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+--- Thread: Quirky legal victory (/Thread-Quirky-legal-victory)
Quirky legal victory - fredtoast - 03-19-2019
I just had a trial where my client was convicted, but I got an acquittal for my client's co-defendant that I did not even represent.
My client was charged with theft over $2,500 which is a class D felony in Tennessee. Based on his criminal history the absolute max he could have gotten was 6 years. DA offered 4 years. My client is in his 50's and said that there was no difference to him between doing 4 years or six. So even though I did not have a real strong theory for defense we took it to trial.
My client was alleged to have stolen a cash till out of a register at Wal Mart. He had a co-defendant who the state claimed was acting as a look out. He was charged with "Facilitation" of theft over $2500 which means he would be convicted of a felony one class lower, and a class E felony is the lowest level felony in Tennessee.
The prosecution was sloppy and I was all over it. The jury found my client guilty, but only of an "attempt" to commit a misdemeanor theft under $1,000. That was a class B misdemeanor that only carries 6 months. My client had already been in jail that long so he left the courtroom a free man.
The quirky part is that the law regarding "facilitation" only applies to felonies. So even though the jury found the co-defendant guilty of "facilitation" of an "attempt" to commit a misdemeanor theft there is no such crime in Tennessee. So the judge ruled that the co-defendant was acquitted and not guilty of anything under Tennessee law.
The attorney for the co-defendant did nothing. The jury found his client guilty of the facilitation he was charged with. The only reason he got an acquittal was that I got the charges reduced so much for my client. You can not facilitate a misdemeanor.
RE: Quirky legal victory - sandwedge - 03-19-2019
Good job Fred!
RE: Quirky legal victory - michaelsean - 03-19-2019
So if somehow you had arranged a plea down to a misdemeanor would it have ended the same? Or what if your guy had been found not guilty? At that point it seems that nobody is saying a felony didn’t occur, just that they didn’t prove your guy guilty.