Client charged with Reckless Driving, a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail and/or a $5,000 fine.
Sunshine was immediately suspicious of the police report that noted that the officer “heard screeching tires” and saw our client in his mirror coming around a corner. The officer had no interest in hearing our client’s story that he had just moved to this new neighborhood, had gone to pick up friends for Thanksgiving, got caught up in talking with them, and almost missed his turn. Even after pointing out the many weaknesses of the case, the prosecutor stated that he would rather go to trial and loose than not support the officer who made the arrests version of events.
Sunshine took the case to trial, picking a jury in one of the most conservative counties in Washington. After a day of testimony, the jury saw through the officer’s story and recognized the situation for what it was, a guy who was not familiar with the neighborhood who took a corner a bit fast. Nothing reckless or “willful and wanton” about it.
Sunshine stood next to her young client with no criminal history as the jury returned those two beautiful words “Not Guilty.”