After I was arrested in 2013 for Felony aggravated battery on a police officer, and trespassing I did many hours of research to find an attorney that could fight to prove I was innocent. One lawyer that stood out among all others was Curtis Boyd. There was article after article about him giving to the community, students, and even coaching a little league team. I decided to make an appointment at his office and discuss my situation. I found he was extremely compassionate about my issues and understood that he needed to get these charges dropped. He made a great first impression, so I decided to retain him, and it was the best choice I could have ever made; even what I consider a lifesaving decision.
He gathered all information he needed from me, sent a plea of not guilty, went to work taking depositions, etc. Slowly over several weeks he built my defense from the ground up, examined witnesses, talking to the “victim”, and even doing a little behind the scenes investigative work on his own.
He checked up on me often to see how I was doing, and to reassure me I was going to be okay.
Wrench in the gears: I got arrested again. I was arrested for “Failure to obey”. What did I disobey? Manatee zones sign in the intercostal waterway of Fort Pierce. I was taken to jail, booked, and I bailed myself out. So here I am again: never been in any trouble in my life, good job, college education, wife and kids, living the American dream. Somehow I managed to get arrested twice in a one year period.
I called Curtis up and let him know as soon as possible. He was very concerned about his due to my prior arrest. He explained that you cannot be out on bond for two separate issues. If you get arrested while on bail your first bond will be revoked. That means you get to sit in jail until your case is over.
But, that wasn’t going to happen if Curtis had anything to do with it. He somehow got me into the courtroom with a motion to reinstate bond the next day. He went up to bat for me, and knocked it out of the ballpark. The judge reinstated my bond for the first offense, and I was free to go.
Apparently the State Attorney who was taking that case was not happy about the fact I disobeyed the sign and the cop enforcing it. A month after the original arrest date/charge she decided to slap on another charge: Resisting arrest. Yep, so that makes my total charges climb from 3 to 4! Curtis somehow heard her mumble something under her breath when in the courtroom, so he had a gut feeling she was going to do something. He caught the charge the moment it happened. This just throws an even larger wrench into the picture. When you have another charge filed against you, guest what – they issue an arrest warrant. I was going to get arrested – again. That means I would have to bond out – again. That means I would have to ask the judge to reinstate my bond – again. THANK GOD you have someone looking out for you like Curtis. I can’t even remember what he did, but he had the judge’s assistant on the phone the same day. He made up paperwork, filed a motion, sent documents to the Sheriff’s office, and god knows what else. He made every effort possible to stop the process of issuing a warrant for my arrest. And he succeeded. Again. I will continue to be a free man.
Curtis worked another couple weeks on my first case, and let the court know we were ready for trial. It took another couple months after that since there were older cases than ours ahead of us.
Then, the day finally came. I walked into the courtroom thinking it would be continued again, and they told us we were picking a Jury that day. I did not expect it to come so suddenly. I think I lost the feeling in my hands while waiting for the prospective jurors to fill the courtroom. All while Curtis had this calm and collected look on his face almost like “I got this”. Well, the Jury filled the room, and we were given a seating chart with their names and a questionnaire with some basic information about them. Curtis went right to work marking the paper up. It happened so fast it was like a blur. He went down the line interviewing, asking questions, and taking notes.
The jury was dismissed, and he made his choices. He worked with the State Attorney fighting back and forth on who was going to be eliminated and who was staying. And that was it – our jury was picked.
And so came the most restless night of my life. It was almost like I was an impatient kid on Christmas Eve wondering what was tomorrow going to bring. What would be meted out upon me?
Trial Day:
The judge arrives, and the jury is brought in. We listen to some information from the judge about how all this is going to go down and Curtis makes his opening statement. It was all eloquent, humorous and very concise. He listens to the statements of the witnesses, and all while he’s marking up a notepad. He’s writing something down staring at the paper while the State prosecutor is questioning a witness and WHAM he throws his pen down, and yells “objection”. Sustained- The judge sided with Curtis. He looks at me with a grin on his face – I can tell he loves this stuff. That wasn’t it through; he got several other objections in before the trial was over. It felt good having someone so smart on your side that was ready to throw down and fight for you and your entire livelihood that was on the line. I watched as the prosecutor and Curtis went back and forth. They brought evidence, and he discredited it. We got let go for an hour to eat lunch. Curtis and I went back to his office and he started pulling out law books, reaching, and printing out paperwork. He told me he would try to get the Trespassing charge thrown out before it goes to the Jury. Well, he did. I felt like it was a great quick win for us, but we still had one more charge to beat: The Felony. He and the prosecutor went back and forth some more, and then I heard something that reminded me of the movies: “I rest my case”.
Closing arguments: This is where I saw what he was really made of. This is where I saw him win the case for me. He had a Power Point presentation, and he basically reiterated every major bullet point he brought forward. He gave his statement to the jury, and it was almost poetic. He had them smiling with his humor, but made his point very clear. They sat staring almost like they were in a state of suspended animation while ingesting his every argument. And that was it – he closed the laptop lid, thanked them, and sat down.
The Jury retired to another room to deliberate. I was shaking, my hands were cold, and I knew that there was only two ways this could go. Good, or terrible. It’s a 50/50 chance, and here I sit hoping for the best.
The Jury returned. They seated themselves, and the Judge’s assistant read off the verdict. I was sat staring straight forward looking at her, but I could tell some folks on the Jury staring straight at me. I didn’t want to look at them. I took a deep breath and exhaled as she read off the verdict.
Not guilty.
I felt the feeling come back in my fingers. I couldn’t focus on any one thought. I sat there while the judge was talking to the Jury. He thanked them and dismissed them. I reflected on everything I’ve been through for the last year all of this has been going on. I was thinking about how I appreciated all of the hard work Curtis did for me. I thought about my wife and my two kids at home. I get to go into work and tell them this case is over. I get to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family. The two major arrest charges are over.
A week later I got a call from Curtis. He asked me if I was ready to go back to court next Monday for the Failure to Obey & Resisting arrest violations. Reluctantly I told him, yes, let’s get it done and over with. Well, I never got the opportunity to make it to the next court date. Those charges were dropped. Curtis pulls through – again.
Curtis Boyd saved me from total destruction. He went to bat for me when it matters the most. He gave me many, many words of motivation through the whole process. He is a great Attorney, Coach, Orator, and most of all he is a great person.
My name is Ken Yates, and this is my personal experience with Curtis Boyd.