I'm going to talk today about bribery law here in California.
And just by way of background, I'm
a former prosecutor, now a criminal defense attorney.
We represent people in California,
a lot of public officials who are accused of bribery
and a lot of individuals who are accused
of offering or trying to make bribes.
Now the legal definition of bribery in California
is when you offer something of value
with the corrupt intent to influence somebody
in their action, vote, or opinion
in any public or official capacity.
So, for example, this could include
bribing a judge or a juror to decide in your favor.
It could be offering money to a county supervisor
to vote for certain legislation that you're sponsoring.
It could be bribing a building inspector
to sign off on your development plans.
And the important thing to remember
is that the crime of bribery takes
place whenever a deal is made.
Whenever there's an offer or an acceptance,
even if no money is ultimately exchanged.
So, for example, suppose that I offer my city councilman
$10,000 cash if he votes in favor of my development
project.
And he agrees to the deal.
But for some reason, I canceled the project,
and I ultimately never pay him the money
and he never casts a vote on the project.
He and I could still be charged with bribery
because I offered that bribe, and he accepted that bribe,
even though the deal never actually went through.
Now bribery is a felony.
If you're convicted, you could face up
to several years in custody.
If you're a public official, it almost certainly
would be the end of your political
or sort of public service career.
And it would be a red flag on your record
that would probably make it very difficult to obtain
jobs and benefits in the future.
So to the extent that you are investigated for bribery,
accused of bribery, charged with bribery,
you want to do everything that you
can now to avoid conviction and keep this off your record.
Now the good news is that here at Shouse Law Group,
we've had a great record of success in representing
both public officials and private individuals who
are charged with bribery.
It may be that it's all a mistake
and there was really no intent to do anything wrong.
You may have been acting entirely in good faith.
It may be that the authorities entrapped you
into some sort of bribery exchange.
It may be that you're the victim of a false accusation.
And unfortunately, this is an area
where a lot of police and investigators and prosecutors
are very over zealous, where they're politically motivated,
where they're out to get people for improper, vindictive,
political reasons.
So ultimately, a lot of innocent people get charged.
A lot of cases get filed that shouldn't.
But that's where we come in.
If you're in this situation, call us.
We'll see what we can do to help you.