Case, Staff & Intern News!
Case News:
Former client Mr. G approached our office about getting his felon-in-possession conviction vacated after his underlying felony was vacated pursuant to the Washington Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Blake. Because Mr. G was no longer incarcerated or on supervised release, the office filed a writ of coram nobis on his behalf. Early in December, Judge Coughenour granted the writ and vacated the conviction. Congratulations to Mr. G, Seattle AFD Ann Wagner, and Seattle paralegal Cindy Stewart on this victory of more than a decade in the making.
Seattle paralegal Megan Blumm, Seattle AFD Sara Brin, and Senior Litigator Dennis Carroll are reviewing cases and getting sentence reductions for clients in this district who qualify for sentence reductions under Amendment 821 to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. The team has reviewed approximately 100 cases. The first round of agreed reduction motions have been filed and about five clients have had their sentences reduced to time-served as of February 1, 2024, the effective date of the retroactive amendment. Another round of reviews are in the queue, several contested motions will be filed in the near future, and the team continues to search every available database to make sure every eligible client is identified.
Staff News:
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Our office celebrated the holidays together with a festive gathering in December. We were joined by our CJA panel, interpreters and FPD alumni. A HUGE thank you to all who helped make this a fun event. Great food was had, tasty drinks consumed, with music and laughter all around!
Intern News:
Former undergraduate intern, Emily Kunz (Fall ‘22/Winter ’23), has received an early admission scholarship with the Distinguished Scholars program at Boston University Law School commencing in Fall ‘24. This is a full-tuition scholarship for each year of law school and Boston University Law was Emily’s first choice. We are not the least bit surprised that Emily has been selected for this wonderful scholarship and we could not be more proud of her. We look forward to basking in the glow of all her future achievements. Congratulations, Emily!!