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

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 13-1203 Assault – Dismissed

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

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.

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

Chris had a problem with the neighborhood kids harassing him and his wife. He overreacted one day and pointed a shotgun at a couple of the kids. The gun was not loaded but under Arizona law that doesn’t matter and Chris, who had no criminal history, was now facing mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison. Burges was able to detail the harassment with the prosecutor and negotiated probation with no jail for Chris.

ARS 13-1204 Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon (knife) – Probation without jail

Nancy and her husband got into a fight after drinking way too much and Nancy stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife. Nancy had no criminal history and was in graduate school when this happened. Nancy and her husband had never even had a physical fight before. The prosecutor wanted her to go to prison for 2.5 years. She turned to Burges and he negotiated with the prosecutor and convinced him to let Nancy have probation without any jail. Nancy and her husband got counseling and are still happily married.

ARS 13-1504 Criminal Trespass (Domestic Violence) – Dismissed

Mark was dating a woman for only a couple weeks when he stopped by her house for a surprise visit. But he was the one who got the surprise. The woman was with another man. In fact, it was the man she told him she left because she was afraid of him. Mark was upset but he didn’t react and just left the house when she told him to go. Then Mark heard screaming and thought she was in danger from this other guy so he ran back into the house. But she was fine and now Mark was facing trespassing charges. Burges negotiated with the prosecutor and got the case dismissed as long as Mark promised to stay away from the woman. That was more than okay with Mark.

ARS 13-1204 Aggravated Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (car) – Significantly Reduced Prison Time

Greg got in a bad accident with his family in the car. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but it turned out Greg had alcohol in his system. Greg also had old prior felonies from 20 years ago. The prosecutor wanted to throw the book at him and brought 16 charges. The prosecutor got a little too creative with his charging though and tried to charge Greg with Dangerous Crimes Against Children which would mean at least 40 years of prison for Greg. Burges researched the law and showed the prosecutor and the judge a case that ruled such charges couldn’t be brought for a car accident case. The prosecutor eventually gave in and Greg was sentenced to only 6 years.  It’s still a long time for him to be away from his family but at least it isn’t the rest of his life.