A few months before a scheduled trial, a respected colleague asked Leslie to serve as co-counsel on a serious sex crimes case. Leslie accepted representation as second chair counsel, met with lead counsel, Client, and Client’s family; reviewed the file and all discovery; and assisted at pre-trial hearings.
Client was charged with two counts of aggravated child molestation, two counts of aggravated sexual battery, two counts of child molestation, and two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree. If convicted of all charges, Client could have been sentenced to as many as four life sentences plus 80 years in prison.
Within a few months, the State moved from aggressively prosecuting this case to dismissing it, ultimately filing a detailed dismissal order explaining the issues with the State’s evidence.
