Case, Staff, Community, CJA, & Intern News!
Case News:
Client Acquitted!
During the second day of trial, Magistrate Judge Leupold entered a judgement of acquittal for our client TJ. Ms. J was very grateful to her defense team, Seattle AFD Mukund Rathi, Tacoma paralegal, Alma Coria, Seattle investigator Deb Malcolm, and Legal intern Selena Coppa-Caldera. Ms. J shared that no one has ever stood up for her the way her team did in this case. Congrats to the amazing team effort and more importantly, congrats to our to our client.
Two clients recently entered into agreements that allow them to prove they deserve to be in the community, without felony convictions. Each was charged with causing damage to federal property and each suffers from mental health issues directly related to the charges. Though the two agreements differ in structure, the general idea is if each does well over the next year to 18 months, the Government will not pursue charges against them. The Federal Defender has been encouraging the United States Attorney’s Office to offer this type of deferred prosecution agreement to more of our clients, and we are heartened by the outcomes in these two cases.
The government alleged client violated supervised release (SR) violation by committing a new law violation after local law enforcement investigated some allegations against client. The local authorities never filed any charges, but the government refused to withdraw the allegation in exchange for client admitting to a less serious SR violation. The government brought 5 witnesses to a hearing, but the Court did not find that client committed the new law violation (he did find client committed less serious violations). The Court also questioned the government’s decision to persist in the allegation when it was not pursued by local authorities. The government and probation asked for 5 months in custody and 8 years of supervised release. The Court imposed 60 days and 3 years of supervised release.
The Court sentenced RM to probation, despite recommendations for prison from both the Government and Probation. RM participated in the DREAM program for almost two years; she was terminated after a positive urinalysis test result, despite her insistence that she had not relapsed. While we still wish she had been allowed to graduate from DREAM, we are enormously grateful that she is allowed to stay at home, with her young daughter, and pursue her career. DREAM graduates get to have their photo take with Judge Jones. While RM did not graduate, Judge Jones showed his care for and belief in RM, and came off of the bench for a photo. She got a promotion at work following the sentencing hearing, and we will be cheering her on as she continues to move forward with her life.
Detention Appeal Win!
A real team effort resulted in a glitch-free release of a client after winning a detention appeal on a late Friday afternoon. The client was initially detained following a hard-fought detention hearing before a magistrate judge. Senior Litigator, Dennis Carroll, appealed the detention order to the district court judge. On a Thursday evening before a three-day weekend, the district court judge reversed the magistrate judge and ordered the client be released on conditions. The client’s residence is in California, so she needed her identification and phone to coordinate travel. Friday was spent getting the actual bond docketed and trying to find the arresting agent, who had the client’s identification and phone – both of which were necessary for her to get back to California. Tacoma investigator Stacey Brownstein reached out to contacts in the US Marshals’ office who confirmed the release process and had the name and contact information for the arresting agent. The Marshals reached the agent who so kindly got the identification and the phone to the FDC in time for the client’s release early Friday evening. The client was released and able to procure a flight to California that night.
Staff News:
After 30 (!) years of working at the Federal Defender’s Office, Natalie Harmon has taken her hard-earned, well-deserved retirement. Natalie quickly rose through the ranks of the office, from a temporary clerical assistant to the office’s first CJA Panel Administrator. Because no program existed and no training was available, Natalie built the CJA program from the ground up. She created a nationally-recognized model. She was able to do so because of her intelligence, her ability to connect with everyone – from clients and their families to defense lawyers to judges, and because of her wholehearted belief in the mission of our office. Even though it is hard to imagine the office without Natalie, we are not in a total panic because she built a strong community, implemented lasting systems, and spread her values far and wide.
Natalie, together with the Court and the CJA panel, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for 3 decades of service. We hope the gelato has been delicious, and are wishing you a retirement filled with amazing adventures, quality time with family and friends and music, and more badassery.
We had a gathering to celebrate Natalie and were joined by members of CJA, former colleagues and Defenders, the Court, and interpreters.
Community News
On May 3, 2024, our office participated in Youth Law Day. Chief investigator Stacey Brownstein and Assistant US Attorneys Lauren Staniar, Cindy Chang and Will Dreher organized the day. Youth Law Day is sponsored by the FBA —WDWA and is organized in partnership with College Success Foundation (CSF). CSF “coach[es] and support[s] students from low socioeconomic backgrounds to prepare for and graduate from college as transformational leaders in order to forge a just and equitable society.”
Youth Law Day aims to introduce students to a variety of careers in the federal legal system. This year, the program brought students from Auburn and Highline high schools to the Seattle courthouse for a day-long program hosted by the Honorable Richard A. Jones. Seattle paralegal Janet Stanton and a Seattle investigator were members of the career panel. Also on the panel were members of the Court community who spoke with students about career opportunities in IT, court interpretation, court reporting, legal assistant work, and attorney positions at both offices.
During a working lunch session, students had the opportunity to talk with members of federal law enforcement, including US Dept of Fish and Wildlife, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Customs and Border Protection, and this year, we invited the ACLU of Washington and the Washington Innocence Project to join our lunch meet and greet.
In the afternoon, First Assistant Corey Endo and US Attorney Tessa Gorman spoke to the students about the work that both of our offices do. Then students participated in a mock trial in Judge Jones’s courtroom. Seattle AFDs Mukund Rathi and Greg Murphy joined Chief Appellate attorney Vicki Lai and First Assistant Corey Endo to work with a dedicated team of high school students to develop and present their case. For the first time in seven years, we sadly walked away with a guilty verdict for this mock trial. Our office was thrilled to be able to join this impactful day with a brilliant group of students. It was a great day and a lot of fun was had by all. A huge thank you to the students and all the volunteers!
CJA News
This month, the district court issued GO 07-24, which delegates authority to the CJA Administration over many CJA Panel financial matters. Most CJA attorney and service provider vouchers and service provider authorizations, as well as all budgets, transcript requests and vouchers, and travel requests, will now be reviewed by the CJA Administration instead of by judges.
One of the key recommendations of the Cardone Report is to ensure greater independence for CJA from the judiciary. Implementing these changes will bolster the autonomy of our Panel, ensuring that most decisions regarding compensation and resource allocation are made without influence from the assigned judge. This independence is vital for maintaining the integrity of the defense in CJA cases. We are grateful to have been entrusted with this responsibility.
Intern News:
In May, we said ‘see you soon!’ to our MSW intern Linet Madeja-Bravo, who interned with us from the Fall of 2023 to May 2024. Linet did wonderful mitigation work while she was here and was instrumental in helping us retain new experts. We will miss you Linet and wish you all the best!
Our Office Welcomes 3 Legal Interns in May!
