Criminal Defense

 

       In 2000, Illinois Governor George Ryan (R), a death penalty supporter, suspended all executions after DNA evidence revealed the facual innocence of half the death row population.  By that time, Illinois had freed more death row inmates than it had executed.

Criminal defense is one of the most challenging and dynamic areas of law.  In criminal cases, the liberty guaranteed citizens by the U.S. Constitution is sought to be limited or eliminated by a government with almost unlimited resources to prosecute individuals.

 

Mr. Gilliland's practices criminal defense in both state and federal courts.  His recent cases include the United States v. Account Services Corp. which was a continuted attempt by the federal government to restrict on-line poker from the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.  Mr. Gilliland's involvement led to full statutory immunity for his clients.

 

Similarly, in United States v. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Mr. Gilliland was able to negotiate full statutory immunity for his client in the largest Congressional bribery case in history.  The case was prosecuted in the Southern District of California (San Diego) and led to a plea and 8 year prison term for San Diego Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

 

In United States v. York and Bergman, Mr. Gilliland and Eugene Iredale, Esq. represented co-defendants in a case asserting 22 counts of participating in a pyramid or Ponzi scheme by the former Emmy Award winning producers.  A prosecution team specializing in Ponzi prosecutions from Washington D.C., with support from special agents of the FBI, IRS, U.S. Postal Service and a special prosecutor from San Francisco, flew to San Diego to try the case.  The confessed ringleader of the fraudulent investment scheme agreed to testify against York and Berman in exchange for leniency at his sentencing.  After a two month trial before the Hon. Napolean Jones, York and Bergman were acquitted on all 22 counts.

 

In People v. Jimenez, Mr. Gilliland represented the nephew of former Philippine President Benigno Aquino after an episode on America's Most Wanted led to his arrest for the murder of a soap opera actress from The Young and the Restless.  The case resulted in the triggerman receiving 40 years to life and Mr. Gilliland's client was sentenced to probation.

 

In People v. Gudmundsson, Mr. Gilliland's client, a former head of the skinhead prison gang, was serving the last year of a 14 year sentence for attempted murder in Calipatria State Prison.  After a disagreement with prison guards, a "surprise search" was conducted of Mr. Gudmundsson's cell that produced a hit of black tar heroin and marijuana.  The District Attorney filed a third strike case against Mr. Gudmunsson in Imperial County which would have guaranteed a life sentence for Mr. Gudmundsson.  After obtaining the crime lab records, Mr. Gilliland determined that the weight of the heroin and marijuana received by the lab did not match the weights of the drugs allegedly siezed.  In addition, the vial of urine that tested positive had the name of a different inmate entered in the lab computers.  Finally, as Mr. Gudmundsson was married and had conjugal visitation privileges, he was required to take drug tests every 30 days and had tested clean for two years.  The District Attorney voluntarily dismissed the case one week before trial.  Mr. Gudmundsson is currenly a counselor for trouble youths in San Diego, California.

 

In addition to the above cases, Mr. Gilliland has defended numerous other less publicized cases in many different areas of criminal law including drug possession, three strikes, sales and transportation, armed robbery, commercial and residential burglary, juvenile defense and attempted murder, sexual abuse, statutory rape and clergy abuse.  Mr. Gilliland has participated as a member of defense teams with some of the best criminal defense attorneys in California including Michael Pancer and Eugene Iredale.