David Hammerstad's Legal Cases (3)

Criminal defense

Federal Drug Conspiracy Case

Jan 01, 2016

OUTCOME: Probation

Angie was a hardworking single mother of three in her mid-thirties. She courageously left her abusive ex-husband and was raising her kids on her own while working full-time. A charismatic man met her ... at her workplace and asked her out. He seemed gracious and respectful, a refreshing change from her most recent partner. Unbeknownst to Angie, this man was a drug dealer who had moved from Mexico to replace his brother as a supervisor of a drug trafficking organization. Angie was already falling in love with this man when she learned the truth. Against her better judgment, she occasionally translated calls between her boyfriend and his English-speaking customers and accompanied him when he conducted business. Little did she know that the government was listening in on her boyfriend’s cell phone courtesy of a wiretap. Though their relationship only lasted a little over three months, virtually every call she made to him and he made to her, including intimate details of their relationship, was recorded by the federal government. Several months later, after they had broken up and her boyfriend had moved back to Mexico, there was a knock at the door. The DEA has a search warrant for her residence and an arrest warrant for her, charging her with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. She spent 48 hours in jail, leaving her kids in the care of her roommate. The government asked to detain her pending trial—the government cited her recent travel to Mexico and ties there that allegedly made her a flight risk—but we persuaded the judge to release her pending trial. I worked with Angie to tell her story and to put her involvement in her boyfriend’s crimes in context, and I carefully examined the wiretap evidence to challenge the government’s assumptions about Angie’s role in her boyfriend’s drug organization. Over time I whittled away at the government’s recommendation for Angie’s sentence, from two years at the time of the initial plea offer, to six months at sentencing. Over the government and probation’s joint recommendation for six months in jail, which would have resulted in the loss of Angie’s job and separation from her three children, I persuaded the court to sentence her to probation. Angie is back at her job today and back to the life she knew before the nightmare of this experience.

Criminal defense

Thefts related to Opiate Addiction

Jan 01, 2015

OUTCOME: Two dismissals/one deferred misdemeanor sentence

Matthew developed an opiate addiction in his teens after becoming dependent on painkillers prescribed after he was the victim of an assault. With the help of his family Matthew was able to recover and ... obtain a degree in social work, which he used to counsel other recovering addicts. Unfortunately, like many who struggled with addiction, he relapsed and kept his relapse a secret from his closest friends and family. Only when he had been arrested and charged with multiple thefts did his family appreciated the full extent of his addiction. Matthew had charges in multiple jurisdictions—a shoplifting case in one local municipality, a theft in another, and multiple trafficking in stolen property charges which were being investigated as felony charges. Working with Matthew and his family, who had gotten Matthew into detox and drug rehabilitation treatment, I was able to prevent this episode from leaving a permanent stain on Matthew’s record. Using the “compromise of misdemeanor” statute I was able to get one municipal court charge dismissed once Matthew paid restitution to the victim merchant for its losses. I was able to persuade the prosecutor in another municipality to allow Matthew to enter a diversion court, in spite of his initial objections that the amount of the theft made Matthew ineligible, and we were eventually able to get that charge dismissed. Finally, I was able to work with a King County prosecutor and the detective who was investigating Matthew’s trafficking stolen property cases to combine all of Matthew’s outstanding trafficking stolen property charges and incidents under investigation into one misdemeanor charge that would be dismissed upon Matthew’s completion of drug rehabilitation, payment of restitution, and good behavior. Potentially life-altering consequences were averted and Matthew was allowed the opportunity to rehabilitate himself and continue on a productive path.

Criminal defense

Domestic Violence Burglary

Dec 01, 2014

OUTCOME: Not guilty verdict--Burglary 1st Degree

Robert was a veteran in his fifties who had been in an on-again off-again relationship with his girlfriend , a woman he met through mutual friends. He and his girlfriend had once lived together at her ... home. They remained friends and sometime lovers but now lived apart. One evening he and the his girlfriend got into a volatile argument that eventually prompted her to call the police. Robert left before the police arrived but returned while an officer was interviewing her in her home. Robert let himself in the front door, and the officer, who had his back to the front door and had learned little about the case except that it was a potential “domestic violence” situation, immediately turned and drew his gun at Robert. A standoff ensued between the officer, who stood at the top of a stairwell in the entryway, and Robert, who stood at the bottom. Robert eventually turned tail and ran from the home, with the officer in hot pursuit. Robert was apprehended and charged with Burglary in the First Degree, a serious felony alleging that Robert illegally entered his girlfriend’s home with the intent to commit a crime, and that he assaulted the officer while he was inside. It carried prison time if Robert were convicted. The officer claimed that, when Robert was facing him from the bottom of the stairs, he swore at the officer, challenged him to a fight, and eventually stepped forward toward the officer, swinging at him and narrowly missing before turning around and running. We were able to persuade the jury, through careful exploration of the evidence and cross-examination of Robert's girlfriend, that there was insufficient evidence that Robert intended to harm to Lucille when he returned to her residence. Moreover, my cross-examination of the officer persuaded the jury that his version of Robert’s actions and his responses was not credible, and that the officer’s embellishment of Robert’s behavior was plausibly the product of an officer trying to justify his near use of deadly force. Robert was acquitted of Burglary.

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