Christopher Joshua Montoya

When i met Christopher Montoya I was incarcerated in the Santa clara county department of corrections and looking at a 3 strikes case where my maxium exposure wouod have been 30 years to lofe sentence if convicted. I had just been release from prison 13 days prior (I recieved 2 strikes on that case) ...to being charged with a new case in which i was looking at an additional 4 strikes and my sense of hope was only shared by one other person and that was Chris Montoya. I knew my case was a clear cut self denfese case as I was defending my family, my home and our property against 2 men however i knew that with my record, the fact i had just been relased from prison, and just cumulatively that the facts of the case were not going to be on my side was discouraging. Almost every laywer i spoke to told me that ny chances were not terrible, but they were definitely not good. Chris Montoya was always straight forward with me and professional, he never gave me any false hope, but instead was always adamant about the facts, giving me realistic advice about my case and was always logical in his observations of the case. Sometimes i wondered if chris ever slept becuase it seemed like he worked day and night non- stop on my case even though i knew he had other cases and a huge work load. The level of.professionalism he conducted himself worh was truly inspiring along side his tenacious attitude about his approach on dealing with the minutiae details surronding my case. Agaisnt his advice I decided to take my case to speedy trial and throughout the entire pricess whether it was the prelims, bail motions or trial readiness, Chris was always prepared and seemed to know every detail about those appearances and always let me know what i could expect. Chris spent many hours off the clock coming to visit with me at the jail to give me updates, to go over the facts, to let me know what his investigators were finding and giving me realistic faith that our case was getting stronger and that He would be ready to put on the fight of a lifetime to literally save my life. There were times i thought about getting a private attorney because there was so much on the line for me, if I lost this Trial i would spend the rest of my life in prison and i was only 34 years old at the time. It was something about the look in his eyes, his approach, his confindence in himself that made me feel Chris was the man for the job, so i wrnt with my gut and trusted him to fight for my life and i was right, He was. When i came time for trial, i had 2 witnesses against me alongside police testimony and a lengthy criminal history which none of these were going to be favorable for me winning my case. All i had was chris and even though i didnt want to testify Chris urged me to as he explained to me that this would be my best chance to win my trial. I trusted Chris and we spent countless hours working together on my testimony and he and i went to trial with all the odds stacked against us. Despite these glaring issues, Chris was prepared and every detail of the case was meticulously combed through by chris, from the jury selection, thr voir diers, the inlimes, and of the course Chris shinned with his experience as an attorney in the cross examinations, bringing to life crucial facts that stregthened our case. When it came time for me to tale the stand and fight for my life, I put my faith in GOD and i believed in chris so i told my story truthfully and with Chris in my corner i knew that I would be heard. As the closing arguments proceeded Chris illuminated the room with his natural charisma, but what stood out more was his passion and quest to tell my story, the truth. You could tell that Chris was born to do this for a living, to defens those who can not defend themselves. As the trial came to a close, the jury was unable to reach a unamious verdict, but instead the jury was hung 10-2 on one count and 9-3 in another in favor of not guilty. I was relased the follwing court date.