Attorney Emma Shinn's Legal Cases

Military law

Navy - Disrespect to Senior Enlisted

N/A

OUTCOME: Not Guilty to All Charges (Jury)

In what appeared to be an open-and-shut government case and an NJP refusal, HN S. was charged with disrespecting two senior enlisted Sailors (HM1 and HMCS) - yelling, cursing, etc - all surrounding no ... t being allowed to go on liberty one Saturday morning. In what could have been a throw-away case, Russell Shinn turned the prosecution's case on its head, showing that the disrespect was not aimed at the two named Sailors - rather at a third Sailor (HM3) who had abandoned his rank, lost all deportment and caused the entire scene. The members saw my client for the righteously-wronged person he was and the HM3 for the true bad actor.

Military law

USMC - Rape by rank, attempted adultery, conspiracy, obstruction

N/A

OUTCOME: Not Guilty of Rape (Jury)

Female PFC alleged that my client, a SSgt, and a Cpl sexually assault her during a unit function. Facts emerge that she was in a relationship with the Cpl and had agreed to engage in sexual acts with t ... he 3 male Marines, but was embarrassed when the next morning she was caught in the Cpl's room. In true fashion, the cover-up is almost always worse than the crime, the 3 Marines were scared of the sex assault allegations and discussed how to respond - to include lying about never having sex with her. Thus, the conspiracy and obstruction. My client never actually penetrated the female PFC so it was attempted adultery. The command would not accept a pretrial agreement (PTA) that was anywhere near reasonable, so we went to trial and got a less severe sentence than what we had offered in a PTA.

Military law

USMC - Aggravated Assault w/ a Deadly Weapon

N/A

OUTCOME: Not Guilty to All Charges (Jury)

Client was alleged to have held a knife to a junior Marine's throat and threatened his life. Facts came out that the complaining witness, in fact, had cut a Marine earlier and was desperate to escape ... punishment. Through solid investigation, hard work, and cross-examination of government witnesses, the truth came out.

Military law

USMC - Negligent Homicide, Dereliction of Duty, Conduct Unbecoming

N/A

OUTCOME: Withdrawn/Dismissed

This was an EOD case that rightly should have never gone to trial. There was an explosion at an EOD range and a Marine died. The command wanted to hold my officer client accountable since he was the EO ... D OIC. They charged him with negligent homicide, dereliction of duty, and other charges. A stellar Marine, my client wasn't even on the range that day and had previously counseled the Marine who died (SSgt, posthumously promoted to GySgt) on improper EOD actions on the range the day prior. Through actions of the defense team, my client's career was saved (and he was subsequently promoted).

Military law

USMC - Rape, Sexual Assault

N/A

OUTCOME: Withdrawn & Dismissed

Despite the Investigating Officer recommending not going forward at the Article 32 due to insufficiency of proof and witness issues, the charges were referred to a General Court-Martial. Russell Shinn ... continued to press, using effective communication techniques to convince both the prosecutor and the convening authority that the case should not be tried. The client continued his career without any further issues.

Military law

USMC - Aggravated Sexual Assault

N/A

OUTCOME: Withdrawn/Dismissed

Yet another case where Russell Shinn's early pretrial preparation and effort resulted in the Article 32 Investigating Officer recommending not going forward. Despite this, given our political climate, ... the charges were still referred to General Court-Martial. However, Russell Shinn didn't stop. Through more hard work, Russell Shinn convinced the prosecutor, the Staff Judge Advocate and the convening authority to withdraw and dismiss the charges after Russell Shinn highlighted the insurmountable failures in the case. The client continued his career without incident and was subsequently promoted.

Military law

USMC - Male-Male Forcible Sodomy, Sexual Assault, Assault Consummated by a Battery

N/A

OUTCOME: Not Guilty of All Charges (Jury)

Allegations of male-on-male sexual assault made this case a challenge to ensure silent biases from the jury did not impact the verdict. Despite an initially compelling testimony by the complaining witn ... ess at the Article 32, his story fell apart once Russell Shinn started to dig. A thorough investigation revealed that the pieces did not fit together; for example, the complaining witness was supposed to be extremely intoxicated so that he couldn't control his body but Russell Shinn counted the 147 stairs he climbed and almost mile he walked from the bowling alley to the barracks AFTER drinking. The case went all the way to members (jury) trial. Client was found not guilty, large part, due to crushing cross-examination of the complaining witness's story.

Military law

USMC - Rape, Sodomy, Assault, and Adultery case with three complaining witnesses

N/A

OUTCOME: (Jury) Not Guilty of Rape / later, the Assault and Sodomy convictions overturned on appeal

With three complaining witnesses, the odds seemed stacked against the defense. They were, but that didn't keep us from fighting. After a long, hard-fought battle, the client was found guilty of cons ... ensual sodomy and adultery with one complaining witness; and assault and attempted adultery with the second complaining witness. The charges for the third witness were dropped. Due to hard-hitting trial work by Russell Shinn, the convictions for the sodomy and assault were overturned on appeal and the client got a new sentencing hearing. Russell Shinn again represented the client at the resentencing hearing and was able to get his sentence was cut in half, with no sex offender registration.

Emma Shinn's Legal Cases (18)

Navy - Disrespect to Senior Enlisted

USMC - Rape by rank, attempted adultery, conspiracy, obstruction

USMC - Aggravated Assault w/ a Deadly Weapon

USMC - Negligent Homicide, Dereliction of Duty, Conduct Unbecoming

USMC - Rape, Sexual Assault

USMC - Aggravated Sexual Assault

USMC - Male-Male Forcible Sodomy, Sexual Assault, Assault Consummated by a Battery

USMC - Rape, Sodomy, Assault, and Adultery case with three complaining witnesses