Case & Community News
Case News
Mr. H had been detained for over nine months, most of it since completing a prison sentence. ICE did very little to effectuate his removal to France after he was re-detained in March until Team H, led by Research & Writing Attorney Alan Zarky and Tacoma Paralegal Carolyn Cohn, filed a habeas petition. Even then, ICE kept saying his removal would occur shortly until Judge Ricardo Martinez concluded that his detention had become unconstitutionally long and ordered his immediate release. He is now home with family.
Mr. L had been detained for about 18 months after completing a prison sentence. He was then released for over three years, during which he complied with all conditions of his release. When the appeal of his removal order was rejected, he was detained. In response to a habeas petition filed by Team L, led by Research & Writing Attorney Alan Zarky and Tacoma Paralegal Alma Coria, Judge John Chun concluded that Mr. L’s due process rights entitled him to a pre-deprivation hearing to determine whether he should be detained. Since he hadn’t received such a hearing, Judge Chun ordered his immediate release and barred further detention absent such a hearing. He, too, is now home with family.
Our client was charged with conspiracy to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl, but was able to show through phone records and witnesses that he had been coerced into participating in the conspiracy and had participated for a very short time. Therefore Judge Lin rejected the government’s five-year recommendation and imposed a time-served sentence, approximately five months. Investigator Chevy Echeverria helped develop the evidence that made the difference. Our client is now back with his family.
Our client was charged with possession of images of child pornography. Concluding that our client’s remarkable success on pretrial release proved he could remain in the community, Judge Chun imposed a time-served sentence. The judge also cited our client’s health and the poor level of care in the Bureau of Prisons. Throughout pretrial release, our client was supported by Seattle Paralegal Janet Stanton, who took the lead on gathering medical information.
Seattle AFD Leo Costales saw weaknesses in the Government’s case against our client and quickly decided to go to trial. The client put his trust in Leo and the rest of the defense team: Seattle Investigator Mahkaea Jackson-Sams, Seattle Paralegal Janet Stanton, Chief Paralegal Patricia Stordeur, Seattle Paralegal Megan Blumm, and First Assistant Corey Endo. Following a bench trial, Judge Peterson found our client not guilty of an assault. We were thrilled to walk out of the courthouse with our client and his partner and to wish them all the best in the future.
Community News
This November, in partnership with Community Passageways and with help from the ACLU of Washington, Chief Investigator Stacey Brownstein led the 2025 Fall Civics Day event involving four high schools in the Kent School District. Civics Day was founded in 2016 by former King County Public Defender Twyla Carter (now Attorney-in-Chief & CEO at The Legal Aid Society). The program continues annually (Fall and Spring semesters) through joint efforts with the Kent School District, the ACLU of Washington, Community Passageways, and the Kent Police Department.
FPD’s contribution to Civics Day is consistent with our office’s historical commitment to community engagement by speaking with schools about our work and the criminal legal system. Because these students will one day be voters and jurors, it is vital they learn about civics within the context of the judicial system.
Civics Day also offers the students an opportunity to speak with individuals who are or have been involved in the juvenile and adult criminal legal systems, as well as defense investigators, law enforcement, attorneys, prosecutors, social workers, administration staff, and others about their work in the legal community. Each Civics Day includes a Know Your Rights segment that is presented in collaboration with the ACLU of Washington.
A heartfelt thank you to the FPD volunteers who helped make Fall Civics Day a success: Mukund Rathi, Kelly Trujillo, Marissa Lock, Jessica Cvitanovic, Thomas Tallerico, Tate Hodson, Corey Endo, and Colin Fieman.
