Criminal Defense
Protecting Your Rights and Defending You in Court
Our criminal defense practice is focused on representing good people from all walks of life, including young adults and youths with bright futures, who are facing criminal charges and need a smart criminal defense attorney.
In the Puget Sound area alone, there are dozens of courts and jurisdictions for individuals to face serious criminal allegations. Each court has a different prosecutor and judges.
Convictions for criminal charges will have immediate short-term consequences—like jail, prison or probation—and long-term consequences—like loss of jobs, housing, education, and reputations. Our goal is to get on top of criminal allegations before the prosecutor even receives the file. If that window has passed, our goal is to protect all short and long term interests.
Arrest with No Immediate Action Can Still Result in Criminal Charges Getting Filed
A crime may be charged immediately after the arrest or months after the arrest. There may be no arrest at all—just a conversation with or call from the police. When no charges are immediately filed, a common mistake is to believe that nothing is going to happen.
There may be an ongoing criminal investigation or the case may be waiting in a prosecutor’s “inbox.” By the time the case is reviewed and filed, life may have resumed to normal only to have a criminal summons arrive in the mail. At that exact point in time, a public “record” is created. It is now a matter of making sure that record does not become a conviction record.
The police often make decisions on minimal evidence. There are often many other witnesses or other information that they have disregarded. All that a prosecutor knows is what the police have given them. If the prosecutor only hears from a few witnesses supporting one side of the story, the prosecutor will file charges. If we are given an opportunity to influence the prosecutor before charges are filed, we jump on that.
Through experience, we can comprehensively review an initial police report and find all the holes, weaknesses, and helpful information that has been downplayed or inaccurately portrayed. We then know how to capitalize further on those weaknesses by gathering additional witnesses or other evidence. We have reviewed thousands of police reports and gotten cases dismissed.
The prosecutor’s focus is on accountability and the overall welfare of the community. Our focus, however, is different. One hundred percent of our focus is on our client’s needs and goals.
Our job is to persuade the prosecutor, judge, or jury that our/your position is the correct position.
Sometimes our clients admit they’ve made a mistake. If so, we don’t let the system run all over them. Instead, we work to create a lenient result, which we’ve done thousands of times.
Sometimes the prosecutor won’t budge, in which case we work the rules of procedure and the power of investigation to create the right result.
Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Seattle is a city where juries aren’t rubber stamps for the prosecutor’s accusation, and they hold the government to its high burden to prove a charge beyond a reasonable doubt. We will take your case to trial and argue for a win. It takes six or twelve people to unanimously agree in proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s a challenge for the government and an opportunity for us.
The police and the courts may act in a courteous and respectful manner. That does not mean they will treat a client with leniency or believe our client. We know how to look through outward appearances and get to the facts. The bottom line is that our clients need to achieve their goals.
We know to fully understand the allegation, the possible consequences, and what is at stake. For urgent and aggressive legal counsel, contact our team today.