Sometimes good people find themselves in bad situations.  A college student and member of the United States military, our client received word that he had been selected for officer training.  To celebrate, he went out to the bars.  He returned home intoxicated and got into an argument with his live-in girlfriend.  In a drunken state, he grabbed his service rifle during the argument and threatened to harm himself.  Worried, his girlfriend tried to take the rifle away from him.  Unfortunately, it discharged, and she received a complex gunshot wound to the hand.  When police arrived, he made statement to law enforcement, essentially a confession.  Police arrested the client, and prosecutors charged him with a felony for endangering safety and a misdemeanor for possessing a firearm while intoxicated.  Attorney Tim Verhoff knew the case would not be easy, given the serious nature of the allegations.  He knew the prosecution would be skeptical.  And the facts were certainly not in our client’s favor.  The client followed our advice, enrolled in alcohol treatment, saw a psychiatrist, and saw a therapist for domestic violence counseling.  The client did well with his treatment providers, and our lawyers were able to use the opinions of those experts to convince the prosecution this was an isolated event and the client did not present an ongoing threat.  Ultimately, our lawyers struck a deal with the prosecution by which the client would complete a deferred prosecution program and the case would be dismissed upon his successful completion.  This outcome was a huge success for the client because it avoided a conviction for any charge, which would have resulted in losing his right to possess a firearm and ended his military career.