What Should I Know Before Entering a Plea After a Possible Fourth Amendment Violation in California?

Attorney Answer

Entering any plea, especially without a lawyer, isn't something to decide alone, and it's not something a general answer can responsibly tell you either. What matters most right now is getting your Fourth Amendment issue and your video evidence in front of a criminal defense attorney before your court date.

You have a right to counsel at every stage of a criminal case, including arraignment, and if you can't afford a private attorney, you can ask the court to appoint a public defender. That request can typically be made right at your first appearance.

As a general matter, most people facing a case like this enter a not guilty plea at the initial appearance. That plea doesn't decide anything. It simply preserves your options, including time for an attorney to investigate, request discovery, and evaluate whether to file a motion to suppress. It also avoids giving up any rights before you've had a real chance to review the evidence with counsel.

California has a specific tool for challenging evidence obtained through an unlawful search or seizure: a motion to suppress under Penal Code 1538.5. If your Fourth Amendment concern is valid, that motion, not the plea itself, is where it gets raised and argued. Your partial video evidence could matter a great deal here, but whether it actually supports suppression depends on details like why the police approached you, what they said, and exactly what the footage shows, all things an attorney needs to review closely.

Separately, simple possession for personal use in California is often charged as a misdemeanor rather than a felony under Proposition 47, though this depends on the specific substance, amount, and record, so don't assume anything about the charge level until your attorney has reviewed it.

Before your court date

1. Request a public defender immediately if you don't already have counsel. 2. Save your video evidence exactly as it is and back it up. 3. Do not write out your own account of what happened. Notes you create yourself are not protected by attorney-client privilege, can be seized or subpoenaed, and can be used to impeach you if your testimony later differs. Instead preserve the records that already exist — texts, call logs, emails, receipts, photos and location history — along with the names and contact details of any witnesses, and give your account to your attorney verbally. 4. Do not discuss the facts of your arrest with police or prosecutors without your attorney present.

This is general legal information, not legal advice. A local lawyer in California can advise you on your specific situation.