Bellingham, WA
Criminal defense Lawyer at Bellingham, WA
Practice Areas: Criminal Defense
OUTCOME: Charged with 6 counts of Possession with Intent to Deliver a Controlled Substance - conviction reversed on appeal
We went to jury trial on this case and argued there was no evidence of actual or constructive possession of the pills. The jury found C.R. guilty, but the Court of Appeals reversed the conviction stat ... ing there was insufficient evidence of actual or constructive possession!
OUTCOME: Charged w/ Burglary 1, Robbery 1, Assault 2 - pled to misdameanor Rendering Criminal Assistance
C.P., her new boyfriend and his friend were all charged with First Degree Burglary, First Degree Robbery and Second Degree Assault. While sitting in a van waiting for the two men to buy some recreatio ... nal marijuana, the two men ran out of the house, jumped in the van bleeding saying they were jumped. One of the men, familiar with the area (C.P. had never been to the west side of Washington state before) directed C.P. to a hospital. As it turns out, the two men went in the house and attempted to rob the residents and got fought off by them. We argued from the beginning there was no evidence that C.P. had anything to do with the robbery/burglary. The State made an offer of a misdemeanor rendering criminal assistance charge with a 30 day sentence. C.P. was looking at years in prison if convicted and decided to take the deal and entered an Alford plea (she did not admit guilt, she was only pleading guilty to take advantage of the State's offer).
OUTCOME: Charged with Hit & Run - Dismissed
R.B was a commercial truck driver charged with Hit & Run of property. He allegedly hit a plastic roadside construction barrier, damaging it. We worked for months trying to contact the Dept. of Transp ... ortation to get a damage estimate. When they responded, they were not seeking damages. I spoke with the prosecutor about the case and my client and she agreed to dismiss the case.
OUTCOME: Possession of Controlled Substance - Dismissed
KS was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance for basically having her husband's prescription medication in her purse. There were other irrelevant circumstances that we believe drove the pr ... osecutor's intention to prosecute the case. We set the case for trial. The prosecution dismissed the day before we were set to go to trial.
OUTCOME: Charged with Attempted Robbery 1, Attempted Possession of Cont. Sub. x 2. Plead to one possession with credit for time served.
JA was charged with one count of Attempted Robbery 1st Degree and two counts of Attempted Possession of Controlled Substances. JA and a friend of his came to Whatcom County to sell scrap metal. The f ... riend knew a person in Whatcom that could help sell the scrap. After selling the scrap, the three men were hanging out together with some friends of the friend. JA had never met these people before. While at these people's house, one of them had called a drug dealer to set up a deal. Unbeknownst to JA, the person who called intended to rob the dealers. The dealers showed up, the person attempted to rob them while JA was present. There was a shootout. One young man died. JA had no knowledge there was going to be a drug deal or robbery. We went to trial and the person who set up the deal was convicted of all charges. The two attempted possession charges against JA were dismissed on our motion after the State rested. JA's jury hung on the robbery charge. While preparing for retrial on the robbery charge, the prosecutor made JA an offer to drop the robbery charge and plead to one possession charge and receive credit for time served. JA thought it was too good to pass up and took the deal.
OUTCOME: 3 counts Unlawful Possession Firearm - Dismissed
J.V. was charged with 3 counts of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. J.V. was accused of driving another person to a location to sell illegal firearms. The State's theory was that J.V. was driving the ... car that held the firearms. We went to trial and after some successful pretrial motions, and before we began choosing a jury, the State decided to dismiss the charges.
OUTCOME: 1st Degree Robbery and 2nd Degree Assault amended to 4th Degree assault
A.S. had been charged with First Degree Robbery and Assault 2nd Degree with a deadly weapon based on an incident where a young man was lured to a secluded area and beaten up by another young man. Unfo ... rtunately for A.S., he had been a passenger in a car with a friend thinking they were headed to a party. When everyone (about 10 people) arrived at the location, one or two of the others started picking on the victim, ultimately beating him up, threatening him with a piece of iron and taking his cell phone. A.S. was charged as an accomplice because he was present and the victim believed A.S. kicked him once while he was down. We investigated the incident thoroughly, including interviewing the victim, and were able to show the prosecutor A.S. had no knowledge of any plan to assault and/or rob the victim. The prosecutor offered a misdemeanor assault and A.S. took the offer.
OUTCOME: Successful appeal
Mr. Lopez was a juvenile who went to a party and became highly intoxicated. He had made advances to one of the girls staying at the home where the party was held. At the end of the evening when every ... one left, Mr. Lopez returned and tried to break into the home while the girl and her friend were alone there. They got scared and ran out of the house. Mr. Lopez entered and broke some of the property in the house. He went to trial, where I prosecuted the case. He was found guilty of the offenses (burglary, MIP, and malicious mischief). After trial, he asked the court to give him a deferred disposition. I objected as the statute did not allow for it. The judge granted his request and I appealed. The Court of Appeals agreed with me that the judge had no authority to grant a deffered disposition after a trial.
OUTCOME: 8 felonies amended to one gross misdemeanor
M.T. had been mistakenly identified by a victim of a home invasion robbery. The victim believed she recognized one suspect by his voice and believed that suspect to be M.T. The State charged M.T. w ... ith First Degree Burglary, First Degree Robbery, two counts Assault Second Degree, two counts Theft of a Firearm, Theft First Degree and Felony Harassment. The State was also seeking firearm enhancements on the charges. M.T. was looking at a sentence anywhere from 25-35 years in prison. We investigated the case and found evidence supporting M.T.'s alibi that he was in another county when the robbery occured, including phone records and a taxi driver that remembered picking up and dropping off M.T. and his friend at the friend's home. We also obtained experts to show that certain DNA and shoe print evidence did not belong to M.T. and a voice recognition expert to testify regarding factors that affect identifying someone by voice and the unreliability of voice identifications in certain circumstances like M.T.'s. We presented a witness that actually admitted to being at the scene of the robbery himself and told detectives M.T. was not there. We also found a witness who supported M.T.'s assertion that he had only met the victim once at a party for about five minutes and, at the time, the victim was intoxicated. We had prepared to go to trial. In light of the evidence (and I believe the work we put into the defense) the State decided to offer M.T. one gross misdemeanor and credit for time served. The eight felonies were dismissed.
OUTCOME: Not Guilty Verdict
This was a case of Malicious Mischief 3rd Degree, Domestic Violence in District Court. The allegation was that B.W. was angry and kicked in a door in anger. We took the case to jury trial and B.W. wa ... s found Not Guilty.
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