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Your San Mateo Criminal Defense Attorney
A charge in California comes with a real, offense-specific clock attached, one that can run as short as a year or not exist at all, depending on what’s alleged. What that tiered system means for a specific charge is covered further down this page.
How a California Criminal Case Actually Proceeds
Whether a California case stays a misdemeanor or is charged as a felony can depend on prior record and the specific facts, not just the underlying statute.
How Long the State Has To File Charges
California’s general rule scales by offense: no deadline for the most serious crimes (§799), 6 years for felonies punishable by 8 or more years (§800), 3 years for other felonies (§801), 1 year for misdemeanors (§802). The deadline clock generally starts running at the time the offense is committed, except for the discovery-rule exceptions that apply to specific offense types.
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Cash Bail, Prop 25, and What Changed
California’s cash bail system remains in place today only because voters rejected SB 10’s replacement system via the 2020 Prop 25 referendum. In re Humphrey (Cal. Supreme Court, 2021) didn’t end cash bail, but it added a real constitutional constraint: courts must weigh ability to pay and prefer non-monetary release conditions before defaulting to a cash amount.
How Much a California Charge Can Actually Cost You
A “wobbler” under Penal Code § 17(b) can be charged, or later reduced, between a felony and a misdemeanor, which is why exactly how a charge gets classified matters as much as what happened. Realignment under AB 109 (2011) shifted many lower-level felony sentences from state prison to county jail, and Propositions 47 (2014) and 57 (2016) further reshaped exposure by reclassifying many theft and drug felonies as misdemeanors and expanding parole eligibility for non-violent offenses.
California's DUI Laws
California’s DUI statute doesn’t require a specific blood alcohol threshold alone; § 23152(a) also covers driving impaired by alcohol or drugs regardless of the exact BAC reading. A DUI causing injury under § 23153 can add substantial additional jail exposure on top of the standard § 23152 penalty range, scaling with the severity of the injury involved.
California's Record Relief Options
The traditional route, a § 1203.4 petition, doesn’t erase a California conviction, but it changes its legal status to a dismissal and restores certain rights. Because the automatic process runs on the DOJ’s own schedule, a petition-based § 1203.4 filing can still be the faster route for someone who doesn’t want to wait for the next monthly review cycle.
Criminal Defense Cases Connected to San Mateo
The same statewide rules apply to a case connected to San Mateo the same way they apply anywhere else in California: the same tiered filing deadlines, the same right to counsel, the same bail and sentencing framework.
Next Steps After a San Mateo Arrest
Because bail and plea decisions often happen fast, reaching out to an attorney early in San Mateo matters more than it might seem at first. The form on this page connects you directly with a criminal defense attorney to go over your situation and next steps.
Closest service areas: criminal defense attorneys serving Fremont, criminal defense cases from Stockton, the San Jose criminal defense resource, criminal defense attorneys serving Oakland.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there any crime in California with no filing deadline at all?
Yes: crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment have no statute of limitations at all under Penal Code §799. These deadlines govern when the state can FILE charges, not how long a case can take to resolve once it’s filed.
What did Proposition 25 actually decide?
Prop 25 was a 2020 referendum that rejected SB 10’s plan to replace cash bail with a risk-assessment system, so it kept cash bail in place. Humphrey is a state constitutional ruling, so it applies statewide, not just in the county where the underlying case arose.
What changes on a second California DUI?
A second DUI within 10 years carries 90 days to a year in county jail, a mandatory 12-month ignition interlock device, and a 2-year license suspension. None of California’s DUI-specific rules change the general right to counsel or arraignment timeline that applies to any arrest.
Does automatic sealing cover every conviction?
No: the Clean Slate Act’s automatic process excludes serious and violent felonies and offenses requiring sex-offender registration. These record-relief rules apply the same way regardless of which California county the conviction occurred in.
What court handles criminal cases near San Mateo?
The Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo is where a San Mateo-connected criminal case would typically be filed, the same unified Superior Court structure every California county has used since 1998.
Don't Wait Until the Deadline Is the Only Option Left
What actually narrows over time isn’t the underlying law, it’s the practical runway: evidence review and plea strategy both take time a case connected to San Mateo doesn’t get a pause on. None of it happens quickly, so starting now is what keeps the deadlines already covered above from being the thing that actually decides a case.
