Homicide defense in Modesto
Homicide cases are the most consequential criminal cases there are, and they are won and lost on the work that happens long before trial — the investigation, the experts, the motions, and the jury work that begins at jury selection.
Charging-side experience in serious felony cases
Matthew Begoun was a Deputy DA in Stanislaus County before opening this practice. He handled serious and violent felony cases — including those carrying life exposures — through preliminary hearing and trial.
In a homicide case, the prosecution's charging decisions drive the entire case: first-degree vs. second-degree murder, the special-circumstances allegations under PC 190.2, the firearm enhancements under PC 12022.53, and whether voluntary or involuntary manslaughter is on the table as a lesser-included. Each of those decisions has its own internal review process inside the DA's office. Knowing those processes — and where the supervisor sign-offs happen — is part of how the defense pushes for the right outcome at the right level of the office.
Note on conflicts: As a recent Deputy DA, Matthew cannot defend any case he personally worked on as a prosecutor. We confirm conflicts at the first call.
What we handle
- PC 187 — Murder. First-degree murder requires premeditation, deliberation, lying-in-wait, or felony murder under the post–SB 1437 standard. Second-degree murder is unpremeditated but with malice.
- PC 192(a) — Voluntary manslaughter. An intentional killing in the heat of passion or under an honest but unreasonable belief in the need for self-defense ("imperfect self-defense").
- PC 192(b) — Involuntary manslaughter. A killing in the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, or of a lawful act in an unlawful manner.
- PC 191.5 — Vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Felony, with significant prison exposure under PC 191.5(a) when gross negligence is alleged.
- PC 192(c) — Vehicular manslaughter without intoxication.
- PC 187 with PC 12022.53 enhancements. Firearm enhancements add 25-to-life for discharged firearms causing GBI or death; these often drive the sentencing exposure more than the base charge.
- PC 190.2 special circumstances. When alleged, special circumstances make a first-degree murder charge punishable by life without parole or, historically, by death (now subject to the governor's moratorium and Stanislaus County DA discretion).
What changed: SB 1437 and the murder doctrine
California's law on aiding-and-abetting murder and felony murder changed substantially with SB 1437 and the cases interpreting it (People v. Lewis, People v. Strong). The "natural and probable consequences" doctrine for murder no longer applies. Felony murder requires that the defendant was the actual killer, acted with intent to kill, or was a major participant who acted with reckless indifference to human life.
For clients with older convictions, PC 1172.6 provides a resentencing path. For new cases, the doctrine narrows what the prosecution can charge and prove.
Self-defense and imperfect self-defense
California's self-defense doctrine applies in homicide cases the way it does in assault cases — but the stakes are different and the proof obligations are heavier. Imperfect self-defense (an honest but unreasonable belief in the need for force) reduces murder to voluntary manslaughter. Heat-of-passion provocation, when supported by the evidence, does the same.
What I look at first
- The scene. Reports, photos, diagrams, gunshot-residue testing, ballistics, and reconstruction. Independent investigation by the defense is not optional in homicide cases.
- The witnesses. Who saw what, who heard what, and what their statements have looked like over time. Inconsistencies are the work.
- The forensics. Autopsy findings, toxicology, ballistics, and DNA. Each requires its own expert review.
- The client's statements. Anything said to police, anything said before police arrived, and the conditions under which any waiver of rights was given.
- The DA's theory. First-degree premeditation, second-degree implied malice, felony murder, aiding and abetting — each has different elements and different defenses.
Realistic outcomes
Homicide cases resolve at every point along the spectrum: full acquittal, hung jury, conviction on a lesser-included offense (manslaughter rather than murder), and negotiated pleas to reduced charges with capped sentences. The right path depends on the facts, the witnesses, and what the prosecution can actually prove at trial — which is not always what the charging document says.
Special-circumstances cases are negotiated separately from the rest of the case, and getting the special circumstance dropped is often the central early goal of representation.
Process
A homicide case typically runs through arraignment, a preliminary hearing where the prosecution must show probable cause, motion practice (suppression, severance, in-limine), pretrial conferences, and trial. Cases of this size frequently take a year or more to reach trial. Getting from arraignment to trial in a way that doesn't destroy the defense requires consistent, focused work — not heroics in the final weeks.
What to do now
- Do not speak to investigators, in person, by phone, by text, or through family. Anything said is on the record.
- Preserve everything. Phones, social-media accounts, location history, vehicle data. Don't delete, don't reformat, don't reset.
- Don't talk to the press, and don't let family members do so either.