OUR DISMISSALS

STATE V. M.S. (AGGRAVATED ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON)

The Defendant in this case was charged with two counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon - a shotgun. He was accused of pulling a shotgun on two delivery men at his house for no reason other than the fact that he was upset that they would not install a dishwasher. He was also accused of threatening to "blow their heads off."

Our client was facing 30 years in prison as a first time offender because a gun was alleged to be used in the offense. Moreover, the case could not be plea bargained because there was a minimum mandatory prison sentence of three years for each victim involved.  The plea offer prior to trial was 6 years in prison.  Our client had no criminal history.   

At trial, Mr. O'Toole was skillful at getting one police officer to lose his temper and look like a fool in front of the jury. The two victims were carefully impeached because their testimony was different regarding the location of our client. Our client testified that he was an expert with guns and that he would never point a gun at someone. His testimony was carefully crafted to demonstrate how the gun was only pointed at the ground and not at any person.

Mr. O'Toole decided not to have any lesser included offenses provided to the jury as he was confident that the prosecutor did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. By presenting a lesser included offense to the jury, it would allow a jury to compromise and still convict the client on a lesser charge.

Mr. O'Toole also decided not to use self-defense as an argument to the jury as that would cause us to admit that the gun was pointed at someone. Our whole defense was centered around the gun being pointed at the ground.

Mr. O'Toole's strategy worked brilliantly and the jury found the client NOT GUILTY!