Case and Intern News!
Case News:
Case Dismissed!
Mr. H was accused of assaulting a federal officer. The officer claimed that Mr. H attacked him during an arrest and then confessed to the crime. When the defense team watched the 30 minutes of bodycam, however, the officer’s description of events did not seem right. Mr. H appeared to be severely intoxicated and incapable of making important decisions about whether to waive or exercise rights. The team filed a motion to suppress statements and introduced the testimony of two expert witnesses—a medical doctor with experience working in anesthesiology, pain medicine, and addiction medicine; and a professor who had conducted an award-winning study about the effect of taser exposure on cognitive functioning.
After a day-long hearing, the Court granted the defense motion to suppress. In the order, the Court noted that the video told “a starkly different story” than the officers’ version of events. The court concluded that Mr. H’s statements should be suppressed because he did not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waive his rights to remain silent and to the assistance of counsel.
Ultimately, the government decided to dismiss the case with prejudice. This was a great team effort by Seattle AFD Colleen Fitzharris, Tacoma AFD Elizabeth Sher, a Seattle investigator and Seattle paralegal Patricia Stordeur. Congrats to the client and wonderful work by his defense team!
Evidentiary Hearing Win!
Our 3L law intern, Jean Russell, took the lead in an evidentiary hearing with witnesses and exhibits, where our client was accused of violating the conditions of his probation. If found to be in violation, the government was asking that he serve jail time in addition to having his probation revoked. Jean’s work involved doing a direct examination of an important defense witness together with presenting closing arguments. In the end, the judge ruled that our client did not violate his probation and will be allowed to finish his probation which is set to expire in April of this year. The case team included Seattle paralegal Cindy Stewart who worked the exhibits using trial director and Seattle AFD Jesse Cantor who supervised. Congrats to our client and amazing work Jean Russell!
Intern News:
Welcome our new undergrad intern!
Hello, my name is Minuk Kim, and I am currently a student at the University of Washington. I am from Jeju Island, Korea. I live with my dog, Harley, and my two cats Vlad and Tempest, whom I spend much of my time with. I also like to exercise in my downtime and recharge by exploring Seattle and finding new restaurants to dine at.
