Felony Escape & Domestic Violence – Avoiding Felony Conviction

Client was in custody serving one year of work release for multiple domestic violence convictions. Client also had three years of probation from another conviction to serve after a work release sentence. Client then absconded from jail out of fear for having violated the mandatory protection order again. Client was struggling with their mental health and their family had concerns about self-harm.

For the first portion of representation, Mr. Krizman focused on meeting with Client and providing hope in an effort to keep them alive. Even still, Client delayed surrender on the warrant for having left jail. Once Client finally surrendered, Mr. Krizman worked diligently with multiple prosecutors to resolve the violation of probation case and the newly-filed escape charge.

The judge had previously told Client that this was their last chance. In an effort to break the cycle of recidivism and to also show something new to this judge, Mr. Krizman coordinated with Client’s out-of-state family to obtain medical records to demonstrate significant head trauma. Krizman Law, a client-focused firm, obtained all information necessary to offer a comprehensive view of the circumstances to the court. Client, unfortunately, lost all of the good time earned on the prior work release sentence.

However, Mr. Krizman was able to convince the judge to convert three years of probation to one year of jail CONCURRENT with the remainder of the other one-year sentence. The judge also astonishingly re-authorized work release. With this momentum, Mr. Krizman then went to the felony DA on the felony escape case and convinced them to lower the charges to a misdemeanor with another (smaller) concurrent sentence.

In the end, Client avoided what would have been their first felony conviction, received all concurrent sentences, got work release re-authorized, and will be out of custody less than 10 months after their surrender.