Significant Cases

Defendant charged with Unlawful Manufacturing of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree after a search of her home uncovered a meth lab. Prosecutor offered to amend the charge to Manufacturing in the Second Degree if defendant would plead guilty to a 10 year sentence. Offer rejected. Motion to Suppress Evidence filed. Trial court suppressed all evidence as the fruit of an illegal search and seizure. State appealed. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the suppression order. All evidence suppressed and case dismissed.

Defendant charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia after consenting to the search of his vehicle at a roadblock. The defendant was offered admission into the Drug Court Program, which he reluctantly declined on the advice of counsel. Cases were set for trial. Both charges dismissed outright prior to trial.

Defendant arrested for DUI by an Alabama State Trooper. At the District Court trial, the Trooper testified that defendant was stopped for failing to maintain a single lane on the interstate, that he had a strong smell of alcohol, admitted drinking, had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes, failed field sobriety tests and refused a breath test. Defendant convicted and appealed to Circuit Court for trial by jury. First jury trial resulted in a mistrial after the jury could not agree on a unanimous verdict. Case tried to a second jury with the same outcome. State elected not to try the case again. Case dismissed.

Defendant, a commercial driver, charged with unlawful possession of marijuana in the second degree, a charge that would have resulted in a 6 month suspension of his driving privilege. Defendant was offered deferred prosecution, which he reluctantly declined on the advice of counsel. The charge stemmed from an illegal search and seizure. Case dismissed outright prior to trial.

Defendant's vehicle was stopped entering a campground after a Widespread Panic show, as a passenger in the vehicle had an open container. Police ordered all occupants out of the vehicle and performed a search, discovering controlled substances. The driver was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance. The arresting officer claimed in his report that he was given “consent” to search. Defendant was offered Drug Court, which was reluctantly declined on advice of counsel. A Motion to Suppress was filed. The four occupants of the vehicle were prepared to testify that no consent was given. The charge was dismissed before the first witness was called.

Defendant was charged with Driving Under the Influence of a Controlled Substance after he collided with two other vehicles. Defendant admitted that he had just injected heroin prior to the accident. The syringe was recovered by police. Dismissed on technical grounds.

A defendant stopped by police after rolling through a stop sign performed poorly on videotaped field sobriety tests. Blood alcohol content of .20. Driving Under the Influence dismissed. Defendant pled guilty to running a stop sign.

Defendant arrested for Driving Under the Influence and Assault in the Third Degree after she stopped her vehicle on I-65. Blood alcohol content of .09. Case dismissed.

A defendant represented by a court-appointed lawyer was convicted of Harassing Communications in Lipscomb Municipal Court. She hired ${FIRM.name} to appeal her conviction to the county. Case was tried to a jury. After the prosecution rested, a Motion for Judgment of Acquittal was granted on technical grounds.

Defendant arrested for Driving Under the Influence after he crossed the center line, striking an oncoming vehicle. Defendant had a blood alcohol content of .12. Case dismissed due to a defect in the citation.

Defendant had previously pleaded guilty as a Career Criminal Offender. Represented by another law firm, he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole on drug charges — meaning he would die in a federal prison. His family contacted ${FIRM.name} after his prior attorney failed to file an appeal, seeking relief from the sentence. After two years of effort, the sentence was reduced.

Defendant with four prior Driving Under the Influence convictions was arrested for DUI after running a red light. Admitted drinking “two or three beers” and taking Lortab earlier that evening. DUI dismissed. Client pleaded guilty to running a red light and paid a $20.00 fine plus court costs.

Defendant with numerous prior Driving Under the Influence convictions charged with felony DUI. A Bessemer police officer stopped the defendant for speeding and observed an open bottle of alcohol in the vehicle, noting he was unsteady, had a strong odor of alcohol, slurred speech, and could not perform field sobriety tests. The state's original offer was a five-year sentence on a guilty plea. Final resolution: guilty of Public Intoxication, $100.00 fine and court costs.

Defendant with two prior felony convictions charged with Unlawful Manufacture of Meth in the First Degree, facing a possible life sentence. Motion to Suppress Evidence filed on the basis of an unlawful search and seizure. Case dismissed at the hearing.

Defendant charged with Trafficking in Cocaine after 41 grams of crack cocaine were discovered at her residence during the execution of a search warrant. A Motion to Suppress Evidence on constitutional grounds was granted. Case dismissed.

Defendant charged with Assault in the First Degree after leaving a bar and traveling on the wrong side of a divided highway, colliding with an oncoming motorist who was seriously injured. Defendant told the officer at the scene that he had been drinking. Case dismissed.

Defendant charged with felony Driving Under the Influence. His court-appointed lawyer had advised him the case was hopeless and he should plead guilty and serve 8 years in prison. He hired ${FIRM.name} just hours before he was to enter that plea. The case later settled with a plea of guilty to misdemeanor DUI — 60 days in the county jail, served on consecutive weekends.

Defendant charged with felony DUI (8th offense), Reckless Driving, and Driving While Revoked, after side-swiping another vehicle and fleeing the scene at a speed clocked by police radar at 106 mph. Breath result of .13. All charges dismissed.

Defendant charged with felony Assault in the First Degree and Driving Under the Influence following an accident in which a child suffered serious physical injury. A blood sample indicated a blood alcohol content of .18. The prosecution's original offer was five years in prison on a plea to felony Assault in the Second Degree. As trial neared, defense counsel raised serious questions about the reliability of the blood evidence. The state agreed to a plea to misdemeanor Assault in the Third Degree, dismissal of the DUI charge, and 40 hours of community service.

Defendant pleaded guilty to Attempting to Elude Police and Reckless Endangerment, agreeing to serve 60 days in jail. He then hired ${FIRM.name} to try to eliminate the custodial portion of his sentence. An appeal to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals argued the plea was not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made. The conviction was reversed; the state's further appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed that reversal. On return to court, the 60-day sentence was suspended in favor of two years of unsupervised probation.

Commercial driver charged with speeding and DUI while leaving the 2006 Talladega 500 in his private vehicle. Breath result of .15. Both charges dismissed on motion of the defense — while roughly forty other defendants charged with DUI leaving the race that evening pleaded guilty without hiring an attorney.

Defendant charged with assaulting an employee at a local landfill. The victim testified defendant grabbed him by the throat and threw him to the ground, causing neck and back injuries. The defense argued the victim was malingering to pursue a workers' compensation claim, and that the facts amounted only to harassment, not assault. The court could not find defendant guilty of harassment, as it is not a lesser included offense of assault. Defendant found not guilty.

18-year-old charged with two counts of manslaughter and unlawful possession of a controlled substance after his car crossed the median of I-20 and collided with an oncoming motorist, killing his own passenger and the driver of the other vehicle. Youthful Offender status was denied. The state's plea offer of 20 years, split to serve 5, was declined on advice of counsel and the case tried to a jury. An accident reconstructionist for the defense hypothesized the defendant lost control after another motorist struck his rear quarter panel. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial. As retrial approached, the court granted Youthful Offender status and the defendant accepted a plea requiring boot camp.

Defendant charged with domestic violence. At trial, a deputy sheriff testified that defendant's girlfriend told him defendant had assaulted her. The defense objected that the statement was inadmissible hearsay. After the defense submitted a written brief, the judge dismissed the case.

Defendant charged with DUI after admitting to an officer that she had been drinking. The defense served the District Attorney with a 13-page discovery motion, to which the prosecution failed to respond. The judge granted the defense motion to dismiss.

Defendant charged with Driving a Commercial Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol after an 18-wheeler he was driving allegedly struck several new vehicles in a car dealership's parking lot. A breath result of .15% was admitted into evidence and the jury returned a guilty verdict. Defendant's post-trial Motion for Judgment of Acquittal was granted.

Defendant charged with Driving Under the Influence and Failure to Provide Proof of Insurance after rear-ending another vehicle. Client admitted drinking to the investigating officer and submitted to breath testing with a result of .16%. Motion for Judgment of Acquittal granted on both charges.

Defendant charged with two counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. At trial, a confidential informant testified he had purchased narcotics from the defendant on numerous occasions. The defense argued the informant was lying and had framed the defendant for leniency in his own drug case. Jury found defendant not guilty on both counts.

Defendant charged with unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. A confidential informant testified he purchased narcotics from the defendant in a transaction that was audio-recorded. The defense argued the hand-to-hand transaction was actually made with another individual in defendant's apartment. Jury found defendant not guilty of distribution and guilty of unlawful possession; defendant placed on probation.

Defendant charged with theft of property and receiving stolen property. The defense argued the property had not been stolen, but loaned to the defendant by the victim. Jury found defendant not guilty on both charges.

Defendant charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injuries. The District Attorney's pre-trial offer was a 15-year prison sentence on a guilty plea, and defendant's written confession had been admitted into evidence. The defense located a witness who said a woman matching the description of defendant's girlfriend was driving at the time of the accident, arguing defendant had falsely confessed to protect her. When the jury indicated it could not reach a unanimous verdict, defendant was offered a plea to a misdemeanor and placed immediately on unsupervised probation.

Felony (4th) DUI. Dismissed at preliminary hearing on motion of the defense.

Defendant charged with robbery, theft of property, kidnapping, and menacing. The pre-trial offer was a 5-year prison sentence. After rigorous cross-examination of the state's key witness at trial, the prosecution agreed to a plea of guilty to theft, with all other charges dismissed. Defendant granted probation.

Attempted murder. Dismissed before trial on motion of the defense.