Trial Litigation

Successfully defending clients from the government is what our entire team at C&N focuses on. We are experienced and skilled criminal defense litigators. Our record of successful not guilty verdicts shows the skill and experience that we bring to every case. In one recent case, our team won a retrial for a man who had been wrongfully convicted of criminal sexual conduct and spent 9 years in prison. The jury came back with the not guilty verdicts in just 19 minutes, and our client is now listed on the National Registry of Exonerations.

In another federal conspiracy trial, the government claimed our client was a high-level drug dealer and presented over 40 witnesses at trial. We were able to convince the jury that the government and witnesses were not to be believed, and the jury acquitted the client of all charges.

C&N has also obtained “not guilty” verdicts in numerous other trials. The jury said “not guilty” six times in a case in which a school counselor was accused of sexually assaulting a student 20 years earlier. There was another “not guilty” verdict for a woman accused of child abuse where the trial team showed that abuse did not even happen. Another acquittal involved an attempted murder case in which our client shot a woman in the head – witnesses claimed that he did so intentionally and planted a knife that was found at the scene. We argued self-defense, and that the witnesses’ memories were flawed. The jury came back with not guilty verdicts on all charges, allowing the client to go home to his daughter. In another case, our client was accused of multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct by two women he had been in relationships with in the past. We were able to convince the jury that the women had other motives, and the jury came back with not guilty verdicts. The government was so convinced that they would win that they placed on the record that they would make no offers. This did not matter to our client because he wanted a trial to fight the false charges, and we were able to get the not guilty verdicts that the client deserved. There have been numerous other “not guilty” verdicts, and they all involve a trial team dedicated to preparing and fighting the government on all fronts.

Every case is unique, and many cases require motions to ensure that a client’s constitutional rights are protected. In one recent case, all federal charges against C&N’s client were dismissed because of prosecutorial vindictiveness. In another case, charges against the client were dismissed because the police entered the house unconstitutionally before a warrant was signed, and we were able to prove this despite the police claiming otherwise. In two other recent cases, charges were also dismissed. In one, the police detained the client for too long after the traffic stop. In the other case, the police unconstitutionally seized the client when he was just stopped in a parking lot and talking to a friend.

For felony cases, running the preliminary examination is often a critical stage in the case. Recent C&N successes at the preliminary examination stage include a district court dismissing a first-degree child abuse case after finding that the government had not come close to meeting its burden because no abuse had even occurred by the parents. Likewise, a district court dismissed charges in a case involving criminal sexual conduct claims from our client’s former live-in girlfriend because we proved that the complainant was lying. In another case, the C&N team proved that the witness’s “identification” was so unreliable that felony charges were dismissed, and in another case the C&N team proved that the DNA testing was so seriously flawed that the criminal sexual conduct case was dismissed.

There have been numerous other successes, but the most important part of every case is working with the client to help the client get their life back free from the government’s accusations and intrusions. We try cases in federal and state courts throughout Michigan, and our advocacy and litigation skills have resulted in numerous dismissals and not guilty verdicts over the years.

For more information, contact C&N.