Strike Charges Reduced: Can You Negotiate Lesser Sentence?

Yes—many strike charges can be reduced through negotiation or court motions, potentially lowering a felony to a misdemeanor or avoiding a strike enhancement altogether. Outcomes depend on the facts, your record, local policies, and options like plea bargaining or a Romero motion in California. This article explains when reductions are possible, strategies defense attorneys use, and what to expect at each stage of the process.

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

“Is it clear cut…. what is a strike? Or is that up to the discretion of the District Attorney, or is it even up to the discretion of the jury? Or is the law so clear cut that everybody agrees on what’s a strike and what’s not?”

Andrew Dósa – Criminal Defense Attorney – Oakland, CA

“Well, the law’s pretty clear. What is a strike will remain a strike, and the facts of the case come into play to potentially allow the District Attorney and the defense counsel to negotiate a case that would be a strike down to a non-strike. It really depends.”

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

“So that is possible…to be able to negotiate a strike down to a non-strike?”

Andrew Dósa – Criminal Defense Attorney – Oakland, CA

“Correct. So it may depend on the weapon that is used, it may depend on how the force was applied, it may depend on the amount of force. You’re not surprised to hear me say this…the District Attorneys will, more typically than not, charge the more serious case in the complaint, and then afterwards, the case may get resolved to something that’s a lesser included or reasonably related to charge, that is something the defendant may accept because it doesn’t have strike consequences. It doesn’t have an elevated time or exposure to state prison. Again, the answer is that a strike is clearly defined, but the facts of the case and the circumstances of the defendant, and his or her history will have a huge play on whether the District Attorney will want to commit to the strike, as they often do.”