Law Offices of George F. Hildebrandt – Significant Cases
George's Client lived in a room in his mother's house. The police responded to a call from the Client's sister that he had a gun, had been in an argument and aggressive with his mother, and was threatening suicide. Police responded and located a .32 caliber handgun and a blackjack in his room. George moved to suppress the gun and blackjack on the ground that the Client's mother did not have authority to consent to a search of either his room or the box where the handgun and blackjack were found. The court granted the motion and suppressed the evidence, and the charges were dismissed.
The Client was stopped in his car and arrested on a warrant for driving with a suspended license. A search at the jail revealed that he was attempting to secret a quantity of crack cocaine on him. He eventually admitted to having the cocaine, which was recovered by the police. Because of past drug convictions, he faced a mandatory state prison sentence if convicted. George challenged the legality of the search and brought a motion to suppress the evidence. After a hearing, the court granted his motion and suppressed the evidence and dismissed the indictment.
George's Client was charged with arson for burning down a house. Two witnesses, who had known the Client for years, claimed to have seen him at the scene minutes before the fire broke-out. George obtained video footage and evidence from a credible witness placing a co-defendant, who had allegedly been with the Client at the scene, at another location miles away at the time the witnesses claimed to have seen them at the fire scene. As a result, all charges were dismissed.
The Client was a licensed Federal firearms dealer. He was charged in United States District Court with conspiring with other individuals to circumvent Federal firearms laws by selling semi-automatic rifles to a "straw purchaser". The person who bought the rifles was actually buying them on behalf of an individual who was legally prohibited from possessing them because of past felony convictions. The Client, who owned a small gun shop, faced not only a felony conviction and prison, but the loss of his Federal Firearms License if convicted. Through the Client's testimony and aggressive cross-examination of the individuals who had purchased the guns and subsequently made a cooperation agreement with prosecutors, George was able to demonstrate to a jury that the Client believed that the person to whom he sold the firearms was the actual purchaser. As a result, the jury acquitted the Client of all charges.
After the acquittal, state investigators were convinced by Federal agents to charge the Client with a state firearms violation based on a matter that came to light during the federal trial. George was successful in convincing state prosecutors to eventually dismiss the state charges.
Among several acquittals in homicide cases, George represented a Client charged with murder, burglary and attempted robbery from a home invasion-style attempted robbery of a drug seller. The Client had previously given a written confession after over 30 hours of police interrogation. Prior to trial, George was successful in having the Client's statements suppressed because of Constitutional violations. At trial, despite the testimony of another individual who participated in the robbery and cooperated with prosecutors, the Client was acquitted of all charges. Read Article "Man Acquitted in Fatal Home Invasion"
The Client, an older woman, was charged with stabbing a man to death. The victim was found dead across the street from the Client's house, and a blood trail led from his body to the porch of the Client's apartment building. Two witnesses testified that the Client admitted to them the night of the killing that she had stabbed a man. One witness testified to seeing the victim staggering from the Client's apartment with his shirt soaked by blood. Another witness testified that she saw the Client scrubbing blood off her porch. The victim's identification card was found in a trash can in the Client's apartment. Through cross-examining the prosecution's witnesses at trial, George was able to explore numerous inconsistencies in their statements. The jury returned a not guilty verdict at the end of the trial. Read Article "Woman Acquitted in Fatal Stabbing"
The Client was charged with murder and manslaughter for killing his girlfriend's 15-month old daughter by shaking her. The Client admitted that he shook her, but claimed he was unaware that doing so would cause her any harm. He denied the prosecution's allegations that he did so to discipline the child. If convicted, he faced life in prison. Despite the emotional impact the case carried, George was successful in convincing the jury to find the Client not-guilty of murder and manslaughter, instead convicting him only of criminally negligent homicide for failing to perceive the risks of his conduct. Although tragic for all involved, his conviction for murder would only have compounded the family's tragedy. Read Article "Jury Selects Lesser Charge in Shaking Death of Baby"
The Client was charged with participating in a large-scale, multi-million dollar drug conspiracy. The Client was captured on wiretaps speaking about marijuana transactions. Recordings of the conversations were played at the Client's trial. He was also the subject of surveillance by federal agents. George's innovative defense was that, while the Client may have participated in a drug conspiracy, he was not involved in the drug conspiracy alleged in the indictment that was the subject of the trial. At the end of a two-week trial in U.S. District Court, the Client was acquitted of all charges.
The Client was charged with grand larceny third degree and other offenses as part of a sophisticated, organized scheme to steal tens of thousands of dollars of products from a large retail chain. After a suppression hearing, and extensive investigative work and legal research, the court granted George's motion to suppress the Client's oral admissions and detailed written confession, as well as evidence obtained from him at the time of his arrest. As a result, all charges were dismissed.
The Client had been at a gathering with his girlfriend and another individual on New Year's Eve. The Client became involved in a fight in which the other person died as a result of his injuries. The Client was charged with killing him. George argued motions which resulted in the court dismissing the most serious charges in the indictment, including manslaughter and assault, as well as charges against the Client's girlfriend. The Client was eventually allowed to plead guilty to a significantly reduced charge of criminally negligent homicide, and served eight months in a local correctional facility. Read Article "Judge Dismisses Manslaughter Charge"
