Attorneys Jon Pettis & Dan Smith
Not all lawyers are the same. We appreciate the thanks our clients express, not only for the outcomes we have achieved but also for the compassion and understanding they received during the process.
Daniel Smith, Esq. Supervising Attorney for San Diego Defenders, APC
Attorney Daniel Smith has been making defending clients affordable with payment plans whether they are charged in San Diego Central, Chula Vista, El Cajon, or federal cases in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California. Smith is a Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer who handles everything from complex federal drug conspiracies to DUIs, many of which stem from incidents at the border crossing of Tijuana and San Ysidro.
Multi-defendant methamphetamine conspiracies with wiretaps on telephones are as typical as DUIs in this busy court system. “Many people ask me how I do it, and the answer is, how can I not defend my client’s constitutional rights in the United States of America? That is what makes our country great, and the system simply would not work without defense attorneys. Whether the case is a bank robbery or transportation and distribution of tons of controlled substances, we would be living in a third-world country without our system.” Mr. Smith says he gained valuable training and experience while with the Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. “I cannot understand why anyone would want to hire a former prosecutor that presumed everyone guilty as charged. It does not give you an edge, and we certainly don’t presume that our courts would favor prosecutors as if we lived in a corrupt country…. God Bless America.”
Mr. Smith is a third-generation lawyer following in his father’s footsteps, the Hon. Ralph G. Smith, Jr., a retired judge in Arizona, and his grandfather, Ralph Smith, Sr., who defended boot-leggers during prohibition. Mr. Smith obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Arizona State University and then went to California Western School of Law on a scholarship, receiving the American Jurisprudence Award in Trial Practice. Mr. Smith is licensed to practice law with both the California State Bar and the Arizona State Bar. Mr. Smith is also admitted in several U.S. District Courts in Arizona and California and the Ninth Circuit United States Court of Appeals.
Mr. Smith’s reputation and excellent defense work have earned him tremendous respect in both Federal and State Courts. With over 100 jury trial calls, Mr. Smith has achieved remarkable results in criminal defense cases that are too many to mention. However, as an example, he recently brought a case to jury trial, and the jury returned a not guilty verdict on two counts of inflicting corporal injury to a cohabitant or spouse. Mr. Smith states, “My client was clearly innocent, and in my opinion, the prosecution charged my client with a felony when the evidence was very weak. In another case involving a three-strike allegation against his former Marine military police client, Attorney Smith successfully got all charges dismissed after putting on an affirmative defense at the preliminary hearing in a highly unorthodox move by a defense attorney. “When I see an opportunity, I will often act out of the instinct I can only attribute to listening to my grandfather and father’s experiences and the stories I listened to as a child.” Our duty as San Diego defense lawyers is to challenge the prosecution in those cases. A just verdict of “”not guilty’ has been reached in a long list of cases which shows our dedication to our clients in our pursuit of justice,” says Daniel Smith.
Mr. Smith still continues to handle Federal and State cases for the firm. His close attention to detail and professional presentation of mitigating circumstances resulted in a sentence of only one year and a day for his client in a federal bank robbery case in 2009. In 2010, Mr. Smith secured a sentence involving only home detention for a federal officer after months of negotiations with the federal prosecutor, where Mr. Smith took the opportunity to fully explain the circumstances and demonstrate his client’s incredible background of service to the United States. Since 1990, Mr. Smith has defended clients in cases ranging from DUI to homicide with outstanding results. “Every client I treat as my only client; that is what my father taught me.”
Daniel Smith and his father, Judge Ralph G. Smith, Jr., had the opportunity to write a book available on Amazon entitled “Judge’s Top Secret Guide to Beat a DUI”. Daniel Smith has since begun sharing more information regarding the heavy-handed use of civil and criminal forfeiture used by US Customs and Border Patrol to seize assets from people unfamiliar with their rights to get their property returned. Attorney Smith has applied this knowledge by successfully handling hundreds of forfeiture cases and aiding in property return nationwide.
Jon Martin Pettis
Jon Martin Pettis graduated from UCLA Law School and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1995 when he began he devoted his legal career to primarily DUI defense in California. Since that time, Mr. Pettis has the distinction of being one of only a select few DUI lawyers that the San Diego City Attorney and other prosecutors address as a formidable opponent worthy of careful consideration before facing off in a DUI or other criminal trial.
That, in simple terms, means that Mr. Pettis will be offered concessions to avoid going to trial that other attorneys would not. That is one of the many reasons Mr. Pettis is considered by many as the best DUI lawyer in San Diego County and all of Southern California for that matter. His command of Constitutional law, Case Law, and Criminal Procedure are second to none.
In his years of law school at UCLA, Mr. Pettis competed and was an award-winning Moot Court competitor. Mr. Pettis received his undergraduate degree from UC Santa Cruz and graduated with honors. Mr. Pettis also attended and graduated from the National College of DUI Defense from Harvard Law School while honing his skills in California.
Jon M. Pettis is well regarded by both State and Federal Judges alike for his articulate skills in cross-examination of expert witnesses, whom the prosecution depends heavily upon during trial. For over 18 years, Mr. Pettis has successfully secured not guilty verdicts, dismissals, and uncommonly generous plea offers in favor of his clients.
