Behind the Scenes: What a Skilled Defense Attorney Does During a Pre-File Investigation

If you are under investigation for a sex crime in California, you are in the most critical window of your entire case (maybe the most crucial moment of your entire life): the pre-file stage.

Most attorneys will tell you to simply "wait and see" what the police and prosecutors decide to do. That is a dangerous mistake. Once sexual offense charges are filed in court, the conviction rate is over 97%. Decades of media messaging to "believe the victim" have created a deep-seated prejudice where the accused is essentially forced to prove a negative, reversing the Constitutional right to the presumption of innocence.

A skilled, experienced sex crime defense attorney doesn't wait for charges to be filed. They go on the offensive immediately to prevent a criminal filing altogether.

At the Innocence Legal Team, our immediate goal during a pre-file investigation is to uncover the accuser's motivation to falsify the accusations, undermine their credibility, and bolster yours. Here is exactly how we achieve this:

The Immediate First Step: Halting the Clock

Before any investigation can happen, we must buy time. The very first action a skilled attorney must take is to immediately contact the investigating office and/or the charging deputy district attorney and request that they delay any charging decisions until they have heard our side of the story.

WARNING: It is a grave mistake for you to attempt this yourself. You cannot talk your way out of a sex crime investigation. If you reach out to the police or the DA to "clear things up," anything you say can and will be twisted and used against you. This critical intervention must be handled by skilled legal professionals.

The 5-Step Pre-File Investigation Process

Once we have intervened with the authorities, we execute the following steps:

1. Conducting an In-Depth Interview with You

The police are not looking for the truth; they are looking for evidence to support the accusation. Your attorney must be your first line of defense. We conduct a rigorous, protected interview under absolute Attorney-Client Privilege to get your side of the story and identify exactly why this false accusation is being made.

2. Analyzing Relevant Documents and Evidence

Proving a negative—that something didn't happen—is incredibly difficult (some say impossible—but not us). We immediately begin analyzing every piece of relevant evidence to build your defense. This includes reviewing text messages, emails, photos, videos, social media history, existing police reports, family law and Child Protective Services (CPS/DCS) documents.

3. Investigating the Accuser's Background

False accusations are rarely random. We proactively investigate the accuser's background and anyone who may be influencing them. By diving into civil records, criminal records, and social media, we look for the underlying emotional conflicts driving the lie—such as jealousy, custody battles, financial motives, mental illness, or addiction.

4. Formulating Your Specific Case Theory and Defense Strategy

Using our trademark Fact Power Defense™, we synthesize the interview, the evidence, and the background investigation. We do not use cookie-cutter defenses; we formulate a highly specific case theory tailored precisely to the unique facts and hidden motives of your situation.

5. Presenting Findings Strategically to Investigators and/or Prosecutors

Once the defense theory is built, we do not wait for trial. We take our findings directly back to the investigators and prosecutors before a filing decision is made, strategically presenting the evidence to argue against charges ever being filed.

Critical Warnings During a Pre-File Investigation

While your attorney executes the strategy above, you must protect yourself. Make sure you avoid these common traps:

• Do NOT speak to police investigators. Subjecting yourself to coercive police interrogations is a mistake.
• Beware of Telephone Ruses. Authorities may ask a friend, family member, or the accuser to call you on a recorded line to bait you into an apology or a confession. If this happens, simply state that you did nothing wrong and hang up immediately.
• Limit your discussions. Do not discuss the details of your situation with anyone other than your attorney. Casual conversations can inadvertently harm your case.

Do Not Trust Your Future to Just Anyone

If you are interviewing attorneys, ask them directly: How many cases like mine have you handled? What is your specific strategy to prevent charges from being filed?

The Innocence Legal Team is the only law firm in California dedicated exclusively to defending individuals falsely accused of sexual offenses. Through meticulous investigation and our Fact Power Defense strategy, we successfully stop approximately 75% of our prefile cases from ever being filed. 

We care deeply about preventing innocent people from being wrongly convicted.