Client was charged with four felony counts, including assault with a deadly weapon under Penal Code § 245(a)(1) and battery causing serious bodily injury under Penal Code § 243(d). These strike felonies carried up to seven years in state prison. After presenting exculpatory evidence and highlighting credibility problems in the prosecution’s case, the judge dismissed the case in full at the preliminary hearing.

Our client is a refugee from Somalia who came to the United States as a teenager with his family, escaping a war‑torn region and starting a new life. He became a standout soccer player in high school. One evening at Mission Beach, he was with friends when a stranger walked up, punched one of his friends, and stole a gold chain. In the chaotic response, several friends restrained and struck the aggressor.

Police arrived after the incident and arrested our client and two friends. Witnesses who spoke to police only saw the retaliation, not the initial assault and theft. The alleged victim spent several days in the hospital, and our client was charged with four felony counts that carried serious prison exposure.

Griffin Law Office conducted a thorough investigation. The alleged victim could not explain how the stolen chain ended up in his pocket, and video evidence confirmed our client did not participate in the fight. At the preliminary hearing, we highlighted these credibility issues and the gaps in the police investigation.

The judge ruled that the evidence was insufficient to hold our client to answer, and the case was dismissed in its entirety at the preliminary hearing, protecting him from a strike felony and a potential seven‑year prison term.