This was another of our cases eligible for the domestic violence deferred sentencing (DVDS) program. Client declined the DVDS program and asked for a trial. At the trial, there is a stage when the defense may make motions after the prosecutor has finished offering all of the evidence they can get in front of the jury. At that stage, Mr. Beach argued for a motion for judgment of acquittal because all that could be proved is that the ‘victim’ had been pointing again and again in Mr. Beach’s client’s face and all he (Mr. Beach’s client) did was push away the hand from his face. Dismissal granted!
Congratulations to Thomas Goldman on another jury win on a DUII and Criminal Mischief case!
Someone threw rocks through another person’s window and drove away. Mr. Goldman’s client was accused of being the person throwing those rocks and when he was found, he was parked and apparently intoxicated. During trial, Mr. Goldman dove into the fact that there were significant weaknesses in the identification of who threw the rocks and who drove the car. Helpfully, the police couldn’t remember anything about how Mr. Goldman’s client did on the field sobriety tests without reading off of their notes. Mr. Goldman explored the weak memories of all the government’s witnesses and the jury returned a Not Guilty on both charges.
Congratulations to Tyler Beach on a second jury win with the same client and the same alleged victim (this was also the sixth victory in a row against the same prosecutor)!
For the second time, this one person alleged that Mr. Beach’s client had assaulted her. The first time, Mr. Beach proved that her claims were not trustworthy – or even physically possible. This time, Mr. Beach again proved that the facts of her claim were not realistic. After a full day of trial, the jury returned a Not Guilty verdict at 7:33 p.m.
Congratulations to Jennelle Johnson on a Motion to Suppress win the day of trial!
One of the aspects of living in a free society is that the government can’t randomly grab you and search your body and property. In this case, the police approached a man for ‘loitering’ and told him they wanted to search him. He placed his hand on his head and turned around as instructed by the police. Ms. Johnson convinced the judge that submitting to the power of men with guns, batons, and badges does not constitute voluntary consent. Suppression granted and case dismissed!
Congratulations to Tyler Beach on a two count Felony Assault and two count Felony Strangulation win!
This was a case that required Mr. Beach’s client to go to prison for 36 months if the client was convicted. Through cross examination, Mr. Beach proved that the complaining person (the alleged victim) lied to the police in order to get Mr. Beach’s client out of the house. She had called the police to ask them to evict Mr. Beach’s client and the police told her that she would have to go to court for that. So, after that phone call, she called them back and alleged domestic violence. That allegation got him arrested and kicked out of the home. During cross examination, her many different stories fell apart and the only facts that remained was her motivation to lie to get the police to do something they told her they wouldn’t do without a court order. Not guilty on all counts.
Congratulations to Jennelle Johnson on a restraining order win.
The prosecutor brought a violation of a restraining order charge against Ms. Johnson’s client. At the hearing, Ms. Johnson proved that the ‘protected person’ making the allegation followed Ms. Johnson’s client’s car until Ms. Johnson’s client pulled into a gas station to get gas. At the station, the ‘protected person’ approached and assaulted Ms. Johnson’s client and all Ms. Johnson’s client did was try to get away from the abusive ‘protected person’. Naturally, the government prosecuted Ms. Johnson’s client and not the real abuser. No violation was found against Ms. Johnson’s client.
Congratulations to Tyler Beach on a Court of Appeals Win!
Mr. Beach’s client had entered into a plea agreement. Part of that agreement was that the victim could ask for lawful restitution – restitution for money or value to property actually lost or diminished because of this crime. Naturally, the victim made a request for money well beyond what was actually lost. Mr. Beach told the judge that the amount requested was fraudulent and that Mr. Beach should be allowed to offer evidence to prove that. The judge would not allow Mr. Beach to offer evidence, ordered that the full amount of the request would be ordered and commented that it is now up to the Court of Appeals to deal with. Naturally, Mr. Beach, sent the issue to the Court of Appeals and the Court of Appeals ruled that Mr. Beach was correct and the trial judge errored by not allowing Mr. Beach to offer evidence.
Congratulations to Jennelle Johnson on a probation violation win.
The probation office claimed that Ms. Johnson’s client was refusing to do treatment and should therefore go to jail. Ms. Johnson, however, proved that there was no way her client could pay for the treatment the probation office demanded. Accordingly, no violation was found against Ms. Johnson’s client.
Congratulations to Jennelle Johnson on a Shelter Care hearing win in Juvenile Court!
When DHS wishes to have the power to remove children from a family, they must have a court appearance within one business day of the removal. In this case, Multnomah county’s DHS refused to remove the children from a family, so the Washington County DHS filed with the court asking for this power. Ms. Johnson argued to the court that the caseworker working with this family is a Multnomah county DHS caseworker, that the family and children all live in Multnomah county, and that the only connection that this family has to Washington county is that they once in the past had lived in Washington county. The court agreed with Ms. Johnson that the case should be in the Multnomah system (which didn’t want to remove the kids) and not in the Washington county system. Accordingly, the Washington County case was dismissed!
Congratulations to Tyler Beach on an Assault IV win!
Mr. Beach’s client was accused of assaulting his former girlfriend when she came over to his home. Through both direct and cross examination, Mr. Beach established that the ex-girlfriend came to his client’s home in violation of their preexisting agreement and was trying to steal his Xbox. After Mr. Beach’s client repeatedly told her to leave and she grabbed the Xbox (pulling it out of the wall and TV without unhooking any of the wires), Mr. Beach’s client pushed her away from his property. The judge understood this explanation and returned a verdict of Not Guilty.