Burbank Criminal Defense Lawyer

If you have been arrested in Burbank, your case will move through a defined sequence of agencies, courthouses, and procedural deadlines. Understanding that sequence helps you make better decisions in the first 72 hours, which is when the choices you make have the largest impact on the eventual outcome.

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Where Burbank Arrests Are Processed

Most arrests inside the Burbank city limits are handled by the Burbank Police Department, headquartered at 200 N Third Street. Booking, fingerprinting through Live Scan, and initial holding take place at the Burbank PD jail facility. If your case involves a felony or carries a higher bail amount, you may be transferred to Los Angeles County custody for arraignment.

Misdemeanor and lower-level felony cases out of Burbank are typically arraigned at the Burbank Courthouse at 300 E Olive Avenue, part of the Los Angeles County Superior Court system. More serious felonies, including any case that may be filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office at the felony level, are often arraigned at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles. Knowing which courthouse you are headed to changes the timing of bail hearings, the prosecutor you will face, and the calendaring of pretrial motions.

The Burbank Court Timeline

Under California law, you have the right to a preliminary hearing within ten court days of your arraignment if you are charged with a felony and remain in custody. You also have the right to a speedy trial: 30 days for misdemeanors if in custody, 45 days if out, and 60 days for felonies after arraignment on the information. These deadlines are not negotiable on the prosecution’s side without your written waiver, and they are one of the strongest pressure points a criminal defense attorney in Burbank can use to negotiate a favorable disposition.

If your case involves driving under the influence, the Vehicle Code 23152 charge is paired with a separate California DMV administrative per se hearing. You have only ten calendar days from the arrest to request that DMV hearing, and missing the deadline forfeits your chance to challenge the automatic license suspension. This is one of the most common ways DUI defendants in Burbank lose driving privileges that could otherwise have been preserved.

California Statutes That Drive Burbank Criminal Cases

The California Penal Code governs most state-level crimes prosecuted in Burbank. A few statutes appear repeatedly in our caseload:

• Penal Code Section 187 homicide and capital murder cases.
• Penal Code Section 211 robbery.
• Penal Code Section 245 assault with a deadly weapon, a classic wobbler.
• Penal Code Section 273.5 corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant, the standard domestic violence felony.
• Penal Code Section 459 burglary.
• Penal Code Section 484 and 487 petty theft and grand theft, reclassified for many drug and property offenses under Proposition 47.
• Vehicle Code Section 23152 DUI.
• Health and Safety Code Section 11350 simple possession of a controlled substance.
• Health and Safety Code Section 11378 possession for sale of a controlled substance.

Many of these are wobbler offenses, meaning they can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor depending on the facts, your record, and the discretion of the deputy district attorney. A significant portion of the work we do at the early stage of a case is persuading the DA’s office to file or amend the charges as a misdemeanor rather than a felony, which is often the difference between a probation outcome and state prison exposure.

Defense Motions That Matter in Los Angeles County Court

The right pretrial motion can end a case before it ever reaches a jury. Several are routinely used by our Burbank criminal defense lawyers:

• Motion to suppress (Penal Code 1538.5): Challenges evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. If the search of your vehicle, person, or home was unlawful, the evidence comes out, and the prosecution’s case often collapses with it.
• Pitchess motion: Allows the defense to examine the personnel records of a Burbank PD or LAPD officer for past complaints of dishonesty, excessive force, or racial bias. In cases that hinge on the credibility of a single officer, a successful Pitchess motion can be decisive.
• Serna motion: Seeks dismissal when the prosecution has unreasonably delayed bringing charges, violating your right to a speedy trial.
• Motion to compel Brady disclosure: Requires prosecutors to turn over exculpatory material, including any impeachment evidence about their witnesses.
• Motion under Penal Code 1001.36: Can divert a case out of the criminal system entirely for defendants whose alleged offense was substantially driven by a qualifying mental health condition.

Alternatives to a Conviction

A criminal record carries collateral consequences that often outlast any jail sentence. California now offers several pathways to either avoid conviction or clear it later:

• Mental Health Diversion (PC 1001.36) and military diversion (PC 1001.80): Can result in full dismissal upon successful completion.
• Drug court: Available for qualifying possession and use offenses tied to substance dependency.
• PC 851.91 record sealing: Available when an arrest did not lead to a conviction.
• PC 1203.4 expungement: Removes a qualifying conviction from your record after probation is successfully completed, which restores most employment rights.
• Certificate of Rehabilitation: And, in rare cases, a Governor’s pardon, available for older felony convictions.
• SB 1437 resentencing: Has opened the door for review of older felony murder and natural-and-probable-consequences convictions.

Immigration Consequences for Non-Citizen Defendants

If you are not a US citizen, almost every criminal charge carries potential immigration consequences. Crimes involving moral turpitude, controlled substance offenses, and aggravated felonies can trigger removal proceedings even decades after the conviction. Under People v. Soriano and Padilla v. Kentucky, your criminal defense attorney has a duty to advise you about these consequences before you enter any plea. Our Burbank firm works closely with immigration counsel when a case touches a non-citizen’s status, structuring dispositions that minimize immigration exposure where possible.

Communities We Defend Across the San Fernando Valley and Greater LA

Our Burbank office at 3500 W Olive Avenue is positioned to serve clients across a wide geographic footprint. We regularly represent defendants in cases arising from arrests across the entire region:

• Burbank, including the Media District, Magnolia Park, Rancho, Hillside, and the Bob Hope Airport corridor.
• Glendale, including downtown Glendale, the Americana area, Adams Hill, and Verdugo Woodlands.
• Pasadena and South Pasadena, with cases heard at the Pasadena Courthouse.
• North Hollywood, Studio City, Universal City, and Toluca Lake, with cases routed through the Van Nuys Courthouse.
• Sherman Oaks and the southern San Fernando Valley.
• Sun Valley, Sunland, and Tujunga, including arrests handled by LAPD’s Foothill Division.
• La Crescenta, Montrose, and La Cañada Flintridge.
• Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Atwater Village, Silver Lake, and Los Feliz.
• Hollywood and the Hollywood Hills, with cases heard at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center or Hollywood Division-area courthouses.

Each jurisdiction has its own filing tendencies, prosecutor culture, and judicial bench. A criminal lawyer who only works one courthouse rarely has the breadth of relationships needed to negotiate effectively across this kind of geography. Our team appears regularly at Burbank Courthouse, Van Nuys Courthouse, Pasadena Courthouse, the Foltz Criminal Justice Center downtown, and the Glendale branch of LA County Superior Court.

Why the First 72 Hours Matter

The decisions made in the first 72 hours after an arrest shape the rest of the case. Police reports get finalized, witness statements get locked in, and prosecutors make initial filing decisions. If you wait until your arraignment to retain counsel, you have already missed the window for pre-filing intervention, which is often where the best outcomes are achieved. A Burbank criminal defense lawyer brought in within hours of the arrest can sometimes persuade the DA’s intake deputy to reject the case outright, file at a reduced level, or refer it to a diversion program before any charges are ever publicly filed.

If you or a family member has been arrested anywhere from Burbank to Pasadena, from Glendale to Studio City, or anywhere across LA County, Simmrin Law Group is available 24 hours a day at (310) 929-6503 to begin building your defense immediately.