Adaptation note: This story is adapted from similar matters handled by Lingtu Law and its peers. Names, places, dates and amounts have been changed, and the outcomes are presented as scenarios only. They do not reflect that similar cases will reach the same result.

L, 24, grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and works as a dispatcher at a logistics company. In summer 2025 friends threw him a birthday party at a karaoke bar. After a lot of drinking, he got into an argument in the hallway with someone from the next room over the restroom, threw the first punch, and broke the man's nose. Prosecutors charged the most serious count: felony battery causing serious injury. A conviction as charged could mean jail, and a felony record would show up in every future job and rental check.

Sober, L deeply regretted it. The security video clearly showed he threw the first punch, and he did not try to deny it.

We advised him not to argue that the other man had insulted him too, and to do what he should first. In October, through both sides' attorneys, he paid all of the man's medical bills and lost wages, about $40,000, and wrote an apology letter. The man signed a statement that he had been compensated and did not want L to go to jail.

L enrolled in six months of anger management, started attending a sobriety support group, and his supervisor wrote a letter about his everyday conduct. We asked the court to postpone the preliminary hearing until he finished the class before negotiating with the prosecutor.

He completed the class in April 2026. In late July, before the preliminary hearing, we reached an agreement with the prosecutor: he would plead to the felony, and the judge would decide at sentencing whether to reduce it to a misdemeanor.

Date	Milestone
July 2025	Karaoke bar fight; L arrested and charged with felony battery
August 2025	Retained Lingtu Law; pleaded not guilty; agreed to postpone the preliminary hearing
October 2025	Paid the victim about $40,000; victim signed a statement; L began anger management
April 2026	Completed anger management
Late July 2026	Agreement before the preliminary hearing: plea to the felony, with the judge to decide on reduction at sentencing
Early September 2026	Sentencing; the judge reduced the charge to a misdemeanor and imposed probation and community service

At sentencing in early September 2026, after reviewing the restitution receipts, the completion certificate and the victim's statement, the judge reduced the charge to a misdemeanor on the spot and imposed probation and community service, with no jail time. If he does well on probation, he can later apply to have the record dismissed.