Case Results
Assault charge dismissed; not guilty of assault; not guilty of obstructing; not guilty of resisting
Rusk and Sanders represented a young African American man who was beat up by an officer at a Black Lives Matter rally. On the eve of trial, the city, under protest, turned over more than 300 pages of Brady material, but it did not end there. After a brief continuance and as trial restarted, Seattle PD again disgorged a second enormous chunk of Brady material. Rusk & Sanders moved for dismissal under CrRLJ 8.3(b) for the failure to timely disclose the Brady material, but Judge Shadid found that the material in question was not Brady material, but was admissible to show bias. Despite his interesting ruling, Judge Shadid did find a violation and berated the City Attorney and her office. One count of assault was dismissed at halftime and the jury found their client not guilty on the second count of assault (involving the corrupt officer), one count of obstruction and one count of resisting arrest. The jury returned their verdict in 15 minutes after a 15-day trial and wanted Mr. Rusk’s client to know, in reading the verdict directly to him, that they did not support the prosecution to any degree.
Not guilty of DUI; Second degree driving while license suspended: dismissed, halftime
2nd degree Driving While License Suspended and DUI on a .078 BAC with an admission to drinking. Tim beat the DWLS 2 because the city didn’t have the right paperwork for the suspension. He beat the DUI even though his client admitted to drinking a few drinks and failing the Field Sobriety Tests. Tim rightfully pointed out It is clear on the ICV that his client had a disabled license plate and should have never had to take the FST’s. Not guilty on both counts!
DUI: Not Guilty
(*insert “Dukes of Hazard” theme song*) Tim’s client jumped his car over a median from King County smack dab into unincorporated King County. The City was proceeding on the effected by prong. His client had just been in a major accident he said due to mechanical failures of the car. Other people were injured in the accident. Fortunately for Tim’s client, Tim convinced the jury that the effects the officer was observing were not intoxication, but injuries from the accident. Tim’s client was adamant that the accident was caused by mechanical failure and that he had only had one drink. The City didn’t bother to get a warrant because they were so sure they jury would believe them that Tim’s client was intoxicated. Not Guilty.
First degree Driving While License Suspended: Not Guilty; No Ignition Interlock Device (IID): dismissed at commencement of trial
DWLS 1 and IIED (IIED was dismissed morning of trial due to motions the City realized they couldn’t win. He walked the client on the DWLS charge even though the officer “saw” his client driving, “recognized him” and nodded to him as they passed. What the… ?!?
Violation of No Contact Order (VNCO), 12 counts: not guilty
Lost a stipulated facts trial, but he received a written apology from the judge. Tim had to lie in wait because the City admitted the wrong (expired) no contact order, even though there was a valid order for one of the counts. The judge accused Tim of being unethical for doing his job and lying in wait, but was ultimately redeemed when the judge saw the error of her ways and apologized. The case is currently on appeal. WON THE APPEAL TOO – beat all 12 counts.
DUI: dismissed on appeal
Bad facts – car jumped into a building and client admitted to heroin use and driving, but good corpus issue. Court denied corpus motion at trial, client was convicted at trial but we give up and filed and appeal. The trial ruling was reversed and the case is dismissed with prejudice.
Two assault counts: both counts dismissed Day 2 of trial
Social worker tried to frame my client for assault to have her excluded from housing because her client was not getting along with mine. Executed SDT and procured surveillance that showed social worker was completely lying about the nature of the interaction and that the social worker was in fact the 1st aggressor, and even so my client never hit her. City attorney on case is notoriously unethical and would likely change charge if I disclosed the video earlier. She asked if I had it day of trial and requested continuation. Court denies, and we go forward. She cannot maneuver around video on assault charge. Offers one count disorderly next morning. We decline. Case is dismissed.
Obstructing: dismissed
Dismissed on Knapstad after answering ready and being sent to trial court at master. State v. E.J.J carried the day. You can watch cops—nothing they can do about it.
Assault: not guilty
Theory of self-defense: missing evidence and camera angles.
Two counts of assault: not guilty
Client alleged to have attacked young couple on Valentine’s Day. Argued self-defense and the jury agreed.
Second-degree assault with weapon enhancement: not guilty
Young man was facing several years of prison for protecting himself with a legally concealed hand gun. We argued self-defense and the jury found this client not guilty. The jury also required the state to pay client entire legal fee too!
DUI: not guilty
Client was pulled over for “driving while Mexican” (I literally argued this to the jury). The jury agreed this case was being viewed by the state through a lens of prejudice and found my client not guilty.
Three counts of hate crime plus third-degree assault: not guilty
Client sprayed an Hispanic individual with bear spray for being a jerk to her.
Fourth-degree assault: not guilty
Argued self-defense and the jury agreed. Jury was convinced enough to make the state pay my client’s entire legal fee.
Unlawful possession of weapons: dismissed
Dismissed at filing Knapstad.
DUI: dismissed
Dismissed for no PC to arrest.
DUI: dismissed
Dismissed for no PC to arrest.