Thomas A. Gorman in the News
Bernardi's Attorney Rattles Inexperienced County Investigator
Nogales International, Nogales, Arizona, April 22, 1994 by Harold Kitching.
Excerpt from article.
"The ongoing court battles by Annibale Albert Bernardi are putting a high powered Phoenix attorney against a relatively inexperienced investigator for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department. Bernardi...hired Tom Gorman, a man clearly at ease and who knows his way around a courtroom...At Bernardi's first hearing in Justice of the Peace Court, Gorman was able to rattle Magallanes [on cross-examination] about inconsistencies in his recollection of the dates, locations and specifics of the alleged incidents in the first case. Magallanes, who fidgeted and constantly licked his lips, was given water to drink after his throat tightened up. During a break, he approached the assistant county attorney and told her he wanted to correct errors he made during cross-examination by Gorman. Magallanes was playing into Gorman's strategy of trying to persuade the judge that the young, inexperienced investigator had done a slip shot job and there was no evidence to send the case to Superior Court...Gorman didn't give up. At Bernardi's preliminary hearing on the second case, Gorman was back on the attack, hacking away at the manner in which Magallanes conducted that investigation. He knew exactly what questions to ask to continue his portrayal of Magallanes as young and inept."
Man Beats Murder Rap In Bar Fight
The Arizona Daily Sun,
Flagstaff, Arizona, May 22, 1998 by Damian Aros, Sun Staff Reporter.
Excerpt from article.
"After five hours of deliberation Thursday an eight person jury decided Oliver Lee Hurley was not guilty of second degree murder in the beating death of Kenneth Robins outside a Page bar in January...The trial which began May 14 featured a prosecution argument that Hurley intended to kill Robbins when he called Robins out of the Windy Mesa Cocktail Lounge in Page January 21. The defense [Thomas Gorman] contended Hurley acted in self-defense -- a reaction of fear caused by an alleged sexual assault on Hurley by Robbins two years before the two fought...The prosecution unsuccessfully tried to show the jury that Hurley was a man out for revenge rather than defending himself when he and Robbins fought."
Arizona Is Getting Smoke Blown In Its Face in Marijuana - Tax Case
The Wall Street Journal,
New York, New York February 14, 1996 by Joe Davidson staff writer of The Wall Street Journal
Excerpt from article.
"Arizona lawmakers thought they gave police an additional weapon in their fight against drug dealers when the Legislature imposed a tax on illegal drugs. The idea was to hit the pushers in their pocket books. In addition to criminal prosecution, authorities could collect back taxes from those dealers who hadn't paid the levy. But the plan backfired in the case of Peter Wilson, chairman of the Arizona chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORMAL. He paid the tax. And now a Phoenix Judge has dismissed the marijuana-possession charges against him, ruling that they would amount to double jeopardy...'This ruling does not make the possession of marijuana legal', explained Tom Gorman...' what the ruling says is it's illegal for the state to punish people twice. Its' a classic double jeopardy ruling.' ...Judge John Barclay, of the Northwest Phoenix Justice Court, who ruled in favor of Mr. Wilson, based his decision on the punitive nature of the tax. It's punitive, he said, because 95% of the revenue from the tax goes to law enforcement and there is no correlation between the tax and actual government expenses."
A Supreme Court Ruling Roils Death Penalty Case
The New York Times,
New York, New York, September 16, 2002 by Adam Liptak
Excerpt from article.
"Not long after the United States Supreme Court invalidated Arizona's death penalty statute in June and only a week before the Arizona Legislature enacted emergency legislation to reinstate it, two men accused of murder tried a bold legal maneuver that may save their lives. They pleaded guilty."
The article goes on to describe in great detail how this legal tactic employed by counsel for Nicholas Sizemore most likely saved him from the death penalty. (it did, following several appeals by the State lead counsel for Sizemore, Thomas Gorman successfully blocked the State of Arizona from seeking a death sentence.)
Rios Rico
Read full text of a newspaper article relating to the Rios Rico case handled by lawyer Gorman.
