Death in Bangor Hit and Run Last Night

From PressHerald.com:

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Pedestrian-killed-in-hit-and-run-accident-in-Maine.html

for info in Zerillo Law, LLC, click here.

Tim Zerillo Speaks at Maine Association on Criminal Defense Lawyers Annual Continuing Legal Education Conference

I was invited to speak before the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in their annual Continuing Legal Education conference yesterday, teaching criminal defense lawyers about collateral consequences related to firearms rights. In other words, the talk related to criminal cases that could disqualify people from being allowed to possess firearms under the Federal Gun Control Act. For more information about Zerillo Law, LLC or Timothy Zerillo, visit www.GetZerillo.com.

Ted Stevens Prosecutors Suspended for Failing to Disclose Evidence

From USA Today:

May 24, 2012

Prosecutors in botched case against Sen. Stevens suspended

By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

Updated 23m ago

Two Justice Department trial lawyers involved in the botched corruption prosecution of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens have been suspended without pay for "reckless professional misconduct'' in failing to disclose critical information to the senator's defense team.

Prosecutor Joseph Bottini arrives at federal court in Washington in 2008.

CAPTION

By Gerald Herbert, AP

STORIES: Justice in the balance

Joseph Bottini, an assistant U.S. attorney in Alaska, was suspended for 40 days and James Goeke, an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington state, was suspended for 15 days, according to a summary of the findings released today by the Justice Department Office of Professional Responsibility.
The full 672-page report of the Justice Department's internal investigation was submitted to the Senate and House Judiciary committees.
The findings come two months after a special investigator appointed by federal Judge Emmet Sullivan found that the Stevens prosecution was "permeated by the systematic concealment'' of evidence favorable to the defense.
A jury convicted Stevens, a Republican, in 2008 on seven counts of lying on Senate financial disclosure statements. Days later, Stevens lost his re-election bid. In 2009, Sullivan threw out the conviction. Stevens died in a plane crash in August 2010.

Tim Zerillo and Amy Robidas Get Variant Sentence Departure in Federal Reverse Sting Drug Case

In Federal Drug cases sentences are based, in part, on the amount of drugs trafficked.  But what if the drugs are sold to the Defendant by a Government Agent?  And what if the price of the drugs is deflated below their ordinary market value so the Defendant can buy more?

When the Government sells the Defendant drugs, it is called a "reverse sting."  Comment Note 14 to United States Sentencing Guideline Section 2D1.1 states:

If, in a reverse sting (an operation in which a government agent sells or negotiates to sell a controlled substance to a defendant) the court finds that the government agent set a price for the controlled substance that was substantially below the market value of the controlled substance, thereby leading to the defendant's purchase of a significantly greater quantity of the controlled substance than his available resources would have allowed him to purchase except for the artificially low price set by the government agent, a downward deviation may be warranted. U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1, comment (n. 14).

In our case, our Client bought a 1,000 Oxycontin 80 milligram pills.  We argued that the price set by the DEA Agent was to low, and the 1,000 pills did not reflect the Client's true purchasing power.  We established in Court that the price for this area should have been between $65 and $80 a pill for Oxycontin 80 milligram pills, and calculated that the Client's purchasing power would be 2 levels lower than his actual Guideline range suggested.

Judge D. Brock Hornby heard the sentencing, and gave our Client a departure from the Guideline range in accepting this argument.  Our Client's sentence ended up at 57 months, where his Guideline range was between 70 and 87 months.

Highly Publicized Elder Abuse Felony Case Dropped to Misdemeanor for No Jail Plea

Highly publicized elder abuse case resolved: I was able to get my client a drop down from a felony to a misdemenaor - his co-defendants both plead to felonies - for no jail.  --Tim

Here is a link to the news report on the plea:

http://www.wgme.com/news/top-stories/stories/wgme_vid_11669.shtml

Felony Domestic Assault Dropped in York County

I was able to get a felony domestic assault charged dropped and dismissed in York County yesterday.  Congrats to my client!

-Tim Zerillo
Zerillo Law, LLC
Portland, Maine

www.GetZerillo.com

What Are Scheduled Drugs in Maine? Video By Attorney Timothy Zerillo

http://youtu.be/cAu0c219pLE

Domestic Violence Convictions and Gun Ownership

Here is a link to Tim Zerillo's YouTube Video on this topic:

http://youtu.be/JlbP_VjIjOI

Case Update: Zerillo Law Settles Case in Which Client Rendered a Paraplegic From Horrible Accident

http://youtu.be/7MzWkuJTy-g

Amy Robidas Gets Second Offense Drunk Driving OUI Reduced to DTE

Last week, Senior Zerillo Law Associate Attorney Amy Robidas was able to get a possible second offense OUI with a .19 intoxilyzer test reduced to a Driving to Endanger charge.  This was a tremendous victory for our client and a great job by Amy.

I blogged previously about this case when Amy was able to get the predicate conviction struck that would have made this a second offense OUI.
www.GetZerillo.com

Attorney John Burke Gets Deportable Domestic Assault Dropped to a Disorderly Conduct

John Burke, Zerillo Law, LLC Associate, was able to get our client out of a very sticky situation yesterday.  Our client got into an argument with his wife that escalated into him striking her.  He admitted his conduct to the police.  The client was an immigrant from Russia who had lived in the U.S. for the prior 15 years with no other criminal record.

Since the strike perforated her eardrum, this was a possible felony.  Despite that, Attorney Burke was able to reduce the plea down to a Disorderly Conduct for making loud noises.

The reason this is important and what people do not understand, is that if you are an immigrant, you can be deported for a domestic assault misdemenaor conviction.  Even a deferred disposition can serve as a basis to deport you, because the immigration law counts as a conviction conduct that is admitted to be criminal.  In Maine law, you are only convicted after you are sentenced.

Great job, John.

Psilocybin Mushrooms case Dropped by Maine DEA

My client's house was broken into, and in the course of responding to the burglary, the police found jars containing spores of psilocybin mushrooms, which are fungi that contain the psychoactive compounds psilocybin and psilocin.  You probably know these as "shrooms" or "magic mushrooms."

The Maine DEA agreed with me that the seizure of these psilocybin mushrooms, given the circumstances, was questionable, and agreed not to charge the case.

For more about Zerillo Law, LLC, visit http://www.getzerillo.com/.

-Tim

Bail Reconsideration in Manslaughter Case - CBS News Bangor

http://www.wabi.tv/news/27059/south-berwick-man-in-jail-for-manslaughter-asks-judge-to-reconsider-bail

by Laura Roberts - January 25th 2012 01:25pm
Bangor - A South Berwick man in jail for seven years for manslaughter is asking for bail.

23-year-old Garrett Cheney was sentenced in December. He was convicted in July for driving drunk in a hit and run accident in Orono that killed UMaine student Jordyn Bakley of Camden.

After his sentencing, Cheney was denied post-conviction bail and taken directly to prison.

Now his attorney has made a motion to appeal that bail decision. The prosecution hopes the judge will stick with his original ruling.

"On December 7, Judge Anderson felt that Mr. Cheney should be held without bail and we believe that that decision he made on December 7 was legitimate, fair, and appropriate and we hope that he will maintain that same position," said District Attorney Chris Almy.

"There was never a court making findings related to his ties to the community, his character, his length of residence in the community, his employment history, all of those things go into both a pre-conviction and post-conviction bail analysis and that was never done. We think that if that is done, as the court is going to do here, that he is an excellent post-conviction bail candidate," said Tim Zerillo, Cheney's attorney.

Judge William Anderson says he will issue a written decision on the motion.

Application for Bail Pending Appeal in Manslaughter Case

BANGOR — A man serving seven years of a 15-year sentence in connection with the hit-and-run death of a University of Maine student two years ago asked through his attorney Wednesday that he be released on bail while his appeal is pending before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Garrett Cheney, 23, of South Berwick was dressed in an orange jumpsuit with his legs shackled rather than in the suit and tie he wore every day of his trial in July.

On Dec. 7, Superior Court Justice William Anderson sentenced Cheney to 15 years with all but seven suspended in the death of Jordyn Bakley, 20, of Camden. The judge denied an oral motion for post-conviction bail made by Cheney’s trial attorney, William Bly of Biddeford, after the sentencing.

Cheney’s new attorney, Timothy Zerillo of Portland, who is handling the appeal, argued Wednesday that his client should be released from prison because he had no problems on pre-conviction bail of $50,000 surety.

Penobscot County District Attorney Christopher Almy, who successfully prosecuted the case, argued Wednesday that Anderson’s decision at Cheney’s sentencing was “fair and appropriate and should stand.”

Anderson said he would issue his decision in writing soon but there is no timeline under which he must make his ruling.

In addition to manslaughter, Cheney was found guilty of aggravated criminal operating under the influence of intoxicants, leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in serious bodily injury and criminal operating under the influence of intoxicants.

Happy MLK Day

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

--MLK Jr.