Santa Ana, Orange County - A Santa Ana man was found guilty Thursday for first-degree residential burglary, indecent exposure and child annoyance after he broke into a Stanton home, and masturbated in front of a grandmother and her two young granddaughters.
It took the jury at the Central Justice Center about a day and a half to reach the verdict.
Prosecutors wanted to charge the man with assault and battery after police reported he touched the grandmother, but however the man's defense attorney showed the district attorney his client never touched the grandmother nor her grandchildren, and prosecutors dropped charges.
Had the suspect even barely touched the grandmother or grandchildren he could have invited much more serious charges of assault, battery, sexual battery and even lewd acts with a child, says Santa Ana criminal defense attorney Michael L. Guisti.
The crime of burglary is basically when you enter a structure to commit a theft crime or felony, says Guisti.
The crime of indecent exposure is when you expose your genitals with lewd intent, explains Guisti.
It's very important to understand the main element of indecent exposure is if you drew attention to your genitals, and in this Santa Ana case masturbating qualifies as that, says Guisti.
They've been many cases in the past where somebody was charged with indecent exposure for urinating in public, but, explains Guisti, since they weren't drawing attention to their "private area" while going to the bathroom there is no crime of indecent exposure.
Now when the guy in this case was masturbating had he at anytime just touched, if only for a second, the grandmother or her grandchildren anywhere on their bodies he would likely have faced sexual assault charges and lewd acts on a child charges, according to Guisti.
Now if the man threatened to harm the grandmother or grandchildren he could have been charged with assault, and had he just touched either person, no matter the force, he would have been charged with battery, says Guisti.
In a case like this where prosecutors always overcharge it's so important to have a criminal defense attorney who can show the district attorney these crimes didn't occur and the defense lawyer's client is properly charged, explains Guisti.
If you've been arrested for a series of crimes it's so important to contact our Orange County criminal defense attorney experts at the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti so we can make sure you're not overcharged and work to successfully defend you against your criminal charges.
We have over a decade winning cases and keeping our clients out of prison, so please, call us now.
