In San Diego, an interaction with law enforcement can spiral in seconds. What you remember as a misunderstanding or a reflexive move to protect yourself is often documented in a police report as “Assault on a Peace Officer.” These charges are aggressive, highly prioritized by prosecutors, and carry the weight of the entire law enforcement system. At the Law Offices of Logan Noblin, we specialize in dismantling the “official” police narrative to protect your rights and your freedom.
Don’t Let a Chaotic
Encounter Command Your Future
A conviction for assault on a peace officer can impact:
Assault on an officer cases are not ordinary assault cases. They require immediate, technical, and aggressive litigation strategies focused on intent, contact, and legality of the officer’s actions.
Defense In Every Corner
Self-Defense Against
Excessive Force
We prove that your actions were a necessary response to an officer’s use of unreasonable or excessive force. If an officer exceeds their legal authority, you have a lawful right to defend your physical safety.
The "Unlawful Performance of Duties"
For an APO charge to stick, the officer must have been acting within the scope of their legal duties. If the initial stop, search, or detention was illegal, we move to have the charges thrown out entirely.
Challenging Reflexive vs. Willful Intent
Assault requires “willful” action. In the chaos of an arrest—especially involving tasers, pepper spray, or K9s—many physical movements are involuntary reflexes, not criminal intent. We utilize biomechanical analysis to prove the difference.
Body-Cam Deconstruction
Police reports are often “sanitized” versions of events. We conduct a frame-by-frame audit of Body-Worn Camera (BWC) footage to identify where the officer’s written statement contradicts the digital reality of the encounter.
Judicial Diversion & Mitigation
For first-time offenders, we petition the court directly for PC 1001.95 diversion. By focusing on your professional background and character, we bypass the DA’s office to secure a path toward a total dismissal and record sealing.
The Wins
Our Proven 4-Step Blueprint
In San Diego, the “official” version of an arrest is written by the officers involved. It is designed to justify their use of force and secure your conviction. Logan Noblin uses a battle-tested roadmap to dismantle these reports and seize control of the narrative before you ever step foot in a trial.
01
We don’t accept the police report as the truth. In APO cases, the most important evidence is often what the police didn’t include.
02
The most powerful win is a case that is never filed. We utilize the “Mitigation Packet” strategy to stop the prosecution in its tracks.
03
If the prosecution refuses to drop the case, we move to the offensive by filing high-level legal motions.
04
We prepare every case as if it is going to a jury. This “discipline of a fighter” gives us the ultimate leverage at the negotiating table.
Common Questions
Yes. Under PC 241(c), assault is defined as an attempt to commit a violent injury, combined with the “present ability” to do so. This means lunging, throwing an object that misses, or swinging and missing can still result in a high-level misdemeanor or felony charge. We focus on proving a lack of “willful intent” or demonstrating that your movements were reflexive, not aggressive.
PC 148(a)(1), often called “Simple Resisting,” is a misdemeanor involving delaying or obstructing an officer (like running away or refusing to give your hands). PC 241(c) is more serious because it involves an attempted physical attack. Many of our “Not Guilty” verdicts, such as our win against six police witnesses, involve cases where the prosecution tried to “stack” these charges to force a plea deal.
This is a core pillar of our defense. Under California law, an officer is only protected if they are “engaged in the performance of their duties.” If an officer uses unreasonable or excessive force, they are no longer acting lawfully. In these cases, you have a legal right to use reasonable force to defend yourself. We use body-cam footage to prove the officer was the “first aggressor.”
Absolutely. Under PC 1001.95, many misdemeanor APO charges are eligible for diversion. This allows us to bypass the prosecutor—who is often biased toward the police—and ask the judge directly to pause the case. As seen in our 2025 and 2026 results, we have successfully used diversion to get even serious felony charges dismissed and sealed, keeping our clients’ records clean.
A Pitchess Motion is a request to the court to view the officer’s confidential personnel file. If that officer has a history of excessive force, racial bias, or filing dishonest reports, we can use that information to impeach their credibility in court. If the officer has a “track record” of aggression, the prosecution’s case often falls apart.
It is a high risk. For nurses, teachers, and military personnel, a conviction for “violence” or “assault” can trigger a mandatory review by licensing boards. We have a proven track record—including our 2024 nursing license save and 2023 teacher DUI/Assault case—of negotiating charges down to non-violent infractions or securing total dismissals to protect your career.
For an APO charge to stick, the prosecution must prove you knew or reasonably should have known the person was a peace officer. If the officer was off-duty, didn’t identify themselves, or was wearing plain clothes without a badge, we can argue you were acting in self-defense against what appeared to be a civilian attacker.
A pretextual stop is when an officer pulls you over for a minor reason (like tinted windows) just to investigate something else. As shown in our 2023 motion to suppress win, if we can prove the initial stop was illegal, all evidence gathered after that—including an alleged assault or resisting arrest—can be suppressed, forcing a total dismissal.
Yes. The “Peace Officer” designation in assault cases often extends to first responders, including EMTs, paramedics, and firefighters. The defense strategy remains the same: we scrutinize whether they were acting lawfully and whether your actions were truly “willful” or merely a medical/reflexive crisis.
This is a powerful mitigation tool. As seen in our 2025 “stealing spree” dismissal, we utilize Mental Health Diversion (PC 1001.36). If the interaction was a result of a diagnosed mental health condition (like PTSD or bipolar disorder), we can often move the case out of the criminal system and into a treatment-based program that ends in a full dismissal.
Yes. Many APO charges are “wobblers,” meaning they can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor. We utilize your background—such as military service or a lack of a prior record—to lobby the DA or the judge to “wobble” the charge down, ensuring you avoid the permanent “felon” label and keep your firearm rights.
If we secure a dismissal or a “Not Guilty” verdict, we immediately petition for the sealing of the arrest record. This process usually takes 60–90 days. Once sealed, the arrest is deemed never to have occurred for most employment and background check purposes, as demonstrated in our 2024 and 2025 “Clean Slate” wins.
