Los Angeles Criminal Defense Practice Areas

An arrest or investigation can put your freedom, career, and family at risk. Start by finding the right defense for the specific charge.

Ambrosio & Associates defends misdemeanor, felony, state, and federal cases throughout Los Angeles County. Our practice areas include violent crimes, sex offenses, drug crimes, theft, DUI, weapons charges, white-collar investigations, federal cases, juvenile matters, and post-conviction relief.

Founding attorney Ambrosio E. Rodriguez has been a Senior Deputy District Attorney. He served in an elite homicide unit, prosecuted myriad cases, and tried serious murder cases. That experience helps our team identify what the government must prove and where its case may be vulnerable.

If you or someone you love has been arrested, charged, or contacted by investigators, call 213-995-6767 or request a free, confidential consultation. Early legal help can protect choices that may disappear as a case moves forward.

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What Criminal Charges Does Ambrosio & Associates Defend?

Ambrosio & Associates handles a broad range of California and federal criminal matters. Use these categories to find detailed information about individual charges, penalties, and defense issues.

Practice area	Start here
Violent crimes	Homicide, manslaughter, assault, battery, kidnapping, and related allegations
Sex crimes	Los Angeles sex-crimes defense, including rape, sexual battery, child pornography, and registration cases
Drug crimes	Drug-crime defense, including possession, trafficking, methamphetamine, and prescription cases
Theft and property crimes	Theft-crime defense, including burglary, robbery, shoplifting, and receiving stolen property
DUI and driving offenses	DUI defense, hit-and-run, suspended-license cases, and vehicular manslaughter
Weapons charges	Concealed weapons, negligent discharge, prohibited weapons, and California knife-law cases
White-collar crimes	White-collar defense, including embezzlement, identity theft, and fraud allegations
Federal crimes	Federal criminal defense, including conspiracy, trafficking, fraud, RICO, and other federal investigations
Juvenile defense	Juvenile-crime defense in delinquency proceedings and serious transfer matters
Post-conviction relief	Expungement, record sealing, probation matters, and certificates of rehabilitation

A charge may fit more than one category. A fatal DUI collision, for example, can involve intoxication, driving conduct, and homicide law. We examine the statute and evidence instead of relying on a police-report label.

Defense Led by a Former Senior Prosecutor

Experience matters when it supports sound decisions under pressure. Ambrosio Rodriguez prosecuted serious cases and now uses that knowledge to defend the accused.

Experience	Why it can matter to your defense
Senior Deputy District Attorney	Insight into charging decisions, plea strategy, witness preparation, and trial presentation
Former member of an elite homicide unit	Direct experience with complex forensic evidence, intent theories, and high-stakes prosecutions
Many cases prosecuted	Familiarity with how cases are investigated, evaluated, negotiated, and tried
Serious courtroom experience	Preparation for litigation instead of assuming every case should end in a quick plea

No lawyer can promise a result, and past outcomes do not predict a new case. We build each defense around the evidence, the law, and the client’s priorities.

Call 213-995-6767 to speak with a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney about what happened and what comes next. A confidential consultation can help you understand the charge, the immediate risks, and the decisions ahead.

What Violent Crime Charges Do We Defend?

Violent-crime allegations can bring long prison terms, firearm enhancements, and strike consequences. These cases often turn on intent, identity, self-defense, witness credibility, or forensic evidence.

Homicide and manslaughter

Our Los Angeles homicide lawyers defend murder allegations and other unlawful-killing charges. For cases involving heat of passion, criminal negligence, or a fatal collision, begin with our manslaughter defense overview and the pages addressing voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and vehicular manslaughter.

Assault, battery, and threats

We defend charges involving assault, battery, and criminal threats. We also handle serious allegations such as kidnapping, false imprisonment, home invasion, torture, and mayhem.

Domestic-violence allegations may also lead to protective orders, firearm restrictions, and family-court consequences before the criminal case is resolved. Review our domestic-violence defense and restraining-order defense pages for those connected issues.

Early defense work can preserve video, messages, witness accounts, and physical evidence. Investigation may reveal justification, misidentification, or proof that does not support the charged offense.

What Sex Crime Charges Do We Defend?

Sex-crime accusations require immediate, discreet attention. A case can threaten freedom, employment, licensing, immigration status, and sex-offender registration.

Our Los Angeles sex-crimes attorneys defend clients in investigations and filed cases involving rape, sexual assault and battery, statutory rape, lewd conduct, and prostitution.

Digital evidence and registration cases

Digital evidence can be central in child pornography and online-communication cases. The defense may examine device access, account ownership, metadata, and proof of knowing possession or intent. We also represent people accused of failing to register as a sex offender.

Do not contact an accuser or try to explain the situation to investigators without legal advice. A lawyer can communicate on your behalf, protect against avoidable statements, and begin reviewing evidence before the government’s narrative hardens.

Drug Crimes

Drug cases range from possession allegations to multi-agency trafficking investigations. The substance, quantity, alleged purpose, and involvement of federal authorities can change the exposure.

Our Los Angeles drug-crimes lawyers defend cases involving possession of a controlled substance, drug trafficking, methamphetamine, and prescription forgery.

Search, possession, and intent issues

Drug defenses often begin with how police obtained the evidence. Counsel may challenge a stop, search, warrant, interrogation, or claimed connection to drugs in a shared location. Lab testing, informant reliability, and proof of intent can also matter.

Some clients may qualify for treatment, diversion, or another resolution focused on rehabilitation. We evaluate those options without losing sight of suppression issues, trial defenses, and the long-term effects of any plea.

Theft and Property Crimes

Theft allegations vary widely. Property value, force, entry, and the accused person’s intent can separate a misdemeanor from a serious felony or strike allegation.

Our Los Angeles theft-crimes lawyers handle burglary, robbery, carjacking, and grand theft auto cases. We also defend shoplifting, petty theft, receiving stolen property, and credit-card counterfeiting allegations.

What can change the level of the charge?

Evidence of ownership, permission, identification, value, and intent deserves close review. Where appropriate, the defense may pursue dismissal, reduction, restitution-based negotiation, diversion, or trial, depending on the facts and the client’s goals.

DUI and Driving Offenses

DUI cases can create a criminal prosecution and a separate threat to driving privileges. Fatal crashes make prompt accident-scene and toxicology investigation especially important.

Our Los Angeles DUI lawyers defend alcohol- and drug-related driving allegations, including first, repeat, and felony cases. We examine the stop, field sobriety procedures, breath or blood testing, rising blood-alcohol issues, officer observations, and the accuracy of chemical evidence.

Collisions and license consequences

We also defend hit-and-run charges, driving on a suspended license, and vehicular manslaughter allegations. These matters may require crash reconstruction, medical evidence, surveillance footage, vehicle data, and independent expert review.

Deadlines affecting a license can arrive quickly. Contact counsel as soon as possible so the defense can address both the court case and any time-sensitive administrative process.

Weapons Charges

California weapons laws regulate possession, carrying, transfer, use, and access based on the weapon, location, and person involved. A weapons allegation may stand alone or add serious exposure to another criminal charge.

We defend allegations involving carrying a concealed weapon, negligent discharge of a firearm, and manufacturing, selling, or possessing dangerous weapons. Our California knife-law guide explains how the type of knife and manner of carrying it may affect a case.

Possession and search defenses

The defense may examine whether police had a lawful basis for the search, whether the client knew the weapon was present, and whether possession was legally prohibited. When a firearm enhancement is alleged, we also test whether the facts support applying it to the underlying charge.

White-Collar Crimes

White-collar investigations can begin with financial records, workplace disputes, audits, or a partner’s allegations. They may develop for months before an arrest, making early defense work valuable.

Our Los Angeles white-collar criminal defense attorneys represent clients accused of embezzlement, identity theft, and welfare fraud. We analyze records, authorization, ownership, accounting, communications, and whether the evidence proves fraudulent intent.

Responding to an investigation

If agents serve a warrant, issue a subpoena, or request an interview, do not guess about what they already know. Counsel can preserve records, coordinate a response, and help prevent a rushed statement from becoming the centerpiece of the government’s case.

Federal Crimes

Federal cases involve distinct procedures, multiple agencies, and sentencing rules. A person may learn of an investigation through a target letter, subpoena, warrant, or agent contact.

Our Los Angeles federal criminal defense attorneys handle matters involving drug trafficking, fraud, counterfeiting, extortion, conspiracy, mail or healthcare fraud, and RICO allegations. We can become involved before charges are filed, when there may still be opportunities to address the government’s theory or limit damaging contact.

Why early federal representation matters

Federal defense requires careful control of information and deadlines. Prompt representation allows counsel to determine a client’s status, review the investigation, and prepare for detention, negotiation, motions, or trial as the case demands.

Juvenile Defense

Juvenile court is designed differently from adult criminal court, but the consequences can still affect education, placement, family stability, and the child’s future. Serious allegations may also raise the possibility of adult-court treatment.

Our Los Angeles juvenile-crimes attorneys defend young people accused of assault, theft, drug offenses, weapons violations, sex offenses, and other delinquency matters. We work with the child and family to understand school, treatment, supervision, and home circumstances that may influence both the defense and the outcome.

Protecting the child and the record

Parents should avoid coaching a child’s account or allowing an interview without legal advice. Early counsel can protect the child’s rights while building a plan that addresses the allegation and the child’s long-term needs.

Post-Conviction Relief

A criminal case may continue affecting a person long after probation or a sentence ends. California law offers several forms of relief, but eligibility and the practical effect depend on the conviction, sentence, and current law.

Our post-conviction work includes expungement, record sealing, certificates of rehabilitation, felony probation matters, and misdemeanor probation matters. We also help qualifying service members explore military diversion.

What can post-conviction relief change?

Relief may improve employment or licensing prospects, but it does not erase every consequence or work the same way in every background check. We explain what a specific remedy can and cannot do before recommending the next step.

How Does a Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Help?

A criminal defense attorney does more than appear in court. Representation begins by controlling communication, preserving evidence, identifying deadlines, and building a strategy around the client’s priorities.

Before charges are filed

Counsel may communicate with detectives or prosecutors, advise against an unsafe interview, preserve digital or physical evidence, and present information that changes how the matter is viewed. Pre-filing work cannot guarantee that charges will be avoided, but it can shape decisions made before the defense receives a court date.

After an arrest or filing

The defense reviews reports, recordings, forensic material, witness accounts, and search procedures. It can challenge unlawfully obtained evidence, seek reasonable release terms, negotiate from a prepared position, and take the case to trial when that is the sound course.

Beyond the immediate charge

A proposed resolution should be evaluated for immigration, licensing, employment, firearm, registration, and future-sentencing consequences. The best strategy is not always the fastest one; it is the one informed by the evidence and the client’s full situation.

Every case requires its own assessment. A confidential consultation is the place to discuss the exact charge, the evidence known so far, and the next deadline.

When Should You Contact a Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer?

Contact a lawyer as soon as you believe you are under investigation, learn that a warrant exists, receive a subpoena, or face arrest or charges. You do not need to wait for the first court date, and you should not assume that talking to police will clear up a misunderstanding.

Ambrosio & Associates represents clients across California criminal defense practice areas, from misdemeanor investigations to murder and federal prosecutions. Our team brings former-prosecutor insight, serious trial experience, and a defense built for the facts of the individual case.

Call 213-995-6767 or contact Ambrosio & Associates online for a free, confidential consultation. Our Los Angeles office is located at 626 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 460, Los Angeles, CA 90017.

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This page provides general information and is not legal advice. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.