Sacramento Felony Defense Attorney

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.

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.

Appointed Indigent Defense Counsel in San Joaquin County; the client was charged with felony sexual battery and looking at his third strike and 25 years to Life in prison; upon body worn camera review, Mr. Donato was able to present evidence to the DA and had the case reduced to a misdemeanor and the client was released from jail custody that day.

With a client facing charges for spousal battery, a serious offense that would have cost him his job, Mr. Donato effectively negotiated with the DA, resulting in a full dismissal in return for 12 anger management classes.

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 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.

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.

Client was facing robbery charges and our investigation showed the witness was not likely to show up for trial. We pushed to get this case before a jury, and when the prosecution was unable to produce evidence against our client the case was dismissed.

Charged with robbery and felony assault resulting in great bodily injury, our client was facing multiple strikes and significant time in prison. Mr. Donato took this case to trial, earning not guilty jury verdicts on both charges. Mr. Escobar walked out of court a free man, holding his young daughter in his arms.

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.

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.

Our office took this case to jury trial and received a full acquittal on all charges including DUI and refusing to take a chemical test.  This would have been Mr. Sanchez's second DUI and would have resulted in a year long license revocation.

With our client charged with felony vehicle theft and evading law enforcement, Mr. Donato sought out the necessary investigation to show that his client was actually not the driver of the vehicle. The DA dismissed all charges.

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.

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.

After an intense road rage incident, our client was charged with assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly ramming another car with her own. After diligent investigation and negotiations with the Prosecutors in this case, Mr. Donato persuaded the government to dismiss the case in its entirety.

Private Retained Counsel in Sacramento County; client was charged with felony child abuse and the DA offered prison time for plea bargan, Mr. Donato obtained the opinion of a child abuse expert and was able to get the DA to dismiss the case in the interest of justice.

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.

Our cient's DUI was dismissed after we obtained the officer's in car camera video which revealed the officer had fabricated major portions of the report.  Thanks in part to Mr. Donato's discoveries, the officer in this case was arrested and eventually plead guilty to numerous counts of perjury and obstruction of justice.  The officer was ultimately sentenced to prison.

With a client facing life in prison on sexual assault charges, our office decided to take this case to trial. After fighting to expose the holes in the Prosecution's case, the jury returned not guilty verdicts on all counts.  Our client was released from custody the same day.