Sex Offenses

California Penal Code Section 290 contains strict requirements for sex offender registration. Criminal attorneys handling sex crimes must consult this section of the code to determine whether the crime charged falls within Section 290. If so, conviction or a plea of no contest can carry lifetime consequences. Attorney Mary Masi has handled sex cases. Her investigation of charges has led to eventual aquittal at trial for clients, and to placement in the Los Angeles Regional Center for the mentally disabled in lieu of jail. Los Angeles criminal attorney Mary Masi is relentless with comprehensive preparation and litigation of these cases, ever mindful of the potential lifetime ramifications of conviction or civil commitment.


SVPA

A "sexually violent predator" is defined as having been convicted of a sexually violent offense against one or more victims and who has a diagnosed mental disorder that makes the person a danger to the health and safety of others in that it is likely that he or she will engage in sexually violent criminal behavior.


SVP Designation Involves Criminal Law Violations Including:


Rape

Unlawful Sodomy

Unlawful Oral Copulation

Designated child molestation charges

Kidnapping with intent to commit one of the foregoing crimes

Assault with intent to commit one of the foregoing crimes


Legal Criterion for SVP Civil Commitment:


1. Having a diagnosable mental disorder, and


2. The disorder makes it likely that the individual will commit new sexually violent predatory acts once released from prison.


The legal criterion is applied through a myriad of complex legal elements governed by statute and case law. It is critical to litigate the full breadth of possible defenses and simultaneously fully investigate all avenues of mitigation evidence to support grounds for release.