In juvenile law, sometimes the government will decide that they wish to take a child who has been placed into foster care and move that child into another home and to never return that child to the child’s parents. In Mr. Goldman’s most recent case, Mr. Goldman represented a mom. Dad was not participating and the government wished to place the child into a new ‘forever’ home (not mom’s home). Accordingly, Mr. Goldman asked the court for a trial on the issue. After a few days of trial, Mr. Goldman not only obtained a court order preventing the government from moving the child to a new not-mom home; but, Mr. Goldman also obtained an order to return the child to mom as the new ‘forever’ home!
Congratulations to Tyler Beach on obtaining his fourth dismissal of cases against his clients in a row!
One tactic in criminal defense is to convince the prosecutor prior to trial that the prosecutor simply cannot win and that the case should be dismissed. Mr. Beach just obtained the fourth dismissal in a row by pursuit of this tactic. For the last two, one was a client who had been accused of making racially motivated threats. On that one, Mr. Beach, through his investigation, was able to obtain a video of the event through the alleged victim’s employer. That video directly showed that the alleged victim was not telling the truth and that Mr. Beach’s client neither made threats nor racial slurs. On the most recent case, and again through Mr. Beach’s investigation and pursuit of the facts, Mr. Beach was able to demonstrate to the prosecutor that Mr. Beach’s client was the actual victim.
Congratulations to Tyler Beach on yet another Jury Trial Win!
Mr. Beach’s client was accused of hitting his granddaughter. During Mr. Beach’s cross examination of the granddaughter, Mr. Beach established that the contact might have been accidental. Also, Mr. Beach proved that the granddaughter’s claims at trial over who was in the room during the event were different from what she said when the police interviewed her as well as what the witnesses at trial said - therefore she was unreliable. Also, Mr. Beach got her to talk about the bruising she experienced, and then to confirm that the photos of her – which showed no bruises – were accurate photos. Accordingly, the jury returned a Not Guilty finding!
Congratulations to Jennelle Johnson on a Juvenile Court Trial Win!
Ms. Johnson represented a 16 year old girl who had been placed into foster care by the Department of Human Services (DHS). DHS was fearful that her father’s diagnosed mental health problems created a ‘threat of harm’ in the household to any child that lived there. So, they had placed Ms. Johnson’s client into foster care. At trial, Ms. Johnson proved that although her client’s father had a mental health diagnosis, there was no proof (we call it a ‘nexus’) that his mental health actually created any risk of harm to Ms. Johnson’s client. After all the evidence and argument, the judge agreed with Ms. Johnson and dismissed the case thus returning Ms. Johnson’s client to her home
Congratulations to David Carter on a Successful Motion for Judgement of Acquittal!
In criminal law, there is a stage after the prosecutor has rested his/her case, but before the defense has offered any evidence, that the defense can argue to the judge that even if everything the prosecutor has submitted were to be true, that it does not prove the crime alleged. Exactly this happened for Mr. Carter. His client was accused of assault for swinging a backpack into his mother and that the contact caused her pain. Through cross examination of the prosecutor’s witnesses, it was established that Mr. Carter’s client was merely putting on the backpack and his mom came in from behind just as he was swinging the backpack across his back so that he could put his left arm into the arm loop. Once the prosecutor rested, Mr. Carter argued to declare a judgment of acquittal for that allegation and it was granted!
Congratulations to Tyler Beach on a Felony Assault Not Guilty finding!
Mr. Beach’s client was accused of Felony Assault 4 and Harassment. The Assault charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 5 years. During the trial, Mr. Beach directed the jury to focus on the many differing stories given by the alleged victim. She had made differing claims about experiencing pain and needing to use crutches. Mr. Beach showed how the various claims regarding pain contradicted each other. Also, Mr. Beach used the police to testify about how well the alleged victim was walking, how far she walked (without crutches), and her lack of any apparent pain when with the police. Lastly, Mr. Beach got into evidence the fact that the alleged victim has already been convicted of the crime of Providing False Information to the police. Accordingly, Mr. Beach’s client was found Not Guilty of the Felony Assault. Mr. Beach’s client was convicted of the Harassment misdemeanor. However, that was the crime he actually did commit and he received probation for that charge.
Congratulations to Ron Ridehalgh on a Felony Preliminary hearing dismissal!
When the government desires to accuse someone of a felony crime, both the United States and Oregon Constitutions require the government to provide evidence that they have a legitimate reason to believe that a crime was committed and that the person accused was the person who committed the crime. This is not sufficient evidence to convict someone of a crime – it is only proven by a ‘preponderance’ (probably) of the evidence; not by ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ (certainty). Basically, this rule exists to prevent the government from prosecuting people based solely upon a person’s race, religion, or politics. There are two ways the prosecutor may provide this evidence: one way is without the defense attorney present and the other is with the defense attorney present. In this case, the prosecutor selected the procedure where Mr. Ridehalgh is in the room. Accordingly, he was able to cross examine the prosecutor’s witness. The prosecutor used the police officer as her sole witness. The charge was Identity Theft which carries five years of prison as the maximum period of incarceration. Through cross examination, Mr. Ridehalgh demonstrated that his client was probably not trying to defraud anyone. Accordingly, the charge was immediately dismissed!
Congratulations to Tyler Beach on another Not Guilty Verdict!
Mr. Beach’s client was accused of the crime ‘Harassment.’ If convicted, Mr. Beach’s client faced six months in jail. Mr. Beach knew that the only way to win this trial was to demonstrate that the person claiming to be a ‘victim’ was unreliable. During cross examination of this ‘victim,’ Mr. Beach pressed her on her alleged facts and how those allegations were inconsistent even with themselves. During this process, the ‘victim’ lost control of her anger and launched into tirade of yelling. Accordingly, she lost all credibility. A ‘Not Guilty’ verdict was quickly rendered.
Congratulations to Tyler Beach on a probation violation win!
Mr. Beach’s client was accused of violating the terms of his probation by not reporting to the probation office when the probation officer wanted him. At the contested hearing, through cross examination, Mr. Beach was able to prove that the probation officer never told his client the day of the appointment. Mr. Beach’s client also testified that he thought he had an appointment on a different day. Accordingly,. Beach’s client was found by the judge to not have violated the terms of his probation.
Congratulations to Tyler Beach on yet another trial win!
Mr. Beach’s client was accused of assaulting his wife. As evidence of the assault, his wife had a bruise. However, at trial, the wife’s daughter testified that the bruise was on the wife prior to the alleged event. Also, at trial the wife admitted how the bruise actually occurred and also that it preexisted the alleged event. A Not Guilty verdict was quickly returned.