After my client was charged with violently threatening his stepdaughter, he called upon me to help prove his innocence. When you hear her side of the story – that they had an argument and he picked up a knife to her – he comes across as a horrible person who many would think deserves to be locked up. But I looked at this man differently.
I looked at this man as a dad. A husband. A respected member of the community. A man who worked 55 hours a week in order to support his wife and her three kids. And what I learned from him was that because one night he refused to let his stepdaughter stay over with her boyfriend, she became angry and decided to show him. She called the police, made this false allegation and got him arrested. He was more than concerned. A conviction would cause him to lose his job – not to mention his dignity.
I provided the DA’s office with information to doubt her credibility. For example, we showed them that she’d previously made a complaint to child protection services about both her parents, which was deemed unfounded by the CPS. I also had the DA’s office interview the mom to get a better understanding of the daughters motivation. The case was resolved by being dismissed by the DA’s office after they were not able to be ready for trial.