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Charge: Theft
Result: Theft dismissed and Trial held in order to get acquittal and immediate, low-cost expunction
Client picked up jacket left by stranger in a bar. Charged with stealing the jacket and several hundred dollars that were in the jacket. Contacted complaining witness and discovered that witness would admit that although client had picked up the jacket, someone else had actually taken the money that was inside. State agreed to not only dismiss but have an abbreviated trial so that an acquittal could be obtained thereby allowing for an expunction right away at virtually no cost.
Charge: Driving While Intoxicated (3rd Offense)
Result: DWI dismissed; Deferred Prosecution on a Reckless Driving
Client stopped for illegal lane change. Charged with DWI which was enhanced to a felony because of two prior DWI convictions. After watching video of client performing the field sobriety tests, advised client that goal should be to obtain nothing less than some type of dismissal due to client’s excellent test performance. Prosecutor agreed to dismiss DWI and refile as a reckless driving charge. In addition, the reckless driving charge was deferred for 1 year and later dismissed.
Charge: Assault with Bodily Injury/Family violence
Result: Dismissed
Client’s abusive boyfriend called cops on her after she defended herself against him. Case dismissed after client attended SafePlace Intake and got help for her abusive living situation.
Charge: Assault with Bodily Injury/Family violence
Result: Dismissed
This case occurred during the Barack Obama rally in downtown Austin. There were barricades that had been erected around the Capitol and the client was attempting to get back to work when she was confronted by a man in a gray suit who indicated that she was not authorized to go back to work. At one point, the client, not knowing who the man was, attempted to step across the barrier and was tackled by the man, who happened to be a Secret Service Agent. During the struggle, the client was accused of hitting the agent and she was charged with Assault on a Public Servant.
Because the agent was in plain clothes, there was a dispute as to whether our client knew he was an agent. If we could show that she did not know he was an agent, she would have been authorized under the self-defense statute to protect herself. Luckily, the incident was captured on television and we were able to obtain that and prove that there was no visible badge and that it would have been very unlikely to assume the agent was a public servant. In addition, the client, who had never been in trouble before, had amazing character letters that poured in from all over. Furthermore, during our investigation, we learned that the agent was upset because his suit had been ruined in the scuffle. Therefore, we made an offer to pay for a replacement suit and to have our client do community services in exchange for dismissing the case.
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