Criminal Defense

Our client was visiting the Bay Area on a business trip when he was arrested for reckless driving and having a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit.  Client’s immigration attorney made it clear that the client would be deported if convicted of the DUI charges.  Attorney Maggie Gaan acted swiftly to defend her client and set the matter for a speedy trial.  Through extensive preparation, motion practice and negotiations, Ms. Gaan was able to resolve her client’s case on the day of trial for a misdemeanor reckless driving charge not involving alcohol, securing her client an “immigration safe” result in a difficult case.

Other successful outcomes include:

https://www.bonjourandthorman.com/emily-dahm-secures-favorable-plea-deal-dui-vehicular-manslaughter-case/

https://www.bonjourandthorman.com/emily-dahm-wins-domestic-violence-trial-hard-working-burmese-immigrant/

https://www.bonjourandthorman.com/megan-burns-wins-new-trial-motion-based-on-juror-misconduct/

https://www.bonjourandthorman.com/emily-dahm-wins-sex-bart-seat-case/

https://www.bonjourandthorman.com/megan-burns-secures-not-guilty-verdicts-in-robbery-caught-on-video/

https://www.bonjourandthorman.com/emily-dahm-helps-acquit-man-wrongly-accused-murdering-husband/

Our firm represented one of nearly two dozen men arrested in Contra Costa County in the “Omega Red” wiretap operation, targeted at bringing down an alleged Norteño gang conspiracy to commit a variety of crimes in Eastern Contra Costa County. After nearly nine months of relentless advocacy, the court granted Emily Dahm’s motion to dismiss the case and her client was finally set free.  Numerous other defendants in the same case pled guilty and agreed to lengthy prison terms but our client walked away with no prison time and no conviction.

Read more about the case here:  https://www.bonjourandthorman.com/emily-dahm-defeats-gang-wiretap-case-frees-client/

After being wrongly accused by a fellow UC-Berkeley student of sexual assault, our client found himself facing Title IX proceedings at UC-Berkeley which could have resulted in his permanent expulsion from the entire University of California system.  In school disciplinary proceedings, the deck is usually stacked against the accused because the same Constitutional rights that exist in court do not apply to the disciplinary process.  Our firm conducted a thorough investigation of the claim against the client and was able to defeat the allegations.  The University determined that no discipline was warranted and our client went on to graduate with academic distinction.

In September 2015, two young men were gunned down in East Oakland.  Nearby surveillance video showed the 16-year-old client running from the shooting and entering an apartment. That apartment was soon searched by law enforcement and a firearm was discovered in a backpack belonging to the client.  He was charged with two counts of special circumstance murder, meaning that the client was facing a life sentence without the possibility of parole.  After Jared Winter’s extensive investigation, exhaustive motion practice and lengthy negotiation, Mr. Winter was able to settle his client’s case under terms making the client eligible for parole in only 8 years.

Read more about the case here:  https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Man-Pleads-No-Contest-To-2-Counts-Of-Murder-For-13153359.php

A retired engineer and church elder was accused of inappropriately touching a female child at a church.  Initially, it was not clear why the young woman fabricated the allegations against our client.  After a thorough examination of the named victim’s phone records, and discovery of critical surveillance footage close to trial, the reasons for the false allegations emerged.  Numerous young women who had grown up in the same church testified on behalf of the client and his good character.  After several days of jury deliberations, the ten jurors who had been convinced of the client’s innocence were unable to convince the two jurors who refused to change their vote on guilt and the trial resulted in a hung jury.  The prosecution later dismissed all the charges against the client.

Our firm represented a young Marine who had met a woman online whom he believed was an adult.  Unbeknownst to him, she was actually a minor.  The two exchanged numerous messages, including suggestive photographs and videos.  After the young woman’s mother discovered her phone and the messages, our client was charged with sending lewd material to a minor and other, related charges.  As a result of Emily Dahm’s thorough cross-examination of the young woman during the jury trial, the government dismissed all of the charges against the client.

The police stopped our client as he drove across the Bay Bridge on his way home from a business meeting.  After a DUI investigation that involved multiple alcohol tests on breath devices showing results far above the legal limit, the client was arrested and charged with driving under the influence.  The client was certain that the test results were wrong and that he had been sober while driving.  After a thorough investigation, including a detailed review of the client’s medical history, it was discovered that a medical condition likely resulted in the inaccurate test results.  The prosecution refused to dismiss the case and the case headed to trial.  The jury returned with swift not guilty verdicts.

Four individuals were charged in a murder for hire plot in the killing of an East Bay marijuana grower.  A woman was charged with murder for hiring two hitmen from Tennessee to kill her business partner.  Our client was charged with murder because the government believed he assisted the ringleader in organizing the killing and getting the hit team out to California.  After a lengthy hearing with multiple witnesses testifying and vigorous cross-examination by Megan Burns, an Alameda County judge dismissed the homicide charges against our client, ruling that there was “no probable cause” to believe that our client intentionally and knowingly participated in the plot to kill.  After several months in jail for a murder our innocent client did not commit, he was finally freed due to the dedicated advocacy of our firm.

Read more about the case here:  https://www.bonjourandthorman.com/megan-burns-gets-case-dismissed-against-client-charged-in-murder-for-hire-plot/