Daniel 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. 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.