Courtroom Successes

Every case is a "big case" because it is the most important concern for you, your family, and people who care about you.  Similarly, you can't put cases into the win or loss column like you would a basketball game.  Rather, it is the outcome which is most acceptable to a client, given the circumstances of the charges which defines success. Below are some cases with successful outcomes:

Challenging Cases with Positives Outcomes

- A client with mental retardation was charged with gross sexual imposition.  After approximately a year and a half of pre-trial negotiating, all charges were dismissed.

- A client with bi-polar disorder was charged with murder. Eventually, the charges were reduced to robbery and attempted felonious assault.  The judge gave the client probation and followed the sentencing recommendation of sending him to an in-patient facility for treatment of severe mental illness.

- A client was charged with rape. Allegedly, the client had made a full confession.  The jury acquitted on all counts.

- A client was charged with rape. The alleged victim's recantation was presented to the prosecutor.  The judge dismissed the indictment before the case ever went to trial.  The judge also granted the sealing of the client's record.

- A client pled guilty to travel in foreign commerce to facilitate drug trafficking.  Although the plea agreement was for four years in prison, based on the Sentencing Memorandum, the judge reduced the sentence to two years.

- A client was serving twenty to fifty years for a rape and robbery he did not commit.  Elizabeth served as local counsel for the Innocence Project.  The client was released based on newly-discovered DNA.

- A client was serving a life sentence for a murder he did not commit.  Elizabeth believed in his innocence and was his first post-conviction attorney.  Eventually, he was released from prison.