Prosecutors dismissed a potential “third strike” case this month that attorney Neil Anderson had been preparing to take to trial.

A Clark County deputy prosecutor acknowledged at a Jan. 2 pre-trial hearing that she did not have enough evidence to prove her case beyond a reasonable doubt. She dismissed a charge of second-degree kidnapping domestic violence, a felony.

Had Anderson’s client been convicted, he would have faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison under the state’s “three strikes and you’re out” law for serious, violent crimes.

Anderson’s client was arrested by Vancouver police officers on Nov. 1 and booked into the Clark County Jail, where he remained – unable to afford to post bail – for two months until his case was dismissed.

Attorney Neil Anderson won a misdemeanor assault trial this week for a client accused of hitting a stranger with a metal rod.

Jurors deliberated about 30 minutes on Oct. 16 in Clark County District Court before returning the “not guilty” verdict.

The client was convicted of misdemeanor bail jump for missing a scheduled pre-trial hearing. He received credit for the time he spent in jail following his arrest.

Had he been convicted of assault, he faced up to one year in jail.

Attorney Marina Spencer won a trial this week for a client accused of domestic violence assault.

A jury deliberated approximately 25 minutes before delivering the not-guilty verdict Nov. 6 in Clark County District Court.

Assault in the fourth degree, a gross misdemeanor, is punishable by up to one year in jail.

In May, the alleged victim called 911 and said she’d been assaulted by her boyfriend. She told responding deputies from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office that she and our client got into an argument over a marijuana grinder.

New attorney Isabelle Askanas won a trial Sept. 13 in Clark County District Court, only a month after receiving her Washington state bar license.

Her client was arrested March 30 after a neighbor in his complex called 911 to report he could hear people screaming and crying in the apartment, specifically a woman yelling at a man to get out.

The client, 47, was accused of grabbing his fiancée’s 20-year-old niece during an argument, threatening to kill her and destroying her cell phone. He was charged with fourth-degree assault, harassment and malicious mischief in the third degree.

The harassment charge was dismissed before trial by an assistant Vancouver city attorney, who acknowledged the alleged victim was not going to show up and testify. He would have needed her testimony to prove she was threatened by the client.