Criminal Defense
Experienced defense for serious cases.
​With more than twenty years of experience defending Oregonians charged with serious and life-altering felonies, this firm is built for clients facing the full weight of the State and the real possibility of long prison sentences. We represent people who are willing to go to trial to protect their freedom and who want a courageous, courtroom-tested lawyer at their side.
​
Our approach is meticulous and strategic—challenging unlawful police conduct through well-crafted motions to suppress, exposing weaknesses in the State’s evidence, and applying disciplined legal reasoning at every stage of the case. In trial, we bring focused, relentless scrutiny to direct and cross-examination, testing each witness and each assumption until reasonable doubt is unavoidable. When your liberty is on the line, you deserve an Oregon criminal defense attorney with the experience, resolve, and analytical skill to stand up to the prosecution and fight for your future.
Serious Felony & Measure 11 Defense
Serious felony charges in Oregon carry consequences that can permanently alter the course of a person’s life. Measure 11 offenses, in particular, impose mandatory minimum prison sentences that leave little room for judicial discretion and place enormous pressure on defendants to plead guilty. When decades of incarceration are at stake, every decision made in the earliest stages of the case matters.
​
Oregon prosecutors approach major felony and Measure 11 cases with substantial resources, law enforcement coordination, and a case theory designed to secure a conviction early and lock in mandatory prison time. These cases often rely on aggressive charging decisions, custodial statements, forensic evidence, and witness testimony that must be carefully tested for reliability, legality, and credibility. Without experienced defense counsel willing to challenge the State at every step, the prosecution’s narrative can go largely unchecked.
Motions Practice & Evidence Suppression
​In serious criminal cases, the outcome is often determined long before a jury hears opening statements. Effective motions practice is one of the most powerful tools in criminal defense, requiring careful legal analysis, command of constitutional law, and a deep understanding of how Oregon prosecutors build their cases. Every piece of the State’s evidence must be examined not just for what it claims to prove, but for how it was obtained and whether it can lawfully be used.
This practice focuses on identifying and challenging unlawful searches and seizures, improper traffic stops, warrant defects, and violations of state and federal constitutional protections. Custodial interrogation issues—such as failure to provide Miranda warnings, coercive questioning, or involuntary statements—are rigorously analyzed and litigated when appropriate. Scientific and forensic evidence is also scrutinized, including lab procedures, chain of custody, and the assumptions underlying expert opinions that juries are often encouraged to accept without question.
Well-crafted pretrial motions can limit, weaken, or entirely exclude the prosecution’s evidence, fundamentally altering the balance of a case. Even when evidence is not fully suppressed, narrowing the State’s proof can change charging decisions, trial strategy, and jury perception. Thoughtful, aggressive motions practice is not an academic exercise—it is a critical stage of defense that shapes outcomes, creates leverage, and protects clients’ constitutional rights from the very beginning of the case.
Trial Advocacy & Jury Defense Strategy
Serious criminal cases are not resolved by hope or pressure—they are resolved through preparation and performance in the courtroom. Every major case is approached with the expectation that it may be tried before a jury, not hurried into a plea for convenience. That trial-first mindset shapes every strategic decision from the outset and ensures that the defense is built to withstand the highest level of scrutiny.
Effective trial advocacy begins with jury selection. Careful attention is given to identifying jurors who will hold the State to its burden of proof and who understand that a single, unresolved doubt is enough to prevent a conviction. At trial, law enforcement officers and expert witnesses are not accepted at face value. Through focused, disciplined cross-examination, assumptions are tested, procedures are questioned, and credibility is examined in detail. The goal is not theatrics, but clarity—exposing inconsistencies, bias, and overreach that undermine the prosecution’s narrative.
Creating reasonable doubt is a deliberate, strategic process. By challenging the reliability of the evidence, the methods used to gather it, and the conclusions drawn by the State, the defense works to ensure that at least one juror remains unconvinced beyond a reasonable doubt. When liberty is on the line, courtroom experience, analytical preparation, and the willingness to stand before a jury are essential. Trial advocacy is not a last resort—it is the foundation of a serious criminal defense.
