State v. Mr. C (DMC 15410) – Animal Abuse – Reduced to 5 Days in Jail – Phoenix City Court (Case No. 5306674):  Mr. C was seen by people pulling his SUV over on the side of the road, retrieving a cat from the passenger side door, and throwing it over a fence.  The cat the scrambled off and hid underneath a car and was almost struck by Mr. C as he left the scene.  The witnesses then took the cat to the Humane Society and had it nursed back to health at a cost of almost $900.  Mr. C was ultimately tracked down and charged with Animal Cruelty.  We were able to present evidence that the cat dug his claws into Mr. C’s arms while he was attempting to remove it from the car, and that it then ran away after he flailed his arms due to the pain.  He had not abandoned the cat, nor had he tried to harm the cat.  Because of the strength of the witness’s testimony, the State was seeking a significant amount of jail time.  Although he was facing up to six months in jail, we were able to reduce the ultimately sentence to only five days.

State v. Mr. H (DMC 15877) – Felony Tampering with Evidence – Dismissed (with Classes) – Maricopa County Superior Court (Case No. CR2018-138288):  Mr. H had been arrested for misdemeanor DUI and had been taken to the police station.  After the police had drawn two vials of his blood and packaged them both in a single box, they informed Mr. H that he could get an Independent Test of his blood if he wished to challenge the State’s results.  He was also told that the second vial would be available for him to get tested.  Mr. H became confused, and thought that the box with both vials of blood contained his own sample to take with him.  He put the box in his pocket and left with it when he was released from the police station.

Ultimately, the police contacted him and informed him that he had taken their samples of blood.  They claim that he had denied that he had taken the blood samples, and then they produced videotape evidence showing that he had.  He was ultimately arrested and charged with felony Tampering with Evidence.  We were then hired by Mr. H to represent him on the felony, and not on the underlying misdemeanor DUI (in which he already had an attorney).  Ultimately, we were able to have the Prosecutor agree that this was a mistake and that they could lose at trial.  They then allowed the case to be Dismissed upon successful completion of classes for alcohol consumption by Mr. H.

State v. Ms. E (DMC 15445) – Felony Arson and Felony Criminal Damage – Dismissed – Maricopa County Superior Court (Case No. CR2018-151423):  Ms. E had suffered from PTSD and was on various medications.  She had taken two of those medications together and went to sleep, when she awoke was panicked because she thought her dog was locked inside of the car.  She smashed the car in order to get into it, and realized her dog was not there.  She then called her husband, who informed her that he had the dog.

During this ordeal, she had somehow set the car on fire.  We were able to show the prosecutor that she was having a medical episode, and that her husband (the co-owner of the car) did not wish for charges to be pressed.  Ultimately, the State agreed to Dismiss charges against Ms. E.  Originally, she was facing a large amount of prison time.

State v. Mr. F. (DMC 15474) – Felony Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia – Teaching License Reinstated at Board Hearing – Arizona Department of Education (Case No. C-2017-697R):  Mr. F had been charged two years prior with Felony Possession of Marijuana and Felony Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.  We were able to negotiate a resolution that involved classes, which, upon successful completion, would result in a Dismissal of all charges.  As Mr. F was a school teacher, he was informed that pursuant to Arizona Revised Statute 15-534.02, that he would lose his license for a period of five years.  We requested a hearing in front of the Arizona State Board of Education, which was ultimately granted.

During the hearing, we provided numerous witnesses that showed Mr. F was doing a good job as a substitute teacher.  We also showed that he was not an immoral person, and the reason that he had used marijuana was due to back pain.  His lack of a medical marijuana card was merely an oversite.  He had since obtained a medical marijuana card, which allowed him to legally use the drug.  We also showed that Mr. F worked with special education children, some who had Downs Syndrome who were non-verbal.  Because of his knowledge of sign language, and his specialized training, he was a very valuable teacher.  Ultimately, the Committee agreed to Reinstate Mr. F’s Teaching License.