The Challenge
A manager at a major California casino was charged with commercial bribery under Penal Code section 641.3. The allegations involved the acceptance of bribes in exchange for providing employment to card dealers. A conviction for this offense would have resulted in the permanent loss of the client’s gaming license and barred her from future employment in the competitive casino industry.
Our Strategy
We challenged the prosecution’s valuation of the alleged bribes and its evidence of criminal intent. Valuation mattered because Penal Code § 641.3 is a misdemeanor when the bribe is $1,000 or less and a felony only above that amount — so contesting the value went straight to the felony exposure. We then negotiated a resolution to a misdemeanor under Penal Code § 32 (accessory after the fact), an offense that is not bribery and does not carry the dishonesty finding gaming regulators screen for. No bribery conviction, and the client kept her gaming license and her career.
The Result
FELONY CHARGES REDUCED TO MISDEMEANOR
Your Case Belongs at the Southwest Justice Center.
Your Defense Belongs Here.
If you were arrested in Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Wildomar, Lake Elsinore, Winchester, or French Valley, your future will likely be decided at the Southwest Justice Center (SWJC) on Auld Road. In these courtrooms, local knowledge is the ultimate advantage. Since 1999, Nic Cocis has been a weekly fixture in the SWJC, appearing before the same judges and negotiating with the same Riverside County prosecutors for over 25 years. We don’t just know the law — we know the specific nuances, procedural quirks, and judicial tendencies of the Southwest District. Whether you are facing a felony or a misdemeanor, you need a firm that treats the Southwest Justice Center as its home turf.
