*A CROSS SECTION OF CASES OVER TIME*
STATE V. TM
Practice Area: Child Abuse
Outcome: Case Thrown Out.
Description: Client, a high-level firearms collector, was charged with child abuse for exercising his right as a parent to use an appropriate level of discipline with a belt on the buttocks of his 12-year-old child. The parent did not fly into a rage. The child did not suffer lasting marks, bruises, or welts of any kind. The child spent the next days playing with other children and sitting on a wooden chair for more than an hour with their family at a local eatery. Child did not complain of soreness, injury, or express verbal or non-verbal cues of fear in the presence of the Dad, the client. Retained after charges filed and client arrested. Police confiscated all of the client's guns - his entire collection. We argued that discipline of a child, in certain parameters, is within the exclusive providence of the parent. Case was scratched and pre-file letters pointing out exculpatory evidence, requests for Grand Jury participation, demands that the Grand Jury be presented with defense evidence, and other key points, were sent to the County Attorney's Office Charging Section and the Case Agent. The case was turned down within days. Less than a week later, client's entire firearms collection was returned in perfect condition. No charges filed.
UNITED STATES V. RC
Practice Area: Homicide/Violent Crime
Outcome: Murder: No Death Penalty. No Life Sentence.
Description: Client was charged with the brutal beating death of his girlfriend in Indian Country. After lengthy negotiations, use of experts, and presentation of mitigating factors, client was spared a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. He also did not qualify for the death penalty. Client will be released before his 33rd birthday.
STATE V. AB
Practice Area: Probation Violation
Outcome: Absconder, Parole Violator - Reinstated.
Description: Client absconded from probation and failed to report to his P.O. This was the client's second petition to revoke after having had parole revoked and DOC imposed. Defendant was extradited from Texas to Arizona because of open warrants. Warrants quashed. Mitigating factors were presented during his disposition hearing. Client was reinstated to only 18 months of probation.
STATE V. JD
Practice Area: Marijuana for Sale
Outcome: No Prison Time - 500 Pounds of Pot.
Description: State accused client of having 500 pounds of marijuana in the sleeper of his truck. He was charged with Transportation of Marijuana for Sale - a prison mandatory offense. Plea negotiations ended with a probation grant, no prison, and permission to be supervised in California.
STATE V. FAF
Practice Area: Marijuana for Sale
Outcome: Probation Granted.
Description: State charged defendant with Possession of 13 pounds of marijuana for sale, which mandates a prison sentence. However, after lengthy negotiations, case analysis (which uncovered critical weaknesses in the State's case), and other defense tactics, the State found it necessary to meet our demand for probation and only three months jail with full work release. Client saved his job and avoided prison.
STATE V. RP
Practice Area: Armed Robbery/Violent Crime
Outcome: Full Jury Trial. Not Guilty.
Description: Client was charged with Armed Robbery, a Class 2 Dangerous Felony, mandating prison. Client had priors and was on probation at the time of the offense. A confession, which Laboy Law Office challenged, was recorded by police. After a strategic voire dire, an aggressive cross examination of the alleged victim, and a passionate closing argument, the jury took only 55 minutes before finding the client "NOT GUILTY!"
STATE V. PB
Practice Area: Absconder
Outcome: Reinstated to Probation. No Jail/Prison.
Description: Client was convicted of Aggravated DUI in 2004 with another attorney. He was released to a grant of probation after serving 4 months of prison. Client absconded, took off. He was found five years later and arrested for probation violation. The Probation Department requested immediate revocation and sentence to prison. The prosecutor wanted prison or inpatient treatment. We argued for reinstatement, no jail, no prison, no inpatient treatment. We presented mitigating factors, submitted a detailed disposition memo, turned in letters, got family members to court, and argued for reinstatement. He was reinstated and released same day!
STATE V. JG
Practice Area: Rape/Sexual Assault
Outcome: Probation. No Jail. No Prison. No Sex Registration.
Description: College Freshman was accused of rape, kidnapping, sex assault, aggravated assault (class 2 dangerous felonies mandating very lengthy prison sentences upon conviction). A defense team is mobilized. Two attorneys from Laboy Law Office work the case along with our defense private investigator. Interviews are conducted. Defense crime scene visits made, with our own photos and measurements. A separate expert is retained on psychosexual risk assessments. A polygraph is administered. Our team uncovers many flaws in the police reports and in the case as a whole. Prior inconsistent "victim" statements are found after the defense team matches up two police reports from two separate investigating police agencies. One sentence in dozens and dozens of police reports shows the victim may not have been telling the whole truth. State is forced to settle for two misdemeanor eligible offenses, no prison, no jail, no sex registration and immediate release.
STATE V. SS
Practice Area: Six Probation Violations, Public Sex Indecency
Outcome: No Prison. Probation Reinstated.
Description: In an emotional case which impacted the entire office, an Iraq War Veteran and battle-scarred hero suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is charged with multiple offenses and probation violation. The State requests his probation be terminated and that he be sent to prison for years and years. The State refuses to "see" client differently and does not acknowledge PTSD as a significant factor. Laboy Law Office consults with numerous experts and holds telephone conferences with Veteran Administration officials. Laboy Law Office refuses to accept the State prosecutor's position and files an emergency motion to have the case transferred to the newly created Veteran's Court. The motion is granted. A mitigation packet is created by the office, new negotiations are entered into, and in the end the client prevails. No prison. The client is reinstated to probation and special treatment at a VA facility specializing in PTSD.
STATE V JL
Practice Area: Transportation of Marijuana for Sale
Outcome: Probation & Jail Granted. No Prison. Six Days Per Week=Work Release.
Description: Client was charged with renting an RV for a cross-country drive in order to smuggle more than 190 pounds of marijuana from Phoenix to Chicago as part of an interstate drug-ring. Laboy Law Office challenges the validity of the car stop which may have violated the client's constitutional right against unreasonable searches. As a result, a deal is reached which requires no prison and enables client to keep his job, serve jail and probation with six days of release (so basically no jail at all) and all in his home state of Illinois. Client is VERY happy.
STATE V. EB
Practice Area: Gang Drive-By Shooting
Outcome: Probation.
Description: Teenage client is accused of participating in a gang drive-by shooting near an alternative high school. The victim makes a positive ID (or so it seems). Client faced many, many years in prison as the victim was permanently disfigured. Laboy Law Office and its entire defense team, along with the assigned defense private investigator reconstructs the entire incident and visits the crime scene on four separate dates to match the exact day of the week and time the incident occurred. Measurements are taken. Defense photos snapped. Traffic patterns and foot-traffic flow analyzed. An expert in lighting and in the unreliability of victim eye-witness identifications is consulted. The victim's account is aggressively challenged. The State is forced to offer probation and takes away the mandatory prison count.
