DUI Case Results
Complete Legal Defense Myrtle Beach/South Carolina
When reading results from past cases it is important to note that any result we may achieve on behalf of one client does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
SOME SAMPLE CASES:
The following are some examples of cases that our firm has handled. These are provided to give you information which may be helpful. You may think that because you were arrested and charged with a criminal offense that there is nothing you can do about it, and that the situation is hopeless or futile. Your situation is almost never hopeless. It is very important for you to realize that an arrest or charge is only an accusation. You are not automatically deemed to be guilty. You are presumed innocent and you may be completely innocent.
In your case, the state may lack sufficient or competent evidence to convict. You may have been charged with a greater offense than the state can prove, which can result in your charges being reduced or dismissed completely. What can or will occur in your case can not be predicted with absolute certainty. The practice of law is not a science-dependent on absolute rules. Law must be interpreted and applied to a particular set of facts, which may or may not be proven. What will happen to your case depends upon several factors and each case is unique.
FELONY CASE RESULTS
(12-121-GS)
Criminal Sexual Conduct, 1st Degree
Kidnapping
This Defendant, a professional in his mid-thirties with no prior arrest record, was arrested from his apartment in the middle of the night and charged with the offense of Criminal Sexual Conduct, First degree, which is aggravated rape, with a potential sentence of 30 years imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Police also charged him with Kidnapping, which is a violent felony with a potential sentence of up to 30 years without parole, which means that a person must serve a minimum of 85% of the sentence. The case allegations were that he had sexually assaulted a woman he had dated previously. We began the defense shortly after his arrest. The client maintained that he was completely innocent. We began the defense with the position that he was in no position to plea bargain and that if the case were not dismissed then we would go to trial before a jury. At the preliminary hearing, based upon weaknesses in the case, including the police officer’s candid testimony, the charge of Criminal Sexual Conduct was dismissed by the magistrate judge. We continued to work on the defense and ultimately the case was dismissed.
Result: All Charges Were Dismissed
(10-14-92-ACR)
Result: Dismissed
(7-14-57-GS)
Drugs/Possession of Cocaine
Result: Dismissed
(7-14-53-GS)
Grand Larceny
Result: Dismissed
(3-14-21-GS)
PWID Marijuana
Result: PWID, Conditional Discharge, SPM
(1-14-06-GS)
Assault on Corrections Employee
Result: Remand, Assault and Battery, 3rd Degree
(9-13-100-GS)
Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor (under 11 years old)
Felony (2 counts) (25 years to Life)
This defendant, a father of two children under the age of five, was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting both children. The arrest warrants alleged that while he cared for them over the weekend he had assaulted them before taking them back to the mother who was living separate and apart during a legal separation. The client was facing sentences of twenty-five years to life without parole if convicted. Additionally, anyone convicted of Criminal Sexual Conduct with a minor under the age of eleven must register as a sex offender and wear a GPS ankle bracelet to be monitored for the rest of his life. The defendant was released on bond after spending several days in jail following his arrest because bond can only be set by a circuit court judge, the same as is the case of bond hearings for a person charged with murder. The client was required to wear a GPS monitor while the case was pending. Additionally, as most often happens, he was fired from his management job, and could not get meaningful employment because of the pending charges.
The client adamantly maintained his innocence, and the evidence in the case ultimately did not support the allegation that the children had been molested or assaulted. We prepared for trial, taking all steps to present his defense in court before a jury. After a thorough investigation, all charges were dismissed.
Result: All Charges Were Dismissed
(13-79-GS)
Assault and Battery, 2nd Degree
Client was on vacation with his wife at Broadway at the Beach, when he approached three men who he perceived as harassing his wife outside the Celebrity Square area. The allegation was that the client assaulted one of the men by punching him and kicking him on the ground causing the alleged victim to suffer a broken nose. The client, who owned a business in the state of New York, agreed to pay substantial restitution and the assault victim agreed to a dismissal. The Assistant D. A. agreed to sign off on the dismissal due to satisfaction and restitution of the alleged victim.
Result: All Charges Dismissed
(12-83-ACR)
Armed Robbery (Felony 10-30 years)
Burglary, 1st Degree (Felony 15-Life)
This case began when the Defendant was arrested along with two Co-Defendants and charged with Armed Robbery and Burglary in the 1st Degree for an alleged home invasion robbery. The Defendant was also charged with murder on an unrelated case, and also had another unrelated burglary charge.
At the time of the allegation, the Defendant had recently been released from prison on prior felonies. Because of his record, the district attorney or assistant solicitor, made a decision to go to trial on the Burglary and Armed Robbery charges with the intention of convicting him of a violent crime, so she could serve notice of life without parole and prosecute him for murder so he would be sentenced to prison without the possibility of ever being released. The Defendant remained in jail at the Georgetown County Detention Center because his bond was denied.
The case was called for trial in September of 2012. The case was presented and one Co-Defendant, or accomplice, testified that the Defendant and the accomplice and a third Co-Defendant committed the home invasion and armed robbery. There were numerous evidentiary problems with the case, including no in-court identification and the lack of credibility of the accomplice. Because the evidence presented was that the Defendant held his hand under his shirt as if he were holding a gun, but no one testified that a gun was used, and no one testified a representation of a gun was used, the Judge directed a verdict of not guilty on the armed robbery. The jury was allowed to consider the lesser charge of robbery and burglary, 1st degree. After a three day trial, the judge declared a mistrial because the jury could not reach a verdict. Later, the prosecutor offered to dismiss the Burglary, 1st and Armed Robbery charges in exchange for guilty pleas to Burglary, 2nd Degree and breaking into a motor vehicle with a negotiated sentence of 10 years with a max-out date of 5 years and credit for two and half years’ time already served in the county jail. We did not represent him on the Murder charge, and that charge was reduced to accessory and he received a 10 year concurrent sentence. All other charges were dismissed.
Result: Armed Robbery: Jury Found Not Guilty
Robbery: Hung Jury Mistrial
Burglary, 1st Degree: Hung Jury Mistrial
(12-31-GS)
Criminal Domestic Violence of a High and Aggravated Nature
Resisting Arrest
Assault and Battery, 3rd Degree
Malicious Damage to Property
Police were called to a domestic dispute involving the client and his wife and her mother. Police arrested client at the apartment complex where he and his wife resided and alleged that he resisted arrest which resulted in him being tazed at the top of a flight of outdoor steps. He fell down the steps unconscious, was arrested and taken to jail. The Criminal Domestic Violence of a High and Aggravated Nature charge carries a minimum mandatory sentence of one year which must be served day for day.
Result: All Charges Were Dismissed.
(11-76-GS)
Lynching, 2nd Degree (Felony 0-20 years)
Pointing or Presenting a Firearm, (Felony 0-5 years)
Assault of a High and Aggravated Nature (Felony 0-10 years)
This defendant, was arrested and charged in connection with an incident which resulted in the arrest of 19 people. Some were juveniles under the age of 16, and some in their early twenties. All were accused of traveling in cars and trucks to a house and assaulting two young people there and then returning later and threatening the residents of the house at gunpoint. At trial, witnesses testified that approximately 40 shots were fired into the air. The Defendant, a young man in high school at the time of the incident, retained our office over a year after being arrested and charged. All of the other cases had been closed with various levels of prosecution with some serving prison sentences and some receiving probation or juvenile prosecution and some were referred to Pre-Trial Intervention.
The client had received a plea offer of an active Youthful Offender sentence to aggravated assault, which would have been a period of incarceration of six months to thirteen months, followed by 5 years of parole supervision. While the case was pending, since February of 2010, the client graduated from high school and began attending college. The client had no prior criminal record beyond traffic court. Unable to resolve the case, we went to trial before a jury in February of 2013 in General Sessions court in Conway, South Carolina. The trial lasted three days and ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Later, in May 2013 all charges were dismissed.
Result: Hung Jury Dismissal
(11-73-GS)
Accessory before the Fact: Burglary 1st Degree (15 years-Life)
Accessory before the Fact: Armed Robbery (10-130 years)
Accessory before the Fact: Assault & Battery, 2nd Degree (0-3 years)
Client, a woman in her twenties, was accused of arranging a robbery and assault of a person in a hotel room and providing directions and access to the room where the alleged victim was sleeping. Three male Co-Defendants were charged with entering the room and pistol whipping and robbing the victim on the bed. After lengthy negotiations, a plea deal was entered where the client pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact of armed robbery.
Result: Sentenced to Probation
(10-22-GS)
Trafficking Heroin (2nd Offense)
Possession of Heroin with Intent to Distribute (2nd Offense)
Failure to Stop For a Blue Light
This individual was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin and trafficking heroin in an amount of over 14 grams. The State alleged that he had a prior drug conviction, which it would use as a sentence enhancement. The penalty for trafficking heroin, if convicted, was a mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole, meaning he would be forced to serve 85% of the sentence, which is a little over 21 years’ incarceration. For the offense of possession of heroin with intent to distribute, if convicted, he could receive a sentence of 5-30 years without parole. The Defense of the case involved many issues regarding the evidence and whether he could be tried with Co-Defendants, or if the evidence would require separate trials, whether the State could prove actual or constructive possession of the drugs, and the credibility of the State’s witnesses, some of whom had other charges pending. Ultimately, the case was resolved with a guilty plea to Possession of Heroin, 1st Offense.
Result: The client received a sentence of Two Years’ Probation.
MISDEMEANOR CASE RESULTS
(10-14-90-SM)
Simple Possession of Marijuana
Result: Nolle Prossed w/Completion of 15 Community Service hours
(8-14-66-CDV)
Criminal Domestic Violence
Result: Dismissed
(8-14-65-CDV)
Criminal Domestic Violence
Result: Dismissed
(7-14-64-CDV)
Criminal Domestic Violence
Result: Dismissed
(7-14-58-SM)
Minor in Possession of Alcohol
Result: MIP, Alcohol Education Program
(6-14-48-SM)
Simple Assault
Result: Public Disorderly Conduct, Alcohol Education Program
(6-14-47-SM)
Minor in Possession
Result: Dismissed
(6-14-46-SM)
Public Disorderly Conduct
Result: Dismissed
(5-14-41-SM)
Larceny, Destruction of Personal Property, Public Disorderly Conduct
Result: All charges Dismissed
(5-14-30-CDV)
Criminal Domestic Violence
Result: Dismissed
(4-14-26-SM)
Public Intoxication
Result: Dismissed
(12-13-116-SM)
Ordinance/Public Intoxication/Impairment
Result: Dismissed
(12-13-115-SM)
Assault and Battery, 3rd Degree
Result: Dismissed, Apology letter and $500 to the Humane Society
(13-97-SM)
Simple Possession of Marijuana
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
Result: Both charges, Dismissed
(12-84-SM)
Disorderly Conduct
Possession of Marijuana
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
This client, a young woman in her mid-twenties, was stopped by police as she drove her car at night on suspicion of being involved in a domestic disturbance. Once stopped, the officer arrested her at the scene for public disorderly conduct. Pursuant to her arrest the officer searched her purse, and charged her with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. She retained our office to defend her, and we requested a jury trial and filed motions for discovery. We were unable to resolve the case with the officer and so the case was set for trial in the Horry County Central Jury Court and the case was tried before a jury of six in Magistrate Court. After jury selection, we moved to have this case dismissed based upon the nature of the stop of the vehicle which was done without a warrant and done without the officer observing a violation of a traffic offense or other basis. Essentially she was pulled over miles from where the complaint had originated, and her stop was based upon an anonymous police report of disturbance. The court granted the motions and the case was dismissed.
Result: All Charges Dismissed
(12-78-GS) (12-79-SM)
Public Intoxication, Simple Possession of Marijuana
Result: Public Intoxication, $106 fine
SPM Dismissed
Assault and Battery, 3rd Degree, Ticket No.: 68276-FH
Result: Dismissed
DUI CASE RESULTS
(6-14-50-DUI)
Driving Under the Influence
Result: DUI, Dismissed & Expunged
(3-14-23-DUI)
Driving Under the Influence
Result: DUI Dismissed
(3-14-17-DUI)
Driving Under the Influence
Disposition: DUI, Dismissed, Rewrite to Reckless Driving, $445.00 fine
(3-14-15-SM)
Driving Under the Influence
Result: DUI Dismissed
(2-14-14-SM)
Driving Under the Influence
Result: DUI Dismissed, Rewrite to Reckless Driving, $445.00 Fine
(2-14-10-DUI)
Driving Under the Influence, Leaving the Scene;
Result: DUI Dismissed, Plea to Leaving the Scene, $237.50 fine
(13-50-DUI)
Driving Under the Influence
Result: DUI Dismissed, Rewrite to Reckless Driving, $445 Fine
(13-25-DUI)
Driving Under the Influence
Driving Under Suspension
Failure to Obey Traffic Device
Result: DUI, DUS, Dismissed, Pled to Reckless Driving/Fine $444.00
No Valid Driver’s License/Fine $237.50
Fail to Obey/Fine $133.50
