Recent Case Profiles - McDowell Defense

Michael H. - Kidnapping, Rape, Statutory Rape - 01/14/2015...

Michael H. - Kidnapping, Rape, Statutory Rape - 01/14/2015 Negotiated Deal of 6 Years When Client was Facing Life in Prison.

The victim claimed she was kidnapped and forcibly raped multiple times. With expert DNA and medical analysis, we were able to show the victim's story did not match the physical evidence. Presenting this to the District Attorney, we were able to convince her there were weaknesses in the state's case, so she made an offer the client couldn't refuse. Second big negotiation of the week!

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Michael T. - Assault - Dismissed 10/2014 ...

Michael T. - Assault - Dismissed 10/2014
Michael was charged with assaulting his neighbor after a dispute. Our investigator found witnesses who the police never interviewed. We presented our investigator’s reports, and after the District Attorney spoke with the witnesses that we had discovered, she dismissed all charges against Michael.

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Michael T. – Assault with a Deadly Weapon – Not Guilty 8/2014 ...

Michael T. – Assault with a Deadly Weapon – Not Guilty 8/2014
Police allege that Michael stabbed a gang rival after an altercation at a local bar. Client already had one prior strike which would have doubled his sentence. Our investigator discovered video surveillance footage from a business across the alley from where the fight took place. Video showed Michael was attacked and the attacker was the one who had the knife. Police investigators overlooked this video and thus never collected it.

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David A. – Possession with Intent to Sell – Not Guilty 2/2014 ...

David A. – Possession with Intent to Sell – Not Guilty 2/2014
David was stopped by police for speeding while driving his friend’s car. Officers asked him to get out of the car to perform a field sobriety test. When David exited the vehicle, Officers noticed what appeared to be a plastic bag filled with a white crystalline substance partially concealed under the rear portion of the front passenger’s seat. Officers conducted a search of the car and found two small bags of crystal meth. Because of the combined weight, David was booked for Possession of a Controlled Substance with the Intent to Sell.
We had David take a polygraph examination by one of our examiners. The test revealed David was not being deceptive about not knowing the drugs were in the car when he borrowed it. However, the District Attorney still would not dismiss the charges.
At trial we convinced the jury that there was reasonable doubt that the drugs were not David’s and that he did not know they were in the car when he borrowed it.
Three Strikes - 40 to Life - Residential Burglary with Person Present. Negotiated with DA to Attemped Burglary without person present = 2 years. Client had parole violations and other charges with enhancements. Ran consequtively for total time 7 years. Preseently would expect Client to only serve 3 years or less.

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Christopher L. – Conspiracy and Attempt; Distribution and Dispensing of a Controlled Substance. . – Appeal accepted for oral arguments. 9/2014 ...

Christopher L. – Conspiracy and Attempt; Distribution and Dispensing of a Controlled Substance. . – Appeal accepted for oral arguments. 9/2014
We did not represent Christopher in his original criminal trial. Christopher plead to Conspiracy to Distribute in Federal Court and was sentenced to 14 years because of the amount of Narcotics involved. Christopher’s two co-defendants only received probation.
We filed an appeal on Christopher’s behalf, alleging among other things that his trial counsel had provided Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, and that Christopher’s plea was not entered “knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily” since his prior counsel had mislead him about the consequences he faced if he took the plea.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, scheduled Christopher’s appeal for oral arguments for 12/ 2014. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals only schedules less them 2% of the cases presented to them for oral arguments.

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Jose C. - Assault with a Deadly Weapon - Firearm - 01/12/2015...

Jose C. - Assault with a Deadly Weapon - Firearm - 01/12/2015 Negotiated deal of 4 years at half-time day trial was set to begin; client was facing 29 years.
By employing expert investigative services, we were able to expose the holes in the prosecutions case created by shoddy police work and unreliable prosecution witnesses. We convinced the District Attorney that the identification, which had hints of coercion, was not enough to get her conviction, so she offered a deal allowing the client to get out in a matter of months.

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Josue B. DUI – Dismissed 9/2014 ...

Josue B. DUI – Dismissed 9/2014
Josue was stopped by police for speeding. During the traffic stop, officers stated they smelled a strong order of alcohol and asked Josue out of the car. Josue was asked to perform the standard Field Sobriety Tests, which according to officers he performed poorly. Officer then arrested Josue and transported him to the police station to administer a breath test. According to the machine, Josue blew a .085 and a .084.
At Josue’s arraignment we reviewed the calibration logs from the machine used for Josue’s breath test. We found that this particular machine had been in for service because of false positives three times since the beginning of 2014, the latest being just one month previous to Josue’s test. We brought this to the attention of the District Attorney and after negotiations, the DUI charges were dismissed and Josue plead to a speeding ticket.

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Lisa C. – Assault on a Police Officer – Not Guilty 5/2014 ...

Lisa C. – Assault on a Police Officer – Not Guilty 5/2014
Lisa got into a fight with her boyfriend. Neighbors called 911 and police officers soon arrived. While being interviewed by the police, Lisa allegedly struck one of the officers. Lisa was arrested and charged with assault on a Police Officer. At trial, evidence was presented that Lisa was raising her hand in an attempt to protect herself from a punch her boyfriend threw. Lisa had no intent to hit the officer and the jury found her not guilty.

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David K. - Felony Assault with a Deadly...

David K. - Felony Assault with a Deadly Weapon (Automobile) Charges carry 2,4 6 years prison with a lifetime ban on driving privileges. Reduced to Assault with Force Likely to Produce Injury. No loss of driving privileges, no jail time. After one year, charges were reduced to a Midemeanor and then expunged giving David a clean record.

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Jose C. – Attempted Murder, Assault with a Deadly Weapon – Firearm, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Gang Enhancements - Dismissed 8/2014 ...

Jose C. – Attempted Murder, Assault with a Deadly Weapon – Firearm, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Gang Enhancements - Dismissed 8/2014
Jose was charged with shooting a fellow gang member during a drug buy. We discovered that the police had done a very slipshod investigation at best. They failed to preserve vital evidence. They failed to collect evidence from the victim, including the bullet that had been removed at the hospital. The police only interviewed one alleged witness and the victim and the reports of those interviews were incomplete. Our investigator re-interviewed the witnesses and found that the victim’s version was completely different from that of the other witnesses.
After presenting our theory of the incident and our investigator’s reports, the District Attorney dismissed all charges prior to going to trial.

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