OUTCOME: Felony on hold pending dismissal; guilty plea to misdemeanor.
My client was charged with Assault 2nd Degree with a Deadly Weapon, along with a second charge of Malicious Mischief. My client had been intoxicated and chased people with a knife at a party. I was abl...e to put together a comprehensive strategy documenting my client's alcoholism and his willingness to participate in extensive treatment. Based on our presentation, the prosecuting attorney agreed to put the felony charge on hold while my client plead guilty to the misdemeanor and underwent alcohol treatment. So long as the client successfully completes his treatment, the serious felony charge will be entirely dismissed. This was a very good outcome for a tough case.
Landlord or tenant
Petition for Antiharassment Order
Mar 21, 2013
OUTCOME: Petition granted to my client
I represented a landlord against a former tenant who had been posting harassing information about the landlord on Craigslist. The tenant appeared at the hearing, and we went through a lengthy and hotly... contested presentation of our case. Ultimately the judge granted our petition and awarded attorney's fees and costs to my client.
Divorce and separation
Domestic Violence Protection Order
Feb 06, 2013
OUTCOME: Petition dismissed in favor of my client
I represented a husband whose wife filed an inaccurate and unnecessary petition for a protection order against him. I assisted my client in drafting response documents, and represented him in a hearing.... In the end, the court commissioner agreed with our position, found the allegations to be unproven, and dismissed the petition
Criminal defense
City of Bellingham v. D.H.
Jul 24, 2012
OUTCOME: Not Guilty
Client D.H. was charged with Violation of a No Contact Order. His ex-wife had accused him of contacting her in violation of a court protective order. I took the case to trial (the second case I had tak...en to trial involving the same couple). The jury found my client not guilty of all charges.
Criminal defense
City of Ferndale v. D.H.
Dec 01, 2011
OUTCOME: Not Guilty
My client was charged with Violating a No Contact Order. His ex-wife had accused him of calling and threatening her by phone in violation of a court protection order. I took the case to trial (the firs...t of two trials I have handled involving this same couple). I was able to prove several significant holes in the ex-wife's story, and the jury found my client not guilty of all charges.
Federal crime
United States v. Groen
Apr 25, 2011
OUTCOME: Split verdict - not guilty on one count; guilty on the other.
I sat as co-counsel defending a man accused of shining a spotlight at a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter. He was indicted in U.S. Federal Court for interfering with the helicopter and incapacitating the p...ilot. After a heavily contested trial, the jury found our client not guilty of the more serious of the two charges.
Criminal defense
City of Bellingham v. Young Male Client
Jun 15, 2010
OUTCOME: Not Guilty
One night in January, 2010, my client was out with some friends in Bellingham. They were out in the street getting ready to head home at the end of the night when three young men began hassling them, h...arassing them, and calling them names. One of my client’s friends approached the three guys to get into it with them. My client followed his friend to try to keep her out of trouble. Once the group was face-to-face, they started arguing back and forth. Eventually, one of the guys punched my client in the face, knocking him to the ground.
When police arrived, my client had a bloody nose and was very emotional. Police officers testified that my client shouldered one of the three guys as he walked past them to go talk to an officer. Police also testified that while they were talking to my client, he got upset again and started moving past them toward the three guys. Police had to grab him by the elbow and redirect him back to the car.
In the end, police cited my client with Disorderly Conduct; they chose not to cite any of the three guys who started things.
We took the case to trial because the whole situation seemed fundamentally unfair. My client was the only one who clearly had been hit, and yet he was the one facing charges. At trial, the prosecutor told the jury that regardless of what started things, my client’s behavior while police were on the scene was disorderly, and he should therefore be found guilty. The question came down to whether the jury would just focus on my client’s behavior in a narrow time-frame, or whether they would take the whole situation into account in making their decision.
Thankfully, the jury looked at the big picture, and found my client Not Guilty.
DUI and DWI
State v. Anonymous
Sep 26, 2007
OUTCOME: Not Guilty
My client was out with friends one evening in Olympia. Afterward, they all went back to a house and slept it off. The next day, my client drove back up to Seattle. Her friend followed her in a second c...ar all the way up. As they entered Seattle in heavy traffic, the transmission in my client’s car seized up causing her to be rear-ended by a large flat-bed truck. When the truck hit her, she was bounced into another car ahead of her.
Minutes after the accident, a Washington State Patrol Trooper ran her through a series of difficult balance and dexterity tests while still on the side of the highway. Not surprisingly (given the circumstances), my client did not perform the tests perfectly. The Trooper then arrested her for DUI. Back at the police station, my client blew under the .08 legal limit on the breath test (though some residual alcohol did register). Despite all of this, the State still chose to prosecute her for DUI.
At trial, my client and her friends all testified about what had happened & to the fact that my client was not impaired while driving. I also did a lengthy cross-examination of the WSP Trooper, showing numerous inconsistencies and assumptions she had made during the arrest.
In the end, the jury found my client not guilty. I believe this was the proper outcome for the case, and I am glad to have been able to help my client get her life back together after this horrible series of events.
