Richard Wagner

24+ Years Professional Legal Experience. Former Prosecutor. Dedicated DUI and Criminal Defense Attorney Richard Wagner offers professional representation and proven methods for effective DUI criminal defense with a unique and insightful perspective on the California Penal Code and California Vehicle Code and related criminal laws. An intelligent, overly prepared, and tirelessly dedicated attorney, Richard Wagner earned his bachelor’s degree from University of California, Santa Barbara, and law degree from Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California. 

In law school, his academic achievements included serving on the Law Review, being awarded the Dean’s Merit Scholarship and the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence.  Mr. Wagner’s work experience in law school included serving as a law clerk with the Orange County Alternate Public Defender’s Office, and as a judicial extern to the Honorable Justice Edward Wallin (Ret.), California Court of Appeal, in Santa Ana, California.

After graduation from law school, Mr. Wagner worked as a criminal prosecutor for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, the third largest municipal law office in the country.  During his tenure as a deputy city attorney, Mr. Wagner prosecuted thousands of criminal cases, including drunk driving cases.  He also was a speaker at the Los Angeles Police Department, Impaired Driver Apprehension Program (IDAP) on Case Preparation and Courtroom Testimony Training, and for the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Trial Advocacy Project (TAP). 

Since 2002, Mr. Wagner has been in private practice, where his criminal defense practice has included an emphasis on criminal defense and drunk driving cases in state criminal courts and administrative suspension/revocation hearings before the Department of Motor Vehicles. In 2006, he presented a lecture, “What to Do If You Are Arrested for Drunk Driving” at Whittier Law School.

Mr. Wagner is one of the few dedicated DUI defense attorneys who has successfully completed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA), International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Course.

Mr. Wagner managed the Orange County office for Top Gun DUI Defense Attorney® Myles L. Berman, where he learned how to aggressively defend clients accused of DUI and other criminal charges throughout Southern California courthouses. 

Mr. Wagner represents privately retained clients, as well as, listed by Los Angeles Superior Court as an Attorney authorized to accept court-appointed cases through the Indigent Criminal Defense Appointments Program (ICDA).  

Mr. Wagner has handled thousands of Southern California criminal defense cases, resulting in excellent results for his clients, including not guilty verdicts, acquittals, dismissals, and reductions of charges.

Mr. Wagner won a jury trial in Newport Beach for a woman accused by the Orange County DA of DUI in Corona Del Mar.  In another, he got a man’s DUI dismissed who was accused by the Los Angeles DA of DUI in the Compton Courthouse after two jury trials ended in mistrials.

In another DUI case, Mr. Wagner won a jury trial in Whittier for a man accused of his second DUI, defending against evidence put on by the LA District Attorney of his client causing a traffic accident, failing FSTs, and having a blood test result that came back at 0.19%. 

Mr. Wagner’s victories include a complete dismissal of felony charges for his client facing significant state prison time and lifetime drug registration accused by the San Bernardino District Attorney of second degree commercial burglary, transportation of marijuana for sale, and possession of marijuana for sale in the San Bernardino Superior Court.

Mr. Wagner also convinced the LA District Attorney to dismiss serious sex felony allegations in Bellflower, avoiding serious prison and sex registration for his innocent client. 

Mr. Wagner is admitted to practice law and defend clients in the Central and Southern Districts of the United States District Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, in all state courts throughout California. He has successfully represented clients in criminal and DUI cases in Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Joaquin, San Bernardino, Riverside, Tulare, Imperial, and San Diego Counties.  Mr. Wagner has even been hired to defend clients in Georgia, Idaho and New Mexico.  He is a member of the American Bar Association, State Bar of California, and the California Public Defender’s Association.