Our client came to us after his sentences for attempted murder and street terrorism convictions were enhanced due to his affiliations with street gang members. We were able to show that evidence used at trial should not have been enough to convict our client of street terrorism and add gang enhancements to his sentence.
Obtaining a writ of habeas corpus is extremely rare. The experienced attorneys at Wallin & Klarich were able to convince the judge to grant our client a writ of habeas corpus by presenting facts that our client’s trial attorney, appellate attorney, and first habeas corpus attorney failed to point out.
In order to establish a defendant is affiliated with a gang, the prosecution must prove there was a pattern of criminal activity by showing two predicate acts occurred. Predicate acts are crimes, convictions or attempted crimes committed by members of the gang.
One of the predicate acts submitted as evidence against our client was a conviction of assault with a deadly weapon by a passenger in the same car as our client when the alleged attempted murder took place. Our skilled attorneys were able to show that this should not have been considered a predicate act because the passenger did not commit any acts to further the crime committed by our client.
According to case law, an aider and abettor’s liability in these situations does not rise to the level of a separate act. When there is a single act committed by one person on one occasion, it can only be considered one predicate act.
After extensive oral arguments, the judge agreed with our attorney and granted the writ of habeas corpus for our client. In granting this write of habeas corpus, the judge vacated the judgment and convictions of all gang counts.
If you wish to obtain a writ of habeas corpus, you need to speak to an experienced criminal defense attorney at Wallin & Klarich today. Call our offices today at (877) 4-NO-JAIL or (877) 466-5245 so we can begin working on your case. We will be there when you call.