Not Guilty – Rowan County 26 Child Sex Offenses

State v. S.C. & C.C.

Out of nowhere, S.C.’s biological daughter accused her of years of sexual abuse. The child previously accused her biological father and stepmother of sexually abusing her three years ago, and she now accused S.C., her stepfather C.C. and her stepbrother as well. S.C. was arrested for 26 charges and spent almost a year and a half in jail. Facing sentences in prison totaling several lifetimes, she and her husband trusted attorney St. Aubin to fight against these false accusations. Attorney St. Aubin was able to pick a jury that carefully examined the evidence and he highlighted the numerous inconsistencies in the child’s account. After two weeks in trial, the state dismissed 11 charges against S.C. and she was found not guilty on the other 15 charges. Thanks to Attorney St. Aubin’s methodical defense, her husband was also acquitted on more than two dozen charges.

Dismissed – Mecklenburg County 1st Degree Murder

State v. T.L.

T.L. entered a hotel room.  Within 20 seconds, he shot and killed one of the occupants.  Police rushed to judgment and issued a warrant for his arrest for first degree murder.  The client was found across the country in Las Vegas, Nevada.  While things looked bad, attorney St. Aubin showed the state the entire picture. The man who was killed was a pimp, and he was beating a teenage girl whom he was sex trafficking.  T.L. intervened, and the man reached for his gun on the nightstand when T.L. shot him dead.  This was corroborated by witnesses. The client had already purchased the plane tickets to marry his fiancé in Las Vegas and he did not want to cancel the trip.  Confronted with this new information, the prosecutor dismissed the murder charge 4 months after the arrest.

Dismissed – Gaston County Robbery with Dangerous Weapon

State v. C.D.

C.D., a young college student from out of town, was partying at a club in Charlotte. While at the bar, he found that his phone was stolen. The culprit at the club made a video on the stolen phone of the owner searching for it, mocking him. C.D. used find my iPhone and tracked down the location of the stolen phone. With a friend, he confronted the thieves and took back his phone, even taking pictures of their ID’s on the way out. The tables were turned when the thieves decided to call the police and blame C.D. and his friend for robbery. Attorney St. Aubin stepped in and set the story straight, and C.D.’s case was dismissed.

Dismissed – Mecklenburg County Attempted Murder

State v. B.T.

B.T., a military veteran and mother with no criminal history, was accused of Attempted First Degree Murder and multiple counts of Discharging a Firearm into Occupied Property after a family disagreement went wrong.  She and her sister got into a fist fight with her cousins at a barbeque.  The next day, the family happened to be at the same local nightspot along with the boyfriend of B.T.’s sister.  After words were exchanged, they got in their cars and continued to argue.  Eventually, the boyfriend pulled out a firearm and shot several times at the cousin’s car.  A man in a nearby park playing basketball was shot by one of the bullets.  Facing over a dozen serious felony charges and decades in prison, she turned to Attorney St. Aubin for help.  After getting her bond reduced by over 90%, he gave the prosecutor all the information to realize that B.T. was not involved in the shooting whatsoever.  The prosecutor dismissed all the charges against her.

Dismissed – Mecklenburg County 2nd Degree Rape

State v. K.A.

K.A., a legal Afghani immigrant, was dating a local college student. They both went clubbing together, and they went back to his place where they had sex.  She awoke the next morning and when her friend confronted her about what happened, she claimed she was raped and they went to the police.  Our client was able to prove that they had a previous dating relationship, and that the student was cheating on her current boyfriend with the client.  The case went to trial, and attorney St. Aubin filed 26 pretrial motions which took a full week to be heard.  After the matter was continued, the prosecutor dismissed the case.  K.A. was able to preserve his green card and avoid substantial prison time.

Not Guilty – Cleveland County Statutory Rape of Child

State v. M.W.

M.W., a working father with no criminal record and a blended family of two children, was accused by his stepdaughter of continuous sexual abuse from when she was age 5 to age 10. He denied the allegations, and there was no physical evidence to support the child’s story. At one point, the child took back her allegations, but was then pressured by police and her school counselor into moving forward. M.W. was facing over 50 years in prison. Attorney St. Aubin was able to help show the jury that the interview techniques used by the police and state’s experts were coercive. The jury believed the defense theory that the child wanted M.W. out of the picture, and found him NOT GUILTY after a two week trial.

Not Guilty – Mecklenburg County Attempted Murder

State v. D.D.

D.D., a California resident with family in North Carolina was in town for the holidays when he met friends at a club in Uptown Charlotte. After leaving the club separately, D.D. was unaware that an argument had occurred between his friends and other men at the club. While they were leaving in separate cars, the friend exited his car and got into a fist fight with the men from the club. When one of the men threatened to shoot him, D.D. and his friend both drew their firearms, with the friend firing two bullets which struck the man in his leg and side. He was eventually charged with Attempted First Degree Murder, Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder, and Assault with a Deadly Weapon with Intent to Kill Inflicting Serious Injury. At the end of a two week trial, the jury believed D.D.’s testimony that he was trying to come to the aid of his friend. He was found NOT GUILTY of all charges, including lesser offenses and misdemeanors.

Dismissed – Mecklenburg County Indecent Liberties with Child x 2

State v. R.D.

R.D., a retired man with no criminal history, was wrongfully accused of exposing himself to two children in his own family over 20 years ago.  Confused, he sought the help of attorney St. Aubin.  He quickly brought to light that one of R.D.’s accusers had brought false accusations against several other men, and the other accuser had no real information to corroborate her story.  Faced with a he said/she said situation, the prosecutor decided to dismiss both sets of charges against our client.  This spared him from the humiliation of being an accused sex offender and allowed him to refocus on repairing his family.

Dismissed – Mecklenburg County Assault with Deadly Weapon with Intent to Kill x 2

State v. N.A.

N.A., a teenager with no criminal history, was in a popular Charlotte park at night with friends when a fight broke out between them and another group of teens. During the chaos, a man and woman were shot, and N.A. was blamed for it. He was placed in jail on a million dollar’s bond. Attorney St. Aubin was able to show that the state’s witnesses were impaired and unreliable, to the point where the prosecutor dismissed all charges against N.A., and he was able to come home.

Dismissed – Davidson County Drug Trafficking

State v. W.M.

W.M. had a rough life, and had accumulated enough of a record to be a Habitual Felon. He was charged with trafficking in fentanyl, and was facing decades in prison. But during the years after his arrest, W.M. got off the streets, and found himself in a wheelchair facing a battle against Parkinson’s Disease. Attorney St. Aubin was able to provide medical information to the prosecutor to get them to agree to dismiss the charges against W.M., so that he could focus on his health.

Reduced Charge – Mecklenburg County Sexual Exploitation of Minor

State v. H.M.

H.M. a teenager from a caring family, was arrested on a cybertip for possession of Child Sexual Abuse material. Officers found files depicting teenagers engaged in sexual activity on H.M.’s device. As he was taught, H.M. was completely honest with the police and told them the files were his. Unfortunately, that meant he confessed to the crime of Third Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, for which he had no defense. Facing registration as a Sex Offender for 30 years, H.M.’s family enlisted Attorney St. Aubin. He was able to put together a slideshow with materials explaining H.M. had these files when he was 16 and that H.M. was a valuable community member who was unlikely to reoffend. The prosecutor showed leniency, and offered H.M. a Dissemination of Obscenity felony plea. That spared him registration as a Sex Offender, and it can be expunged in the future.

Not Guilty – Mecklenburg County Robbery with Dangerous Weapon x 2

State v. M.J.

M.J. was accused of holding up two Hispanic men at gunpoint and pistol whipping them for their wallets.  Shortly after the incident, he was found with a firearm in his car.  In his jail phone calls, he told his girlfriend and mother “I f****d up.” He was charged with two counts of Robbery With a Dangerous Weapon and he was facing over 15 years in prison time.  At trial, the state presented one of the men but the other had died after being murdered in an unrelated incident.  Attorney St. Aubin was able to break down the eyewitness’s testimony and uncover dozens of discrepancies.  The client explained why he made those statements in his jail calls and that they were unrelated to the alleged robbery.  After over a day of deliberations, the jury found him NOT GUILTY of two counts of Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon and only guilty of simple assault.  He was given unsupervised probation and walked out of court a free man.

Dismissed – Mecklenburg County Accessory After the Fact, 1st Degree Murder

State v. M.S.

M.S. picked up her cousin and drove him on a trip from North Carolina to Wisconsin, where she lived.  She was unaware that several hours beforehand, her cousin had shot a man at a local apartment complex and killed him.  Police tracked them down in Wisconsin.  When interviewed, M.S. was angry and upset at officers but never admitted to knowing anything about the homicide.  Because of her attitude and lack of cooperation, she was charged with Accessory After the Fact to First Degree Murder, and facing years in prison.  Attorney St. Aubin was able to show that M.S. might be stubborn, but no evidence existed to prove she knew she was transporting a fugitive.  Her charge was dismissed.

Dismissed – Catawba County Indecent Liberties with Child

State v. M.C.

M.C., a respected businessman with no criminal history, was accused by a friend’s child of inappropriate advances. He denied any wrongdoing. For over a year, his case languished without any movement in the court system. He endured the shame of having a pending child sex offense, and was even threatened. Attorney St. Aubin became involved, and he was able to get the prosecutor to drop the charge to allow M.C. to move on with his life.

Dismissed – Buncombe County Fentanyl Trafficking, Level 3

State v. D.P.

D.P. was a suspect in a federal investigation involving a drug ring from Charlotte to Asheville. His phone was wiretapped, his car was followed by GPS tracker, he was arrested, his apartment was searched, and he was accused of trafficking over 15,000 Fentanyl pills. While several other people were charged with federal crimes, D.P.’s charges remained in the state court for years with no progress. He hired Attorney St. Aubin, who got to work reviewing hundreds of videos and documents. One crucial piece that was missing was the search warrant for the apartment where the pills were found. When D.P. invoked his right to remain silent, officers continued to hold him and question him for hours. Confronted with these flagrant constitutional violations, the prosecutor dismissed the case.

Dismissed – Mecklenburg County 1st Degree Arson, Attempted 1st Degree Murder

State v. J.R.

J.R. lived in a group home due to his struggles with severe mental illness, and he had no criminal record. After having an argument with one of the aides at the home, J.R. got mad and set fire to a trash can. The fire spread and eventually the home was destroyed, thankfully no one was injured. He was jailed for charges of Attempted Murder and Arson. This was the start of a 6 year long ordeal for J.R., where he was hospitalized three separate times to stabilize his mental health. Attorney St. Aubin was able to draw the attention of the press to J.R.’s case, and it was featured in an award winning radio series about the mentally ill in the court system. Eventually, J.R. was declared to lack the capacity to proceed, his charges were dismissed, and after 6 years in jail he was finally free to live with his stepfather.

Dismissed – Union County Domestic Violence, Assault on Female, Assault on Child under 13

State v. A.A.

A.A., a legal immigrant from Yemen and former Arabic interpreter for the Marines, was living in Union County married to a U.S. citizen. After an argument with his wife, he was charged with Domestic Violence, Assault on Female, and with slapping his young stepson. Facing deportation back to a country that would result in certain death, he hired Attorney St. Aubin. His wife immediately recanted her accusations, and after a meeting with the elected District Attorney of Union County, Attorney St. Aubin was able to tell him that his case was dismissed.

Dismissed – Mecklenburg County Felony Hit & Run Causing Death

State v. A.C.

A.C., a woman with no criminal record, was driving home at night when her car hit something in the street without warning. It was dark outside, and she could not determine what had happened. Police came to her door and accused her of running over a man, causing his death. It turned out that the mystery object was a person who was laying in the roadway. Scared, A.C. called Attorney St. Aubin. Once the evidence was provided, video showed a totally different car and driver were responsible for running over the man, and they never stopped. When A.C. arrived, Attorney St. Aubin argued that the man in the street was likely already dead. Without proof that A.C. caused the injuries to the deceased, the state agreed to dismiss her charge.

Dismissed – Mecklenburg County Statutory Rape of Child

State v. M.T.

A woman entered a police station in Concord, to tell a story that she was sexually abused as a child over a decade ago at her grandmother’s apartment. Her grandmother would allow a number of men to stay at the apartment, mostly transient workers. The woman said she remembered one of them, M.T., who had assaulted her. The investigation stalled for over a year, but finally the police decided to arrest M.T. based on her word. M.T. denied ever being involved, and provided information about several other men who lived in the apartment. Two of them were eventually accused of or convicted for sex crimes against children. Armed with this information, Attorney St. Aubin argued that there was no proof M.T. was the culprit. The prosecutor agreed to dismiss the charges.

Closed – Watauga County Rape Investigation

A college student who was dating another student in his dorm was accused by her of sexual assault. The two had spent time going out together, and on separate occasions they engaged in consensual, intimate acts. After that, he felt like they were not a match and he blocked her from social media. There were no signs to him that the activity was non-consensual, and they were always sober and clear headed during their time together. She became upset after his cold shoulder and escalated to making comments to his friends and making a report for assault. After Attorney St. Aubin got involved, he was able to arrange an interview with Detectives where the student could tell his side of the story. With Attorney St. Aubin present he did, and the investigation against him was closed.

Closed – Gaston County Child Pornography Investigation

A Gaston County resident was suspected in a cybertip of possessing files containing Child Sexual Abuse material, an allegation he denied. The moment police called, he hired Attorney St. Aubin for help. Attorney St. Aubin was able to coordinate with police, to update the man about the ongoing search of his electronic devices, and to confirm with police that no illegal files were found. With the investigation closed, Attorney St. Aubin even accompanied the man to the police station and helped him load all of the previously seized devices into his car.

Probation – Mecklenburg County Felony Death by Vehicle

State v. D.G.

D.G., a recent college grad, got into a bad fight with her boyfriend and was feeling unsafe. She left and got behind the wheel after drinking. On the way home she crossed the center line and struck an oncoming car that was driven by a 70-year-old woman. The woman died after impact while medics tried to save her. D.G. broke both her ankles and was in a wheelchair for months. This tragedy ended one life and drastically changed another. Attorney St. Aubin was able to create a presentation for D.G. using photos and letters. The prosecutor agreed to offer her probation instead of prison, and the judge agreed to sentence D.G. to 60 days in jail with three years of probation. D.G. has gone on to spreading awareness about drinking and driving.

Dismissed – Anson County Felony Breaking & Entering

State v. T.B.

T.B., a South Carolina resident, was charged with breaking into a business in Anson County, North Carolina. While T.B. was in a South Carolina jail, Attorney St. Aubin coordinated all his court appearances and made sure T.B. never received an order for arrest. Attorney St. Aubin met with the prosecutor and they had a candid discussion about whether T.B. could be identified as the person who committed the crime. The prosecutor agreed he could not prove that beyond a reasonable doubt, and he dismissed the case.

Not Guilty – Felony Malicious Conduct by Prisoner, Assault on Government Official

State v. S.W.

S.W. was involved in an accident with a city bus.  Police found her wandering the road, distressed and disoriented.  She was incoherent and erratic in her behavior.  An officer attempted to touch her and she jerked loose, which he interpreted as an assault.  Within 10 minutes of arriving on the scene, police had her arms tied behind her back and attached to her feet.  She cursed at the officers while spitting on them over 8 times on camera.  She was charged with Felony Malicious Conduct by Prisoner, facing two years in prison.  When the state refused tro drop the felony charge, Attorney St. Aubin demanded a jury trial. He showed the jury that there was no proof S.W. was impaired, so therefore she must have sustained injuries during her accident.  Since the officers focused less on her health, and more on restraining and punishing her, the jury found that they escalated the situation and they found her NOT GUILTY of all charges.

Probation – Mecklenburg Attempted Murder of Law Enforcement, Felony Flee to Elude

State v. R.A.

R.A., a former Military Police officer with no prior record, was at a store when she was accused of shoplifting by a clerk. She denied stealing, but the clerk became more confrontational with her. R.A. suffers from PTSD due to her military service, and this interaction triggered a psychotic episode. Police were called to the scene and R.A. attempted to flee, nearly striking a motorcycle officer with her car. The officer fired a series of shots and R.A. was eventually taken to the hospital with 7 gunshot wounds. She spent over a month recovering at the hospital, and then at a mental health facility before her release. Attorney St. Aubin was able to provide her V.A. records in detail to the prosecutor, along with showing that R.A. would be a great candidate for the county’s Treatment Court program. The prosecutor agreed to reduce the charges and allow R.A. to enter the program. The judge was hesitant to accept such a favorable offer for R.A., but Attorney St. Aubin presented a detailed slide show at the hearing that convinced the court to accept the plea.