Strickland Webster, LLC

This quote is from a judge to our client at a recent sentencing hearing. And the judge is right: our client has been through the system numerous times before without anyone to seriously advocate for him. We were proud to represent him during what will be his last time in prison. We are speaking it into existence--in addition to doing everything we can to help set him up for success when he comes home. #criminaldefense #federalcourt #sentencing #lawyering #prison #clients

Our client has been in custody since 1992 and isn't scheduled for release until 2027. We won his appeal yesterday, which gives us the opportunity to argue that he should come home much sooner. #criminaldefense #appeals #lawyering #home #firststepact #sentencereduction

It's a pretty great Monday over here. We won two appeals this morning. First, we learned that our client's murder conviction was vacated after the Supreme Court of Georgia agreed with us that the State had improperly admitted evidence at trial. The client argued that he had acted in self-defense at trial, and in response, the State introduced basically every bad thing he'd ever done, spanning decades. The State is not allowed to argue that you should be convicted now beca...use you've done something wrong in the past. So the Supreme Court vacated the client's felony murder conviction (and resulting life sentence), and it will be sent back for a retrial. In the other case, the Georgia Court of Appeals held that the trial court improperly denied a request to continue trial after the State failed to disclose an expert report in accordance with the Rules of Evidence. The Court also held that where the State's theory of the case was that the victim was targeted because of his purported gang membership, our client had a constitutional right to question him about his alleged gang affiliation. Because the client's conviction was vacated, he no longer has a 20-year sentence.

Please read this article written by Strickland Webster, LLC attorney Leigh Ann Webster. https://medium.com//abolishing-qualified-immunity-is-only-

It's a pretty great Monday over here. We won two appeals this morning. First, we learned that our client's murder conviction was vacated after the Supreme Court of Georgia agreed with us that the State had improperly admitted evidence at trial. The client argued that he had acted in self-defense at trial, and in response, the State introduced basically every bad thing he'd ever done, spanning decades. The State is not allowed to argue that you should be convicted now beca...use you've done something wrong in the past. So the Supreme Court vacated the client's felony murder conviction (and resulting life sentence), and it will be sent back for a retrial. In the other case, the Georgia Court of Appeals held that the trial court improperly denied a request to continue trial after the State failed to disclose an expert report in accordance with the Rules of Evidence. The Court also held that where the State's theory of the case was that the victim was targeted because of his purported gang membership, our client had a constitutional right to question him about his alleged gang affiliation. Because the client's conviction was vacated, he no longer has a 20-year sentence.

We just got an order directing the immediate release of one of our very first clients due to the COVID-10 pandemic, after we filed a motion for compassionate release on her behalf. She has a long history of drug addiction and has never had any meaningful treatment for it. She was only arrested and charged in federal court because the government was trying to "clean up" the area around the new Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta. She had sold about $40 worth of heroin to supp...ort her own drug problem. When she was arrested, she was basically homeless, with untreated health conditions and no shoes. She was released on bond to live in a halfway house, which was the first time she ever received any treatment. She excelled. Before she was sentenced, she gave a speech about her progress at the facility and received a standing ovation. But she still received a five-year sentence in this case. She's been in for over 3 years, and her release date wasn't scheduled until June of 2021, so she's coming home about a year early. She's going to live with her niece, and we are so excited for her to start her new life.

Yesterday, the Georgia Court of Appeals vacated our client's LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE sentence, and we were thrilled to be able to share that news with the client this morning. He was tried for an organized heist, and as the Court of Appeals found, the State had little evidence connecting our client with the offense. So the State resorted to using his prior convictions from over two decades before the heist--convictions that were not at all similar. The State isn't allowed to jus...t argue that because you've committed a crime once, you did this one too. But the judge let it in, and our client lost at trial. Sydney was appointed to represent him then, and we appealed. First, the Court of Appeals affirmed his decision, concluding that the State really needed the evidence because it didn't have much evidence to convict him. Yes, you read that sentence correctly. But then we petitioned to the Supreme Court, which, in essence, told the Court of Appeals to try again. Yesterday, the Court of Appeals agreed with us that the client has to get a new trial because the State shouldn't have been allowed to introduce those prior convictions to the jury. Now, we'll go back to the trial court and try to work out a resolution to get our client, who's served about seven years already, out of custody. This case stands in marked contrast to the cases involving #AhmaudArbery, #GeorgeFloyd, #BreonnaTaylor, and so many more. In those cases, the public is urged to wait to make sure that the investigation is thorough and the State can really prove the case against the people charged. But in cases involving black men--often indigent--the police frequently arrest first and don't ask questions later. The State prosecutes them to the fullest extent of the law, even when the evidence is minimal--or non-existent--and invokes its discretion to seek incredibly harsh sentences, like requiring that our client be sentenced to life without parole here. It is unacceptable to have different standards for law enforcement officers, on one hand, and everyone else (especially people of color) on the other. So we stand with our clients when we say #BlackLivesMatter.

Love to hear good news like this! The parole board decided that our client wasn't eligible for parole because of some ambiguity in the sentencing paperwork, but we were able to intervene, so she's going home this month instead of years from now. We're so glad she gets to be reunited with her family, especially in these scary times.

This quote is from an order in the case where our client was released from prison after serving 15 years in prison--15 years before he would have been released without our involvement. When we posted about the case before, we didn't explain all of the logistical nightmares that popped up at the last minute. The worst one was that the local jail refused to tell us anything about when our client would be released. Despite pleading with them repeatedly that he had been in cus...tody for 15 years, that he has mental health concerns, and that he had no clothes, no money, and no phone, the jail refused to tell us anything other than he would be released from the jail sometime between 12:01am and 11:59pm. His family wasn't going to be in town to pick him up until around 8am, and the jail refused to work with us to ensure that someone would be there for him when he walked out of custody for the first time in 15 years. We had to call the jail every few hours: 11pm, 2am, 4:30am. At last, they told us that he would be released at about 5:15am, when it was about 30 degrees outside. Luckily, we could be there to pick him up and help reunite him with his family. But despite promising to give him at least 4 days of his medicines, they had not given them any medications--because the pharmacist was not on duty. They told us to return in a couple of hours to pick it up. Apparently, this is a common practice for mentally ill patients. This is the same jail at which 13 people currently have COVID-19, so it's not hard to imagine that it's going to get a lot worse before it gets any better there.

Our office is closed for in-person meetings due to the coronavirus, but we are working from home and available by phone or e-mail. Feel free to reach out if you need us, but please, stay home and wash your hands.

We've had multiple cases where clients entered a guilty plea thinking that they were going to be eligible for parole, only for them to get to prison and realize that the parole board has declared them ineligible for parole. For drug-trafficking clients, that's sometimes due to confusion about what level of trafficking they have pled to. The good news is that this is a problem that can be solved. Attorney Leigh Ann Webster explains how.

A great way to end the week over here: the Court of Appeals reversed our client's convictions, finding that his decision to represent himself at trial was not truly knowing and voluntary. Attorneys Sydney Strickland and Dean Daskal (Of Counsel) represented him on appeal. Happy Friday!

Our clients often have questions about what sort of claims we're looking for to help them get relief on appeal. Attorney Sydney Strickland explains the types of issues that can make a difference on appeal.

This frame tells the story of our first client and our first win in the Court of Appeals. Our client's trial was fundamentally unfair, and the Court agreed with us and vacated all of his convictions. We got the result in 2017, and we negotiated to allow him to be released on time served. We just heard from his family recently, and he's now married with a baby on the way. We are so happy to know that he is doing so well--and sad to think about what could have happened if w...e hadn't won his appeal. He would still be in prison. In the frame, there is the first page of the decision overturning his convictions, a picture with us after he was released (we went for barbecue), and the first picture taken after he walked out of the jail he was in. It has taken us three years to get this together, but it's good timing because another client is being freed on Sunday. There's nothing like it. #appeals #lawyering #winning #criminaldefense #clientsfirst #clients #appellate #feelingsentimental

Strickland Webster, LLC attorney Leigh Ann Webster explains the difference between a direct appeal and post-conviction matters, and why that matters if you have a loved one in custody.