Case Results - Fall 2024

Dismissal of All Felonies

Simon got a bad rap. At 17, he was sentenced to prison for life for murder in a robbery gone wrong, even though he was just a kid and didn’t pull the trigger. Thirty years later, the law changed so that someone in his position could not be held for life after all, and he was released. But when a neighbor heard a commotion, they called police. They found his wife drunk, naked, and yelling, and Simon calm, sober, and dressed; both Simon and his wife denied there had been any violence. Nonetheless, Simon was arrested on felony charges, and held in jail on extremely high bail. He was facing 18 years in prison; the DA was “willing” to “reduce” that to 12 years if Simon pled guilty. Instead, Sam set a preliminary hearing. The judge dismissed the felony charges; Simon admitted to only a misdemeanor charge and was released from jail.

Wet Reckless

In some case, a person charged with a DUI will have their case reduced to a lesser charge called a wet reckless. Usually, a wet reckless is reserved for those accused of first time DUIs, with blood alcohol levels around the legal limit of .08%, and no accidents or property damage. Not Bobbo. He was accused of crashing into a parked car and driving away with his blood alcohol level at double the legal limit, while he was on probation for his first DUI already. He was facing jail time, five years of probation, and a lengthy license suspension. But Sam and his investigator uncovered some serious flaws in the prosecution’s case, including evidence that the witness the cop claimed saw Bobbo driving may not have said that after all. The case was reduced to a wet reckless; Bobbo was placed on a year of probation, did no jail time, and kept his license.

A Business Trip Gone Wrong

Tiffani came to northern California from her home on the east coast on a business trip. While she was here, she had a drink with colleagues, and made the mistake of driving back to her hotel, and on the way she got into an accident. The other driver suffered minor injuries, and Tiffani was arrested. Even though Tiffani’s blood alcohol level was measured at below the legal limit, she was charged with felony DUI, and was facing jail or even prison in California. But Tiffani realized her mistake and took action. She quit drinking and started regularly attending AA, and she cooperated fully with the other driver’s insurance claims. Sam was able to help Tiffani negotiate a resolution for a misdemeanor charge, no jail time, and – most importantly – her young daughter having a mom at home instead of in jail across the country.

Soaking Wet

Roberta had just finished a day on the lake in her friend’s boat, and they were pulling the boat out of the water at the boat ramp. Roberta’s friend drove an old truck, and as Roberta was loading their cooler onto the boat, she accidentally knocked the truck into neutral, and it rolled down the ramp and into the lake, with her inside. The truck started sinking. Fortunately, a heroic civilian pulled Roberta out of the lake to her safety before the truck sunk. Less fortunately, about ten minutes after she was pulled out of the water, a park ranger showed up, gave Roberta some field sobriety tests, and arrested her for DUI – while she was still wet, and despite her never having driven the truck in her life, let alone that day. Sam took Roberta’s case all the way to trial – where he made a motion to dismiss based on the DA not turning over all required evidence. The motion was granted, and the DA supervisor even showed up to court to beg forgiveness for violating the rules of discovery. What started with a good day turned really bad, ended – with Sam’s help – as a case rightfully dismissed.

*Previous results do not guarantee results in your case.