Success Stories

State v. Castagnola

I successfully got the Supreme Court to reverse the trial and appeals court and hold that police went beyond the warrant in searching a computer; the court reversed convictions for child pornography, and the case was dismissed.

State v. Thomas

I was successful in getting the Supreme Court to hold that the defendant should have been sentenced under new law rather than old law; the 28-year prison sentence reduced to 11 years.

State v. Walker

I was successful in getting the Supreme Court to reject the State’s argument that defendant acted with prior calculation and design; it affirmed reduction of defendant’s conviction from aggravated murder to murder.

Appeal Success Stories

State v. Weimer

I won the reversal of the defendant’s aggravated murder conviction and 44-to-life sentence because of an error in the admission of hearsay evidence.

State v. Pawlak

I successfully got the defendant’s conviction and ten-year-to-life sentence vacated because the trial lawyer was ineffective in not objecting to prejudicial testimony; the defendant ended up pleading to a lesser charge with a one-year sentence.

State v. Caldwell

I got the court of appeals to vacate the defendant’s conviction and 25-to-life sentence because the trial judge refused to accept a plea to a lesser charge. On remand to the trial court, the defendant pled to the lesser charge and was sentenced to time served.

State v. McCully

I won a reversal of the defendant’s conviction and a 25-year sentence for aggravated robbery because the judge did not provide the jury with written instructions on reasonable doubt, the burden of proof, and other defendant rights. The defendant had appointed counsel for the appeal, and she filed her brief a day after I entered an appearance. Her brief didn’t even raise the issue I won on. On remand, further evidence showed that the defendant was a victim of a mistaken identity case and was freed.

Successful Post-Conviction Relief

State v. McCoy

I was successful in having defendant’s 10-to-life sentence reversed because of ineffective assistance of trial counsel; he pled to a reduced charge and was sentenced to time served.

State v. Clark

Defendant released after serving 23 years for murder of his wife when I showed that prosecutor hid evidence from jury that the wife’s wound had been self-inflicted.