Attorney: Dylan W. Greenwood
Charge: Child Abuse
Case Result: Dismissed by Court Upon Completion of a Conditional Discharge
Our clients had friends over after putting their toddler to bed. Later on that night, one of the parents tripped over a piece of furniture and hit his head in the fall. Believing the parent had suffered a head injury, 911 was called and a police officer responded with EMS. The friends left before first responders arrived. The police officer believed that all remaining adults in the residence were under the influence of what he believed to be marijuana. The officer issued a citation for both parents due to these circumstances.
Upon retaining our legal services, we immediately sent our clients for a full panel of drug tests. The full panel of tests came back negative for all substances, but the officer involved was adamant that they must have been under the influence of some substance. The statute for child abuse does not require the actual substance be proven, so we were met with resistance from the District Attorney. This led to a Conditional Discharge in which our clients were required to plead guilty in court with the stipulation that the clients complete a set of requirements in a specific amount of time. Our clients successfully completed the Conditional Discharge program. With the clean drug test and our representation, their only requirement was to not get in trouble for six months.