FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE IN THE APPELLATE COURTS

OUR REPEATED MEDIA COVERAGE INCLUDES NBC, COURT TV, FOX NEWS, BBC RADIO, USA TODAY, WASHINGTON POST & ASSOCIATED PRESS

DEDICATED TO WINNING ADVOCACY THROUGH VETERAN TRIAL EXPERIENCE,

COMPASSION AND CARING

Our recipe for winning advocacy is simple to know and takes a lifetime to apply: (1) Nothing beats experience. Our law partners, Jay and Jon, are trial veterans, having first-chaired a combined total of over 200 trials, defended the rights of over two thousand clients, and argued numerous appeals. (2) Compassion and caring for our clients are critical to winning advocacy. We are at our clients' full service, and fight relentlessly for them as if we were representing ourselves, regardless of how controversial the matter. (3) Nothing beats a devotion and zeal for justice. We love the work we do. To this day, each new victory for justice is as much of a rush as our first career victories.

JON KATZ, P.C., won an appellate victory for criminal defendants' rights on November 12, 2002, in the Maryland Court of Appeals, which is Maryland's highest court. 

In this victory, Maryland's highest court reinstated the dismissal of a prosecution alleging the display of full nudity at the Showcase Theater, an exotic cabaret in Beltsville, Maryland. The case is State of Maryland v. Taylor, et al. 

This prosecution started in 1999, when police in SWAT-team gear raided the Showcase Theater for allegedly violating Prince George's County's ban on full nudity in public. The defendants convinced the trial judge to throw the case out of court, successfully arguing that the Showcase is not a public place under the governing law, and that the Constitution protects nude dancing.

The prosecutor then filed an appeal with the Circuit Court, despite the defendants' complaints that an appeal was barred by their double jeopardy rights against being tried twice for the same criminal accusation. The Circuit Court disagreed, heard spirited arguments on appeal, and sent the case back to be set for trial.

The defendants then hired Jon Katz, P.C., which successfully obtained leave to appeal to the Maryland Court of Appeals, which is Maryland's highest court. The defendants, through Jon Katz, P.C. partner Jon Katz, argued that the defendants' double jeopardy rights prevented the prosecutor's original appeal and required the reinstatement of the original dismissal of the prosecution. Jon Katz also reiterated the defendants' arguments that led to the original dismissal of the prosecution.

The Maryland Court of Appeals heard arguments on the case in late August 2002, and showed tremendous interest in the defendants' claim that the initial case dismissal prevented any trial, even though no witnesses had yet been sworn in against the defendants. On November 12, 2002 -- over three years after the original raid on the Showcase -- a four to three majority of the Court of Appeals ruled in the defendants' favor, and ordered the reinstatement of the original dismissal of the prosecution. 

Jon Katz said: "This case is not only a vindication for the Showcase Theater, but it also tells prosecutors not to bring appeals that they have no right bringing in the first place."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS CASE, PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING LINKS

NOTE: The following links are in Adobe Acrobat tm format.  If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader tm  and would like to download Adobe Acrobat Reader tm for free, please click here.

- Maryland Court of Appeals Opinion.

- JON KATZ, P.C.'s news release.

- JON KATZ, P.C.'s successful petition for writ of certiorari.

- JON KATZ, P.C.'s reply to government's answer to petition for writ of certiorari

- JON KATZ, P.C.'s brief in the Maryland Court of Appeals. 

- JON KATZ, P.C.'s reply brief in the Maryland Court of Appeals.

News coverage of this appellate victory included stories in the Maryland Daily Record (November 13, 2002) and Adult Video News online  (November 15, 2002) (ADVISORY: The Adult Video News website includes explicit adult visual and written content). 

For samples of Jon Katz, P.C.'s wins for justice, click here. (Each case is different (e.g., with a different set of facts, law, and adjudicators), and this listing is by no means meant to indicate the results JON KATZ, P.C., will obtain for future clients. Our goal, of course, is for winning advocacy at every turn).