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James Owens, Former Contra Costa County Deputy District Attorney
If you or someone in your family has been arrested or charged with a crime in Contra Costa County, the decisions you make at the outset will shape everything that follows.
James Owens was a Deputy District Attorney in Contra Costa County. He evaluated cases, filed charges, and stood up in the same courtrooms where your case will be heard, and he learned from the inside how this county's District Attorney's Office builds and resolves its cases. Now he uses that knowledge for the defense.
Your choice of attorney is one of the first and most consequential decisions in your case. Call (415) 824-4000, email consult@owensdefense.com, or request a confidential consultation.
Contra Costa is a county of distinct communities, and its criminal cases reflect that. A case arising in Richmond involves different police agencies, different witnesses, and different local dynamics than one arising in Walnut Creek, Concord, or Brentwood, and arrests here come from municipal police departments, the Sheriff's Office, CHP, and BART police. What ties it together is the court system centered in Martinez and a District Attorney's Office whose evaluation of a case follows patterns James knows firsthand.
He knows them because he worked there. He understands how a Contra Costa charging deputy reads a file, what makes the office press a case and what makes it deal, and how the equities that never appear in a police report can still move a filing decision. This county is also not a place to assume either leniency or harshness.
Diversion and alternative resolutions exist here and are genuinely reachable in the right cases, but they are earned by preparation and presentation, not granted by default.
The better approach is case-specific, which means identifying the legal weaknesses early, understanding the practical equities, and positioning the case deliberately from the first week.
Contra Costa County Superior Court handles criminal cases at several locations, with most felony matters proceeding in Martinez.
Traffic and juvenile matters are generally heard in Walnut Creek at 640 Ygnacio Valley Road. Where your case is assigned depends on where it arises and what kind of case it is, and the assignment affects scheduling, local practice, and strategy. James spent his prosecutorial years in these courthouses, and he now represents clients in them at every stage, from arraignment through pretrial motions, negotiations, and trial.
People arrested in Contra Costa County who are not cited and released are generally booked at the Martinez Detention Facility, and for families the first hours come down to the same questions. Where are they, when do they see a judge, and what will it take to bring them home?
The sequence usually runs as follows. The person is cited and released or booked into custody, the District Attorney's Office reviews the reports and decides what to file, and if charges are filed, arraignment follows within a short timeframe. At arraignment the court advises the person of the charges, addresses custody and release conditions, and sets the schedule, and release can involve bail, supervised release, protective orders, stay-away terms, or treatment conditions depending on the case.
The window before that filing decision is where early counsel earns its keep. James reviewed those files as a Contra Costa prosecutor, so he knows what information actually changes a charging decision and how to put it in front of the right deputy while the decision is still open. Early involvement also protects the evidence that helps you, which in this county often means surveillance footage, witness accounts, and digital records spread across a dozen different cities and agencies before anyone has gathered them.
James represents clients facing state misdemeanor and felony charges in Contra Costa County, including:
Each of those pages explains how James defends that category of case. This page makes a narrower point. Whatever the charge, it will be evaluated by an office James once worked for, in courthouses where he has stood on both sides.
Owens Defense represents clients arrested or charged throughout Contra Costa County, including in Martinez, Richmond, San Pablo, El Cerrito, Pinole, Hercules, Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Danville, San Ramon, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Antioch, Pittsburg, Brentwood, and Oakley. The firm also serves people who live elsewhere but face charges in Contra Costa County.
Most felony matters proceed in Martinez, while other cases may be assigned to Richmond, Pittsburg, or Walnut Creek depending on where the case arises and its type. Your citation or court paperwork lists the location, and if it is unclear, James will confirm the where and when at the first consultation.
Tell them not to discuss the case with anyone, including on the jail's recorded phone lines, where careless statements regularly make cases worse. Then get counsel engaged before the arraignment, because custody and release conditions get decided at that first appearance and a prepared showing changes what is possible.
For some cases and some people, yes. This county has meaningful diversion and alternative-resolution pathways, but eligibility is case-specific and the prosecution's agreement is earned by presentation, which can include treatment engagement, restitution, employment, and family support shown early and credibly. Whether your case is a realistic candidate is a first-conversation question.
Concretely, yes. He learned how this office charges, negotiates, and tries cases by doing that work here, and he knows the courthouses and local practices the same way. No familiarity guarantees an outcome, but it sharpens judgment about which arguments to make, to whom, and when.
Yes. Many people charged here live elsewhere in the Bay Area, and in some cases your attorney can appear on your behalf so that you do not travel for every date. Whether that applies to your case depends on the charge, and it is settled in the first conversation.
If you are facing criminal charges or an investigation in Contra Costa County, get advice from someone who knows this county's system from both sides. Call (415) 824-4000, email consult@owensdefense.com, or request a confidential consultation.
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