ARS 13-2002 Forgery – Dismissed

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Melissa and her boyfriend were at a rocky point in their relationship. Melissa’s boyfriend usually provided financial support for her and her 2-year old daughter but he was withholding money. Melissa found her boyfriend’s checkbook and in a moment of desperation forged a check to herself so she could get some cash for her and her daughter. It didn’t work. The check cashing store suspected the forgery and called the police. Melissa had prior felonies and the prosecutor wanted to send her prison for over 6 years. Terrified that her daughter would become an orphan she turned to Burges for help. He investigated the case and found some evidence that helped convince the prosecutor to dismiss the case. Melissa and her boyfriend reconciled and got married.

ARS 4-244 – Minor Consumption of Alcohol – Not Guilty

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Sarah was 20 years old, only a couple months from turning 21, and visiting the Valley with her family for the Fiesta Bowl. She was drinking alcohol with her parents’ permission outside the stadium. Officers didn’t care about her parents’ permission and arrested her for Minor in Consumption. The police had Sarah blow into a portable breath device which proved she had consumed alcohol. Burges couldn’t convince the prosecutor to drop the case so he took it to trial and convinced the judge not to rely on the device and acquit Sarah, keeping her record clean.

ARS 13-2310 Fraud Scheme, ARS 13-2002 – Forgery – Dismissed

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John had a criminal history but had put his past behind him and was living a law abiding life. Then he ran into some unscrupulous men who almost had John sent to prison. John was selling his old phone online and met with guys who didn’t buy his phone but instead tried to sell him their phone. He didn’t buy it but later that day he was confronted with those same men and a cop. They were accusing him of using counterfeit money to buy their phone. The cop didn’t believe John because of his criminal history and he was charged and looking at mandatory prison if he was convicted. Burges investigated the case, found several weaknesses, and convinced the prosecutor to dismiss the case. John continued on his law abiding path.

ARS 13-1204 Aggravated Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (car) – Probation with no jail

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It was the holidays. Tensions were high at the mall parking lot. Brian was nearly hit by a driver that failed to yield at the intersection. Brian chased down the driver and in a moment of anger flipped the guy the finger. Unfortunately for Brian, the other driver was a cop. He slammed on his brakes, got out of the car and pulled his gun on Brian. Brian panicked and tried to drive away. He didn’t know the guy who just pointed a gun at him was a cop. But the cop claimed Brian tried to run him over and hit his knee. There was no evidence the cop was hit by Brian’s car. Burges got ahold of the cop’s personnel record which showed he had past issues with car accidents that were his fault, abusing his position of authority, and lying to his supervisor. Brian had no criminal history but he was looking at a mandatory 5 years prison if he lost at trial. Instead, Burges negotiated the prosecutor down from prison to just probation without any jail. The cop no longer works for that department.

ARS 13-3407 Transportation of Dangerous Drugs – Probation with time served

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Tony got caught up in a drug trafficking ring. He helped a dealer by providing him transportation and picking up a package without asking questions. He knew what he was doing was probably not on the up and up but he was young (barely 18) and not thinking about the consequences at the time. He was caught with over $90k worth of drugs. Under AZ law, that’s enough to get mandatory prison up to 12.5 years. Burges negotiated with the prosecutor and got Tony probation with credit for the time he already served in jail.

ARS 13-1203 Assault – Dismissed

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Al had a drinking problem. In the span of a couple months he picked up assault charges from bar fights in Tempe and Scottsdale.  Fortunately, he realized he had a problem and got rehab. Then Burges went to work making sure his record stayed clean.  Burges was able to get his charges dismissed after negotiating with the prosecutor. Al isn’t getting into bar fights anymore.

ARS 13-2307 Trafficking in Stolen Property, ARS 13-1819 Organized Retail Theft – Probation without jail

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Fran was hooked on heroin. She ran away from home and was living from motel to motel with her boyfriend. They would shoplift from stores like Walmart and Target and return the items for cash or sell them on the street to support their drug habit.  Eventually, the law caught up to her and her boyfriend. Fran had no criminal history, but the prosecutors had evidence of several different stores that she stole from and she was looking at mandatory prison.  Her mom got her into rehab and then called me.  While I was representing her on one case, another case was filed by the police.  I negotiated with the prosecutor and convinced him not to charge the new case and give Fran probation with no jail. Her boyfriend went to prison. Fran is fighting her addiction day by day.

ARS 28-1381(A1) DUI Impaired to the Slightest Degree – Not Guilty

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Mark and his wife were threatened by some punks outside the bar as they were leaving. The bouncers at the bar ignored the situation. Mark was assaulted but was able to pull away. Mark and his wife got in their car and drove a couple miles away until they felt safe.  When the police arrived they confirmed the assault but also arrested Mark for DUI after smelling alcohol on his breath. Burges took the case to the jury and showed them how the police conducted a whole assault investigation without suspecting Mark of being impaired.  The jury agreed and acquitted Mark on the charge. Unfortunately, the Scottsdale police never charged the men that assaulted Mark.

ARS 13-1204 Aggravated Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (gun) – Not Guilty

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Bill had an unwelcome visit to his home from a former roommate who he told not to come by that evening. The acquaintance broke into the house by going through the doggy door and was met in the hallway by Bill and his gun.  The trespasser left the house and called the police, lying to them about having a key and being threatened by Bill. The Mesa police didn’t bother to really investigate and charged Bill. He had no criminal history and now he was facing mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison. Burges took the case to a jury and showed them how the police botched the investigation.  Bill was acquitted after the jury deliberated for a matter of minutes.