dealt with the prosecutor involved on many occasions. The attorney then knows the general tone of the prosecutor and can act accordingly when in situations in which a reduced charge or plea bargaining situation becomes necessary.

The criminal defense lawyer from the Law Offices of Sean Tabibian & Associates is involved with criminal defense as the primary activity and spends a majority of time dealing with the criminal court system in the Los Angeles area. You can rest assured that your case will be made a priority and that every effort will be made to defend your case. You will be given the respect and dedicated attention that is deserved.

PENAL CODE 647 - PROSTITUTION

Solicitation of prostitution · Loitering · Pimping · Pandering

Your freedom is at risk when arrested and charged with Pen. Code, § 647(b) prostitution charge.

Prostitution: Soliciting Another (Pen. Code, § 647(b)) – When he defendant is charged with soliciting another person to engage in an act of prostitution in violation of Penal Code section 647(b). The Prosecution must prove that:

1. The defendant requested or “solicit,” that another person engage in an act of prostitution; AND

2. The defendant intended to engage in an act of prostitution with the other person. AND

3. The other person received the communication containing the request. A person engages in an act of prostitution if he or she has sexual intercourse or does a lewd act with someone else in exchange for money or other compensation. A lewd act means touching the genitals, buttocks, or female breast of either the prostitute or customer with some part of the other person’s body for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratiﬁcation. Under the law, when a prostitute and a customer engage in sexual intercourse or lewd acts, both of them are engaged in an act of prostitution.

The charge of PC 647 is a serious criminal offense. Being convicted of prostitution is punishable by, fines, jail time, and a criminal record. If convicted for a PC 647 you may loose your employment and the embarrassing loss of friends, family and your reputation. We represent many clients with prostitution related charges and have obtained many favorable results. We handle all types of cases and many of them have resulted in not guilty verdicts. Even if you are only being investigated for prostitution, it could eventually turn into a formal charge of PC 647 and land you in jail.

If you are being investigated or charged with prostitution immediately contact an experienced Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney. Call the Law Offices of Sean Tabibian & Associates to discuss your Penal Code 647 case now.

DO NOT BAIL OUT! ----- CALL AN EXPERIENCED CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY FIRST!! The criminal defense attorneys at the Law Offices of Sean Tabibian & Associates will quickly and aggressively act to preserve any evidence that can be extremely valuable to your defense. Instead of paying for bail, we can secure an O. R. own recognizance or "O.R." (or "supervised O.R."). This means that you do not have to pay bail because the judge believes that you will show up for your court appearances without bail.

If you are arrested , the first thing you should do is to politely decline to say anything other than that you would like to speak to your attorney. You should immediately seek council of a California criminal defense attorney. Your attorney can then examine the case, look at the evidence, evaluate the witnesses, and work with you to structure your defense.

At the Law Offices of Sean Tabibian & Associates, located in Los Angeles, California, our goal is to vigorously and aggressively defend people who have been charged or accused of criminal offenses including prostitution and other sex crimes .

Even though prostitution is a misdemeanor, a conviction can be devastating. A sex related criminal record can damage a person's career and family life. If your facing prostitution or solicitation of prostitution in California, you need an aggressive, experienced, and knowledgeable criminal defense attorney. At the law offices of Sean Tabibian & Associates. Finding the weaknesses in a prosecutor's case while protecting your Constitutional rights is our focus.

Contact our California prostitution defense attorneys to schedule a free consultation if you have been arrested for PC 647 prostitution or solicitation of prostitution

There is a misconception that one can’t be charged with prostitution “Penal Code 647” if there is no physical act of prostitution. If you organize, coordinate or participate in Internet prostitution in California you may be charged and then arrested for prostitution per “Penal Code 647”. California prostitution laws are being broken when you receive or give money for sex via the Internet. In the eyes of the law, it is still prostitution. Crimes of prostitution on the Internet range from a misdemeanor to a felony. It can be categorized as soliciting for sex, pandering for prostitution and even disorderly conduct. These offenses have the power to dramatically change a person’s life. In California both the “John and Prostitute” are prosecuted, one is not seen as the lesser of the two.

Prosecutors in California have declared war on prostitution. They are extremely aggressive and have expanded the scope to include a special Internet Crimes Division to oversee the aggressive prosecution of Internet prostitution, solicitation and pandering.

The authorities have developed a strategic and highly skilled approach to collect data on those that attempt to commit crimes of solicitation and prostitution. They are targeting people in the following ways.

Recently the police have been on sites such as Craig's List.org, That Mall.com, CityVibe.com, and others to induce males into having massages and/or erotic contact. Once on the phone, the "undercover prostitute", immediately starts talking about sexual acts in exchange for money. People think that a Police officer must be honest when asked direct questions. Police officers do not have to be honest. California Prostitution laws state that anyone that makes an agreement with another to have sexual conduct or engage in prostitution maybe guilty of solicitation of prostitution, a misdemeanor.

OTHER TACTICS include Websites such as Craig's List.org , That Mall.com , CityVibe.com – Stating “companionship” or “escort” services. There are websites that offer services that are legal, however, the problem is when the offers of sex are made as well as when solicited as part of the escort services. Prostitution Rings & Sting Ops – The target of the regular sting operations are the owners and operators of escort services and massage parlors. Many of arrests are made weekly by undercover police officers posing as John’s. These are your typical old fashion sting operation involving women undercover police officers. These undercover police officers act as prostitutes and lure drivers to stop and talk, and get them to agree to buy sex from them.

Prostitution, solicitation, or pandering convictions consequences and penalties are devastating. Sex crimes can carry a penalty of one or more of the following:

Cal Trans – Public or Community Service

Incarceration in county Jail or State Prison

Probation

Counseling

Fines & Penalties

AIDS Testing

Public humiliation

Loss of employment

Vehicle Forfeiture

No crime of prostitution, solicitation and pandering are the same, each case is different. As they might be similar, it ultimately depends on the evidence. In a Penal Code 647 prostitution case, prosecutors must prove that at least one the following elements exist:

· Solicitation from one party to the other for an act of prostitution.

· The agreement to commit an act of prostitution.

· Actually commit an act of prostitution.

· Solicitation of lewd conduct.

A Prosecutors job is to prove there was an arrangement to engage in an act of prostitution. They usually gain proof with a recorded conversation between an undercover police officer and the accused. If they cannot produce a recording of the conversation, the arrangement may be difficult to prove. If the accused has no money at the time of arrest, the prosecution may have a difficult time proving there was specific intent to engage in an act of prostitution.

DEFENSES

How to Fight a Penal Code 647(b) PC Prostitution or Solicita ion Charge? The social stigma of having a PC 647 prostitution / solicitation charge on your record can damage your reputation, career, and life. The most effective ways to defend your case is to have your Penal Code 647(b) charge reduced. The two most common prostitution charge reductions are “disturbing the peace” under Penal Code 415 and Penal Code 602 Trespass.

ENTRAPMENT

Otherwise law abiding citizens who were unfairly lured into the offense by savvy cops can use Entrapment as a defense. Entrapment can be used as a defense in a Penal Code 647 prostitution case. The defendant has the burden of proving this defense by a preponderance of the evidence. This is a different standard from proof beyond a reasonable doubt. To meet this burden, the defendant must prove that it is more likely than not that (he/she) was entrapped. A person is entrapped if a law enforcement officer or (his/her) agent engaged in conduct that would cause a normally law-abiding person to commit the crime. Some examples of entrapment might include conduct like badgering, persuasion by ﬂattery or coaxing, repeated and insistent requests, or an appeal to friendship or sympathy. Another example of entrapment would be conduct that would make commission of the crime unusually attractive to a normally law-abiding person. Such conduct might include a guarantee that the act is not illegal or that the offense would go undetected, an offer of extraordinary beneﬁt, or other similar conduct. If an officer or (his/her) agent simply gave the defendant an opportunity to commit the crime or merely tried to gain the defendant’s conﬁdence through reasonable and restrained steps, that conduct is not entrapment. In evaluating this defense, you should focus primarily on the conduct of the officer. However, in deciding whether the officer’s conduct was likely to cause a normally law-abiding person to commit this crime, also consider other relevant circumstances, including events that happened before the crime, the defendant’s responses to the officer’s urging, the seriousness of the crime, and how difficult it would have been for law enforcement officers to discover that the crime had been committed. When deciding whether the defendant was entrapped, consider what a normally law-abiding person would have done in this situation. Do not consider the defendant’s particular intentions or character, or whether the defendant had a predisposition to commit the crime. The court must instruct on a defense when the defendant requests it and there is substantial evidence supporting the defense. The court has a sua sponte duty to instruct on a defense if there is substantial evidence supporting it and either the defendant is relying on it or it is not inconsistent with the defendant’s theory of the case. When the court concludes that the defense is supported by substantial evidence and is inconsistent with the defendant’s theory of the case, however, it should ascertain whether defendant wishes instruction on this alternate theory. (People v. Gonzales (1999) 74 Cal.App.4th 382, 389–390 [88 Cal.Rptr.2d 111]; People v. Breverman (1998) 19 Cal.4th 142, 157 [77 Cal.Rptr.2d 870, 960 P.2d 1094].) Substantial evidence means evidence of entrapment, which, if believed, would be sufficient for a reasonable jury to ﬁnd that the defendant has shown the defense to be more likely than not.

Decoy Programs Permitted

The use of “ruses, stings, and decoys” to expose illicit activity does not constitute entrapment, as long as no pressure or overbearing conduct is employed by the decoy. (Provigo Corp. v. Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board (1994) 7 Cal.4th 561, 568–570 [28 Cal.Rptr.2d 638, 869 P.2d 1163] The conduct of an unwitting decoy may also constitute sufficient badgering, cajoling, or importuning that entitles the defendant to an entrapment instruction. (Bradley v. Duncan (9th Cir. 2002) 315 F.3d 1091, 1096–1098.)

Lack of trustworthy evidence or Insufficient evidence

Where there is no recorded evidence of the “agreement” to engage in prostitution a big red flag can be raised. Why didn’t the officer record the conversation for evidence? What is the Law Enforcement Agency hiding? Jurors are hesitant to convict a defendant on a Penal Code 647(b) charge if there is no recoding. “Insufficient evidence” encompasses a number of issues such as there wasn’t a clear and definite agreement to engage in a Penal Code 647 (b) act, but rather an ambiguous conversation. An agreement to engage in sex, but no agreement that it would be for money or other consideration. No actual “specific intent” to engage in sexual intercourse or any other lewd act. If you didn’t specifically intend to engage in a sex act, you can’t be convicted of Penal Code 647(b). This means that if you reply to an ad intending only to secure a date or companion, you can’t be convicted of a Penal Code 647(b) prostitution / solicitation offense. Or if you were found in a place known for prostitution (a certain intersection, or in a certain “massage” parlor,) doesn’t mean you were actively involved in Penal Code 647(b) prostitution / solicitation.

Contact a Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney from the Law Offices of Sean Tabibian & Associates if you have been arrested for prostitution or solicitation and are seeking a high quality, aggressive criminal defense lawyer to fight for you.

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