Seattle Police Department Firearms Review Board – Expanded Role for Citizen Observer. Rebecca Roe Quoted on Police Review Process

Read the entire article here.

Press Statement: Not Guilty Verdict in Violations of Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act Case

SEATTLE (August 10, 2010) – Jury finds SGB client Kenneth Hill not guilty of all 16 counts charging him with conspiracy and violations of the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act (“CCTA”) in the matter of USA v. Arthur Montour, Peter Montour, Kenneth Hill, and Native Wholesale Supply, United States District Court, Western District of Washington, Case No. CR09-0214MJP.

Mr. Hill is one of seven owners of Grand River Enterprises (“GRE”), a native owned and operated cigarette manufacturing company located on the Six Nations reserve outside of Hamilton, Ontario. His company imported cigarettes into the United States by selling them to Native Wholesale Supply (“NWS”), another completely native owned company on the Seneca Reservation in upstate New York. The company and its owner, Arthur (“Sugar”) Montour were also indicted. Mr. Hill was represented by Jeff Robinson and Colette Tvedt of Schroeter, Goldmark & Bender.

The basic allegation is that Washington state has a law requiring anyone who transports unstamped cigarettes in the state to pre-notify the state of such transportation. During the six years covered by the indictment, the clients never pre-notified the state of any shipments of their cigarettes into the state.  However, there was a reason for that.  It started when GRE sold cigarettes to NWS. The cigarettes were sent from Canada to a free trade zone in Las Vegas, Nevada, which held the cigarettes until all customs and federal taxes were paid.  NWS sold cigarettes to several distributors, including one in New Mexico. All distributors were completely native owned and on native land.  The distributor in New Mexico then sold the cigarettes to smoke shop in Arlington, Washington.  The owners of that smoke shop did not collect the required state tax from its customers, and, as a result, sold cigarettes much cheaper than other stores. The smoke shop owners made millions of dollars of profit by failing to collect the tax, and the defense established that not one penny of it went to the clients.  Additionally, as the director of marketing for GRE, Mr. Hill spent most of his time between 2003 and 2008 in Germany marketing cigarettes and building clientele for a new manufacturing plant, which had nothing to do with selling cigarettes in the state of Washington.

Aggressive and persistent motions practice revealed a document that the government failed to disclose to the defense. This document seemed to indicate that the big tobacco companies had not filed pre-notification forms during the same time period covered in the indictment.  Judge Pechman ordered additional discovery and depositions.  As a result of those depositions, the defense discovered that RJR, Phillip Morris, Liggett, and Lorillard did not file pre-notification forms for the billions and billions of cigarettes that they shipped into the state of Washington between 2003 and 2009.  Further, when this was discovered by the state of Washington, big tobacco received notice of wrong doing but were not indicted.  The Six Nations Native Americans were.

After many motions, a seven-day trial, and two days of deliberation, the jury announced its verdict. On the second day, August 10, 2010, at 4:00 PM, the jury reached a verdict as to one defendant, but was hung on the other two. They found Mr. Hill not guilty on all charges, and were hung on the other two defendants.

Press Statement on Behalf of Victim of Police Attack

Seattle – May 13, 2010 – Martin Monetti is 21 years old and a graduate of Franklin High School. He lives with his mother, father, and two siblings in Seattle. On or about 1:30 a.m. on April 17, 2010, in the south Lake Union area, he was subjected to an unprovoked and illegal physical assault by two Seattle police officers, one of whom also used racist language. A number of other police officers observed the incident and did nothing to stop it. The assault and verbal attack was caught on videotape, which now has been broadcast on many TV news programs, as well as over the internet.

Mr. Monetti and his family are upset and very disappointed that members of the Seattle Police Department would engage in this unacceptable conduct. Their hope is that this incident will be used as an impetus for needed changes in the Department, so that this type of behavior will never happen again.

To members of the press, please be aware that this event, and the media firestorm surrounding it, has overwhelmed this family. They respectfully request that all questions be directed to their attorneys so that some semblance of normalcy can return to their lives. No press conference with Mr. Monetti and his family is planned at this time.

Mr. Monetti is represented by Schroeter Goldmark & Bender attorneys, M. Lorena González, Janet L. Rice and Martin S. Garfinkel. Schroeter Goldmark & Bender, one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest plaintiffs’ law firms, litigates cases for individuals who have been subjected to illegal conduct by corporations and government.
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Contact:
Hannah Gilbert, Legal Assistant
(206) 622-8000 or email

Declaración a la Prensa en Nombre del Víctima de Ataque Policíal

Jueves, 13 de Mayo de 2010—Seattle— Martin Monetti-Ramirez tiene 21 años, y se graduó de Franklin High School. Vive con su madre, padre, una hermana y un hermano en la Cuidad de Seattle. Durante o alrededor de la 1:30 a.m., en el 17 de abril del 2010, en el sur del lago de Lake Unión, fue sometido sin provocación e físicamente asaltado por dos agentes de la policía de Seattle, uno de los cuales también utilizo comentarios racistas. Varios otros policías fueron testigos a este incidente y no hicieron nada para darle alto a lo que le pasaba a Sr. Monetti-Ramirez. El asalto y ataque verbal fue capturado en video, y que ahora ha sido retransmitido en muchos programas de televisión de noticias, así como sobre el internet.

El Sr. Monetti-Ramírez y su familia están molestos y muy decepcionados de que miembros del Departamento de Policía de Seattle se comportaron en manera inaceptable y que fueron parte de este conducto inaceptable. Sus esperanzas son que este incidente será utilizado como un impulso para cambios necesarios en el Departamento, y así que este tipo de comportamiento no sucede otra vez mas.

A los miembros de la prensa, sea por favor conscientes de que este acontecimiento, y los medios de comunicación que le rodean, ha agobiado a la familia. Ellos solicitan que todas las preguntas sean dirigidas a sus abogados para que ellos se puedan recuperar alguna normalidad en  sus vidas. No se planea ninguna conferencia de prensa con el Sr. Monetti-Ramírez y su familia en este tiempo.
El Sr. Monetti-Ramirez es representado por los abogados M. Lorena González, Janet L. Rice and Martin S. Garfinkel de Schroeter Goldmark & Bender. Schroeter Goldmark & Bender, es uno de los más grandes bufetes de abogados de demandantes en el pacifico de noreste, que litigan casos representando personas que han sido sometidos a conductas ilegales por corporaciones y el gobierno.

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Contacto:
Hannah Gilbert, Asistente Legal
(206) 622-8000 o gilbert@sgb-law.com

Schroeter Goldmark & Bender Sponsors Latinos & Immigration in America on June 2, 2010

Latinos & Immigration in America

Sponsored by
Schroeter Goldmark Bender (SGB) and the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington (LBAW)

Guest speaker
Thomas A. Saenz
MALDEF President and General Counsel.

Panelists will include:

  • Jorge Barón, Director of Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
  • Luis Fraga, Professor University of Washington
  • Pramila Jayapal, Director of OneAmerica
  • Shankar Narayan, ACLU
  • Rebecca Smith, National Employment Law Project

Moderator:
Dan Ford, Latina/o Bar Association of Washington

Wednesday, June 2, 2010
7:00 p.m – 9:00 p.m.

Town Hall
1119 8th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101

Kindly RSVP to Fé Lopez at fe.f.lopez@lbaw.org

Read program details here.

Schroeter Goldmark & Bender Sponsors Free Legal Clinics

Latina/o Bar Association of Washington, SGB Attorneys and El Centro de la Raza Team Up For Free Legal Clinics
Seattle—April 25, 2010—The law offices of Schroeter Goldmark Bender (SGB), in collaboration with the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington (LBAW), will present a series of free monthly legal clinics to be hosted by El Centro de la Raza (El Centro) every 2nd Wednesday of the month from 6 pm – 8 pm.

The free legal clinics will be held on the Third Floor at El Centro located at 2524 16th Ave. S., in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle.

Sign up for free legal consultations is from 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm and is on a first-come, first-served basis. The last sign-up time is at 7:30 pm.

Bilingual attorneys and Spanish interpreters will be available to give members of the public free, legal consultations topics such as Auto Accidents, Personal Injury, Medical Negligence, Birth Injuries, Worker’s Rights/Wage Claims, Family Law, Immigration, Criminal Defense Law, Creditor-Debtor Law, Property Law, and Landlord-Tenant Law.

“Attorneys at SGB have a commitment to promoting justice and giving back to the communities we frequently represent,” said M. Lorena González, attorney with SGB, “Because these free legal clinics will deliver much needed legal services to the Spanish-speaking, Latino community, we are a proud participant.”

González points out that before partnering with the LBAW on this project, SGB conducted legal workshops, which are a different format, at El Centro since 2006.

“Because of unfamiliarity with the legal system in this country, language and cultural differences and lack of access to legal assistance, many immigrants suffer unjustly,” said Estela Ortega, El Centro’s Executive Director. “These clinics will provide an invaluable service to the Latino community and we are proud to host these clinics with SGB and the LBAW.”

“LBAW is excited to work with both SGB and El Centro on this initiative,” said Patricia Lally, President of the LBAW, “Together, we are ready to serve the needs of the Latino community and are confident that this series of legal clinics will connect members of our community to the legal services and resources they seek.”

For additional information, call 1-800-353-0626. Appointments will be scheduled only on a first-come, first-served basis and will not be set up by phone.

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Media Contact
M. Lorena González
206-622-8000
Press inquiries email

Asbestos Awareness Day 2010

Thursday, April 1, 2010 marks the sixth Annual Asbestos Awareness Day.
Asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma are among the terrible illnesses caused by exposure to asbestos dust and fiber. Since 1979, Schroeter, Goldmark & Bender has handled well over 1,000 asbestos injury cases, more than 325 of which were mesothelioma cases. Each new asbestos injury case furthers our resolve to fight for compensation for our clients against manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of asbestos-containing products. We have also been fighting against legislation that would keep people from obtaining compensation for their injuries. Crown, Cork & Seal is the most recent company that has tried to use the Washington Legislature to erase its liability to Washington asbestos victims. Washington residents won this time, but we anticipate other companies will continue to try to use the legislative process and bankruptcy courts to limit or erase their liability to victims of asbestos related diseases.

To further educate the public and gather support for issues regarding asbestos and asbestos related diseases, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization has been promoting Asbestos Awareness Day over the past six years and Asbestos Awareness Week since 2008. You can read more about Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization and the work they are doing on their website or request information by mail from them at Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, 1525 Aviation Boulevard, Suite 318, Redondo Beach, California 90278.