Torrance, CA
Civil rights Lawyer at Torrance, CA
Practice Areas: Civil Rights, Criminal Defense, Appeals
OUTCOME: Child abuse charges dismissed!
Police fabricated a case of child abuse against a mother of two who was actually a victim. The police hid evidence that showed the mother was attacked by her ex and then treated the ex's false statemen ... ts as if they were true. They made up other evidence to falsely suggest that the child was injured as a result of the mother's dispute with her ex.
OUTCOME: Reversed
Multi-count criminal case where jury returned five guilty verdicts. On appeal, I successfully argued that three of the five counts should be dismissed. Prosecutor conceded the merits of my arguments. ... Court reversed the convictions on each of the three counts.
OUTCOME: Court of Appeal ordered trial court to provide transcript
In this matter, the trial court refused our request for a transcript of the trial after we substituted in to represent the client in his motion for new trial. We filed a petition for Writ of Mandate t ... o compel the trial court to order a copy of the transcript at county expense. The court of appeal agreed.
OUTCOME: Reversed (as to counts appealed)
In this case, client admitted to the offense at time of arrest. On appeal I argued that there was insufficient evidence of underlying misdemeanor crime and that, under the corpus delicti rule, the cli ... ent's admission could not be used to prove his guilt in the absence of other evidence. The Court of Appeal agreed. I was also able to get the trial court to award additional two months pre-sentence credit on the remaining counts.
OUTCOME: 3rd Strike felonies dismissed
Able to establish that the damage was minimal (under $400) and therefore vandalism could not be charged as felony. Second felony - gang allegation - was also dismissed along with strike priors. Clien ... t went from facing life sentence to receiving a time served deal on a misdemeanor!
OUTCOME: Petition Granted!
Troy Davis has been on Georgia's death row since 1991 despite strong evidence of innocence. He was convicted of a 1989 shooting death of an off-duty police officer in Savannah, GA. Since his trial, 7 ... of the 9 civilian witnesses against Troy have signed sworn affidavits stating that they were pressured by police to implicate Troy Davis. Many others have come forward implicating another man in the shooting. I learned about the case on July 3, 2007 while serving as Director of the Indigent Criminal Defense Clinic at Emory Law School. I was asked to help by simply writing a letter to the parole board. The more I read about the case, the more obligated I felt. My pro bono work on this case, thus far, has included writing several amicus briefs to the GA and US Supreme Courts, participating in a public grassroots advocacy campaign, and networking with the criminal defense bar and the innocence community to encourage their participation. This case should be particularly troubling to all because it highlights the unique vulnerabilities of the indigent and the systemic failure to protect the innocent in our criminal justice system. The trial and post-conviction records reveal a less than zealous defense team at trial. There was minimal pretrial investigation, no eyewitness expert testimony presented or other means to educate the jurors about the dangers of misidentification or false snitch testimony. The prosecutor's zeal and superior oratory skills won out over reason. The result is a conviction and a death sentence based on highly unreliable evidence - false snitch testimony and sketchy eyewitness identification testimony. For instance, one witness was standing over 160 feet away looking into a dimly lit parking lot at four male strangers, all of the same race and general age group, as they moved quickly about the parking lot for a few seconds before fleeing the scene. Another identified Troy at trial two years later despite the fact that he could not identify the shooter on the night of the shooting or one month later. Troy's early post-conviction appeals - a critical stage in death penalty cases - suffered a devastating blow when federal funding was slashed, which left Troy virtually unrepresented from 1991 through 1996. In the meantime, with his life hanging in the balance, court after court refused to provide him relief. Troy was scheduled to die on July 17, 2007, September 23, 2008, September 29, 2008, and October 27, 2008. Each time, he narrowly escaped death, once with only 90 minutes to spare before the lethal injection. Because there are so many people committed to the cause, I am confident that Troy will find justice and walk out of Jackson prison one day. In the meantime, I continue to do whatever I can to help because there are many more people like Troy, imprisoned, some sentenced to die, for crimes that they did not commit. I believe our justice system is defined by our response to our mistakes. Until we figure out an effective way to identify and protect the innocent, we are all in jeopardy. For more information about this case, please visit www.innocencematters.us and www.freetroydavis.com
OUTCOME: Case dismissed
Client was away from home with family when a shooting occurred in front of his home. The complaining witness falsely accused client of being the shooter. Critical alibi evidence - video depicting cl ... ient at another location at time of shooting - was forever lost due to the failure of police, investigators, and prior lawyers to subpoena the tape before its destruction. Through a determined and thorough investigation, Deirdre was ultimately able to destroy the government's case against the client. Deirdre had proof that complaining witness lied about several keys facts, that the police knew of the alternative suspect but refused to investigate his involvement, that the video was viewed before its destruction and would have exonerated the client. On the trial date, the case was dismissed.
OUTCOME: Not guilty all 3 counts
Clinic case. I supervised two extremely talented students as they tried their first jury trial. Client and another driver were involved in a fender bender. Tempers flared and client was charged wi ... th assault, disorderly conduct, and obstruction of a telephone call. Lead student attorney Robyn Sonis and her partner student attorney Amy Leitch did a remarkable job prepping this case for trial. Ms. Sonis had been with the case for two semesters consistently exhibited nothing but incredible dedication to her client, all of which ultimately resulted in a well-deserved victory for the client and the defense team. Ms. Leitch's assistance was invaluable; she is to be commended for jumping in during the last few weeks to fill in for a missing student. For reasons that can't be disclosed here, this was clearly a victory which would not have happened but for their extraordinary advocacy and dedication to their client. These students fearlessness was nothing less than inspiring!
OUTCOME: 1st Trial Mistrial, 2nd Not guilty on all 6 counts
First clinic case at Emory Law School. I supervised two exceptionally talented students (now practicing lawyers) as they completed their first jury trial while in law school. Our first trial was ... declared a mistrial when we lost juror who hurt her ankle at home. Spoke to remaining jurors after mistrial - all indicated that they would have voted not guilty. Not guilty on all counts on retrial. For more information on student's tireless advocacy, please see http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/crimprof_blog/2007/02/emory_law_schoo.html
OUTCOME: Hung jury on murder (6/6). Not guilty other cts.
Client charged with murder, attempted murder case, and two charges of assault with deadly weapon. W.W. stole several thousand dollars from a drug dealer. Subsequently, the two met by chance in cr ... owded night club. Drug dealer drew his gun and started shooting. W.W. shot back in self-defense. W.W. and the drug dealer both sustained injuries, though the drug dealer got the worst of it. Additionally, one innocent victim was killed and two other innocent bystanders were shot but fully recovered. For reasons never explained, the police decide during their investigation that the drug dealer was the "victim" and W.W. was the aggressor. W.W. was prosecuted for all injuries sustained, while the drug dealer was never charged. Client was found not guilty of ADWs because we were able to prove that those victims were wounded from shots fired by the drug dealer. Client was found not guilty of attempted murder of drug dealer because we were able to establish client shot back in self-defense. Jury originally hung 11/1 in favor of acquittal on murder charge, but shifted to 6/6 during final two hours of deliberations. (Note: Date concluded is an approximation.)
Ad
Transform legal challenges into solutions.
Connect now to review your situation.
