Sacramento Criminal Defense Attorney

Getting this felony case dismissed at preliminary hearing was a fight. But by effectively cross examining the arresting officer and showing that our client was not an accomplice to the alleged crime, Mr. Donato succeeded in getting this dismissal.  Our client came into the preliminary hearing facing felony charges of conspiracy and battery with great bodily injury, and he walked out a free man with an untarnished record.

Client was facing life in prison for attempted murder after a shooting on a bus where the jury found the client acted in self-defense.

Client was charged with multiple felony assaults and unlawful discharge of a firearm with gang enhancements and looking at life in prison. Mr. Donato was able to get a full acquittal.

Mr. Donato won a full acquittal at trial by showing that the DA could not prove Mr. Brown was under the influence of alcohol at the time he was driving.  The jury concluded the case was too speculative, and Mr. Brown walked on all DUI charges against him.

Client was arrested for domestic violence after boyfriend called the police and lied about a fight he in fact started. We showed the prosecution our client’s medical records documenting her significant injuries in contrast to her boyfriend’s minor injuries and the prosecution dismissed against our client to pursue charges against her boyfriend.

Charged with possession of a concealed firearm inside of a car, our client was facing special criminal enhancements. Not only did the gun have an illegal high-capacity magazine, our client allegedly possessed the gun in association with a gang.  Mr. Donato fought this case at trial and hung the jury 9-3 for not guilty. But the District Attorney elected to re-try the case. Mr. Donato responded by taking the case to trial again, this time returning with a full not guilty verdict.

Dismissed Client was charged with brandishing a firearm when he had a confrontation with his daughter’s boyfriend in his own home. We effectively fought to get this case dismissed on the eve of trial.

People v. Carter Reduced (Probation) Client was a professional athlete and broke his girlfriend’s elbow during a domestic incident. Original offer was five years in prison. Our investigation showed the conflicts and changes in the victim’s story, and we effectively negotiated the case down to house arrest and probation.

Our client's drug case was dismissed after Mr. Donato proved to a judge that the officer's only basis for conducting a probation search in this case was for harassment purposes in violation of his client's 4th Amendment Rights.

This battery case was ultimately dismissed after our office conducted investigation and found independent witnesses who stated that the victim lied to police and actually started the fight.  The DA agreed to dismiss the case and Ms. August was able to maintain her clean record.

Client had previously been to prison for multiple DUI’s and was arrested again for DUI. We got client into treatment and persuaded the court (over the prosecutor’s objection) to sentence him to rehab instead of prison. Mr. Gerber is now a successful (and sober) project manager in the Bay Area.

Even before trial, our office had this case dismissed by presenting evidence that our client, who faced felony charges of possessing marijuana for sale, qualified as a legal caregiver and was protected from prosecution under the California medical marijuana laws.

At this DMV Administrative Per Se hearing, Mr. Donato argued that the Campus Police Officers did not have lawful authority to conduct a traffic stop away from campus. The Hearing Officer agreed and set aside our client's Campus license suspension.

Client was a group home employee and was accused by one of the (minor) group home residents of sexual misconduct. Our office successfully showed the complaining witness was lying about the allegations, and the jury unanimously acquitted Ms. Roberts of all charges after deliberating for only a few hours.

Dismissed Client was charged with multiple felony marijuana related charges. Our investigation showed that client was not involved in the operation although she was present during execution of the search warrant. The case was dismissed as to our client, whereas the co-defendants were convicted.

Client was charged with several felonies including attempted murder and was acquitted of this charge by means of self-defense.

Client was a military veteran that was accused of embezzlement from his employer. Mr. Donato was able to get the employer and DA to drop all charges and dismissed the case.

Our client faced charges for felony domestic violence and misdemeanor child abuse.  Mr. Donato showed the jury at trial that Mr. Hillman's spiteful ex-girlfriend had lied about the facts.  Mr. Hillman walked into trial facing 10 years in prison, but he walked out a free man.

With a client facing charges for possession of methamphetamine for sale in addition to firearm enhancements, even the judge questioned Mr. Donato as to why he was taking the case to trial. In the end, however, the jury had very few questions to ask, as it took them less than an hour to return their not guilty verdicts for Mr. Donato's client.

Our office was proud to defeat the gang enhancement charge at trial for our client, who was charged with possessing a firearm for the benefit of a gang.  Defeating the gang enhancement was the sole reason for going to trial, and it saved our client from gaining a second strike conviction, not to mention significant prison time.