When people think about stalking charges many times they picture a person hiding in the bushes ready to cause harm to someone else. This case our client, who was a former client was charged with Stalking a friend of his.
The prosecution thought they had a good case, offering “no prison” if the client entered a plea. That was not going to happen. The case began to unravel for the government at the preliminary hearing. By the end of that hearing the trial court was unsure whether to even find probable cause to bind the matter over for trial. Once the prosecution saw that the judge was struggling to find probable cause, the flood gates opened.
Chirafisi and Verhoff were able to file motions not only challenging bindover of the preliminary hearing but made an “as applied” challenge to the constitutionality of the stalking statute.
There was no need for a hearing in this case. After the motions were filed, the government realized that the matter should never have been brought in the first place and dismissed the case just prior to the motions being heard. The client, who has very good job, would have certainly lost that job if he had been convicted. Our client could not have been happier with the results.