You should never assume that past success on another case will equal the same or similar results in your case. All cases are different, and results in any case depend on a variety of factors sometimes including what the client is willing to do. That said, you should be very skeptical of any attorney who does not have significant success in a variety of cases.
Following are some of our representative successes for clients.
Federal Criminal Cases
Conspiracies to commit mail fraud and adulterate food products. NOT GUILTY ALL COUNTS. In a federal conspiracies to commit mail fraud and adulterate food products case, we took the case to trial and convinced the jury to return not guilty verdicts on all counts. Our client was the only one of about 70 defendants to go to trial and the only one of the defendants not to be convicted.
Possession with intent to distribute cocaine. NOT GUILTY ALL COUNTS. In a federal criminal case alleging three counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, our client maintained her innocence and went to trial. We convinced the jury to acquit her, and the jury returned not guilty verdicts on all three counts. She was the only of three defendants in the case acquitted.
Probation with two counts dismissed. In a federal criminal case (1) alleging impersonation of a U.S. citizen, (2) false statement in a passport application, and (3) fraud with identification documents, our client faced a total of 15 years in prison. We convinced the government to dismiss two of the three charges and then convinced the judge to sentence our client to probation. Our client had school-age children and a successful business. She went home to her children.
Bank fraud. 14 day sentence. In a bank fraud case, our client pleaded guilty exposing herself to 30 years in federal prison. Even though the total loss in the fraud and in a related scheme approached half-a-million dollars, we presented our client's post-offense self-rehabilitation and subsequent successful career getting her sentence of only 14 days. (Probation was not allowed by statute.)
Three years probation. The client was charged in a 54-count indictment alleging a variety of offenses including, amongst other things, conspiracy to unlawfully employ illegal aliens, conspiracy to harbor and shield from detection illegal aliens, fraudulent use of employment documents, misuse of social security numbers, social security fraud, and making false statements. Client pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting a false representation of U.S. citizenship and was sentence to three years of probation.
Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. DISMISSED. Our client, the truck driver, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. We convinced the government that he was truly unaware of the contents of the truck, and the government dismissed the charges.
Mandatory Life case Sentenced to 20 Years. The client faced a mandatory life sentence under the federal sentencing guidelines based on his prior convictions and the amount of methamphetamine in this case. We convinced the government to offer him a plea to a 20-year maximum punishment. Now, he'll leave prison in his early 50s rather than die there.
State Criminal Cases
First Degree Felony Reduced to Second Degree Felony and No-Billed. In an allegation of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a family member (a first degree felony), we succeeded in, first, getting the DA's office to file the charge only as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (a second degree felony) and, then, convincing the grand jury to no bill the case resulting in our client's going home a free man.
DWI. Not Guilty. In a driving while intoxicated case, despite a breath test of only the .08 legal limit and a 30 minute videotape of the client conversing normally with the arresting officer, the district attorney refused to negotiate a plea bargain. We tried the case, and the jury found our client not guilty in less than 20 minutes.
Possession of Marijuana. Not Guilty. In a possession of marijuana case, the arresting officer claimed to be able to smell the small amount of marijuana that was wrapped in plastic under the driver's seat even though the car windows were rolled down and the wind was blowing. We didn't buy it. Neither did the jury. Twenty minute not guilty.
Felony Possession of Methamphetamine. No-Billed. Our client was a passenger in a car that was stopped for a traffic violation. The police found meth in the back seat between our client and another. We found evidence showing that the police didn't think the meth was our client's, and the grand jury no-billed the case.
Aggravated Robbery. 10 Years Deferred Adjudication. Our client was caught on video robbing a convenience store. We convinced the DA our client's youth, lack of prior record, and substance abuse problem merited a second chance and got the client 10 years deferred adjudication probation.
Felony Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle. Dismissed. After investigating the case, we learned that the client’s girlfriend normally allowed him to use her truck. This time she was mad at him for staying out to late, so she reported him to the police for taking her truck without permission. Based on the history between the defendant and the girlfriend, we convinced the DA to dismiss the case.
Appeals and Post-Conviction Writs
Reversed and Dismissed. In defending a Tarrant County jailer accused of civil rights violations, we sought dismissal of the case based on immunity grounds. When that was denied by the district court, we took an interlocutory appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which reversed the district court's decision resulting in dismissal of the case against our client without trial.
Conviction Vacated and Sentenced to Time-Served. We were hired to help a client with his state court case. He had pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was serving a term of federal supervised release, which is like parole, for a federal bank robbery at the time. He pleaded his state robbery case with the condition that that sentence be concurrent with any term of imprisonment for revocation of his federal supervised release. The federal judge refused to impose a concurrent sentence. We filed and won a writ of habeas corpus vacating his conviction, and the client was re-sentenced to time-served on his robbery case.
Sentence Reduced 20% for Ineffective Assistance of Counsel. Our client's trial lawyer failed to advise him about the need to plead guilty before trial to receive the federal sentencing guidelines's reduction for acceptance of responsibility. The court found the trial lawyer ineffective for failing to adequately advise him about this and further found that the client had desired to plead guilty and would have pleaded guilty much sooner had be been properly advised. The client's sentence was reduced from 262 months to 210 months.
District Court Reversed and Expunction Granted. Our client, who was in custody on an unrelated charge, was trying to expunge a case for which he had been acquitted. Though he asked for the court to bring him to court for the hearing on his expunction petition or, alternatively, to participate by telephone, the court ignored his request and decided that he wasn't entitled to an expunction without hearing any evidence. After we came on board and filed the appellate brief, the State conceded that the trial court was wrong and that the client was entitled to the expunction.
Restitution Order Vacated. The district court ordered an indigent defendant with a court-appointed trial lawyer who was sentenced to prison to pay more than $14,000 of attorney's fees for his court-appointed lawyer. He couldn't pay this from prison and shouldn't have had to since he had been found indigent to qualify for a court-appointed lawyer. The court of appeals agreed and vacated the restitution order.