​​California Criminal Defense Attorneys​

(310) 817-5899

Law Office of

​David Dastrup

DUI Defense

Traffic-Crimes Defense

Criminal Defense​

Courts by City and Prosecutors in Los Angeles and Orange Counties

Court can be daunting for someone unfamiliar with the criminal justice system in the Superior Court of California. That is why our attorneys go to court for you. We are in court virtually every day the court is open, rain or shine, to defend our clients.

Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles:

The criminal court system in Los Angeles County is very diverse. It involves many Courts. Because there are too many courts, several were shut down a few years ago, and now they are shutting down several traffic court rooms to reduced costs. However, the recent shutdowns may not affect criminal courtrooms, but that is yet to be seen. Regardless, this discussion is about what courts have what prosecutors and the cities they cover.

We defend allegations of crime in Los Angeles Superior Court. However, when this name is referenced for a court appearance, it usually refers to Metropolitan Courthouse. However, there are actually several Los Angeles County Criminal Courts that handle misdemeanors, whether filed by the Los Angeles City Attorney Prosecutor, the District Attorney, or other city attorneys. And, believe it or not, police agencies file cases. This is called a direct file. It is usually for relatively minor misdemeanors, often traffic violations, like driving without a license, driving on a suspended license, but also trespass, disturbing the peace, drunk in public, etc. 

In the South Bay in Southern California, there are many police agencies and prosecutors. The misdemeanor criminal charges may be filed by the Los Angeles City Attorney, the Los Angeles District Attorney, Torrance City Attorney, Hermosa Beach City Attorney, or Redondo Beach City Attorney. Most Southern California cities and communities, like Manhattan Beach, Gardena, Lawndale, and even cities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, do not have their own criminal prosecutors. They let the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office handle all criminal prosecution.

All these cities and communities that we mentioned, even Torrance, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Gardena, Hermosa Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, and Lawndale, have criminal cases filed at the Southwest District Court, Southbay Court, better known as Torrance Courthouse. Dept. 3 is the misdemeanor arraignment court at Torrance Court on Maple Ave in the City of Torrance. Not every city has a criminal court, nor a traffic court. Since the Courts are by County, under the State of California, they each have areas of the county, that includes certain cities.

The police departments that serve in these ares, that give traffic tickets and make arrests, for DUIs and other criminal misdemeanors, include many agencies. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department serves in Lomita, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Lawndale, and may serve all over Los Angeles County, including in the Los Angeles County Jails and the Courts. The Beach Cities have their own police agencies, including Redondo Beach Police, Hermosa Beach Police, and Manhattan Beach Police. Torrance Police serves all of Torrance, and is a relatively large city. 

Another court in South Los Angeles County, in Long Beach Court, specifically Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse. Previously, there was a courthouse on Ocean Blvd called Long Beach Courthouse, but now it is the Gov. Deukmejian Courthouse because he helped fund building the new courthouse. Long Beach traffic court is in Dept. S03. Long Beach City Attorney prosecutes misdemeanors for arraignment hearings in Dept. S11 and Dept. S02 at Long Beach Court. The Los Angeles District Attorney and the Los Angeles City Attorney also prosecute misdemeanor crimes at Deukmejian Courthouse.

Common misdemeanors filed at the Long Beach Court by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office include commercial driver violations. The most common may be overweight leaving the Port of Los Angeles, cited by the Port Police, a separate division of Los Angeles Police. Often, the commercial trucking owner/operator is cited, along with the commercial driver. This type of misdemeanor carries very high fines, even over $10,000.

Los Angeles Police Department is also active in the Harbor and Harbor Gateway areas. Although part of the Harbor Gateway area of Los Angeles is very close to Torrance Court, tickets and DUI criminal charges here are filed at the Long Beach Court. California Highway Patrol, "CHP," DUI's and commercial trucking operation misdemeanors are filed at Long Beach Court, too, along with at Compton Court, and rarely at Torrance Court. It depends on exactly where the case occurred. Los Angeles Police Department covers the largest area of Los Angeles County, and has criminal prosecutors at most courts in L.A. County. However, CHP officers cite person for DUI and any other moving violation or criminal traffic misdemeanors all over L.A. and California. But CHP cases go to the local city attorney or Los Angeles District Attorney for criminal prosecution.

Superior Court of California, County of Orange

We defend criminal misdemeanors be filed in Orange County, including at the West Justice Center, Central Justice Center, North Justice Center, or Harbor Justice Center, which are the four main criminal courthouses in the County of Orange, Superior Court of California. We will be explaining more about this later. Thank you for using us as your resource for information about your criminal case. Give our attorney a call at 310-817-5899.