News & Press
California Supreme Court Vacates Conviction in People v. Espinoza
On January 26, 2023, the California Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion holding that Juventino Espinoza demonstrated under Penal Code section 1473.7 that his conviction was legally invalid due to a prejudicial error damaging his ability to meaningfully understand, defend against...
Article by Robert Sanger Published in the American Journal of Trial Advocacy
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An article by Robert M. Sanger, senior partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, and Jayne J. Batts, MD, entitled “Collecting Forensic Evidence in the Emergency Department: A Guide for Lawyers, Investigators, and Experts” was published in Issue 42:2 of the American Journal of Trial Advocacy
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Robert Sanger Promoted to Fellow at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Annual Meeting
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Robert Sanger, senior partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, was promoted to Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) at the 71st AAFS Annual Scientific Meeting held in Baltimore in February of 2019. AAFS is a multidisciplinary professional organization that provides...
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Robert Sanger Receives Special Recognition Award from Santa Barbra County Bar Association
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Robert M. Sanger, Senior Partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, received a special recognition award from the Santa Barbara County Bar Association on November 30, 2018. The award was based on his monthly criminal justice columns published in the Santa Barbara Lawyer magazine over the last 13...
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Catherine Swysen Receives Congressional Certificate
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Catherine Swysen, Managing Partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, received a Congressional Certificate from Congressman Salud Carbajal on October 19, 2018. The certificate was presented at the Santa Barbara Women's Political Commitee 30th Anniversary Dinner and was based on her 30 years of...
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California Supreme Court Vacates Death Sentence in In Re Robert Lewis, Jr.
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On May 24, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion granting the petition for writ of habeas corpus filed by Robert Sanger, senior partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, on behalf of Robert Lewis, Jr. The court ordered the death judgment against Mr. Lewis vacated. In...
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Catherine Swysen Joins The Santa Barbara & Ventura Colleges of Law Board of Trustees
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Catherine J. Swysen, managing partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, was named to the 13-member Board of Trustees of The Santa Barbara & Ventura Colleges of Law. Ms. Swysen is a 1994 graduate of the law school.
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Robert Sanger's Article Cited in Atlanta Black Star
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The Atlanta Black Star published an article on February 8, 2018 entitled "How Prosecutors are Making Intellectually-Disabled African-Americans on Death Row Smart Enough to Kill" which cites Robert Sanger's 2015 article published in the American University Law Review entitled "IQ, Intelligence...
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Robert Sanger's Article on "Ethnic Adjustment" of IQ Scores Cited by Pacific Standard Magazine
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Pacific Standard Magazine published an article on January 25, 2018 entitled “How IQ Tests Are Perverted to Justify the Death Penalty” which cites Robert Sanger’s 2015 article published in the American University Law Review entitled “IQ, Intelligence Tests, 'Ethnic Adjustments' and Atkins.” The...
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Article By Robert Sanger To Be Published In The Southern Illinois University Law Journal
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An article by Robert Sanger, Senior Partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, entitled "Gettier in a Court of Law" will be published in the Spring 2018 edition of teh Southern Illinois University Law Journal.
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Abstract:
The “Gettier Problem” has perplexed...
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Criminal Law Bulletin Publishes Death Penalty Article By Robert Sanger
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An article by Robert Sanger, Senior Partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, entitled “Duties of Capital Trial Counsel Under the California 'Death Penalty Reform and Savings Act of 2016'” was published in Volume 53, Number 3 of Criminal Law Bulletin. The article discusses the obligations of trial...
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Forensic Magazine Publishes Article by Robert Sanger
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Forensic Magazine published an article, authored by Robert Sanger, entitled "The Forensic Community Can Educate Lawyers, Judges."
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Robert Sanger Presents at NACDL's Forensic Science & the Law Conference
Robert M. Sanger, senior partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, spoke on May 5th at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) 10th Annual Forensic Science & the Law Conference, "Making Sense of Science." Mr. Sanger presented on the topic of "Confronting and Utilizing the...
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Robert Sanger Presents at 2017 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium
Robert M. Sanger, senior partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, spoke on March 31st at the 2017 Jacobus tenBroek...
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Stephen K. Dunkle Receives Skip Glenn Award from California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
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Stephen K. Dunkle, partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, was presented with the Skip Glenn Award at the 2016 California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ) Annual Seminar on December 10, 2016 in San Francisco. The purpose of the award is to recognize the extraordinary achievements of a young...
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The Honorable Frank J. Ochoa (Ret.) Named as Of Counsel to Sanger Swysen & Dunkle
The law firm of Sanger Swysen and Dunkle is pleased to announce the association of The Honorable Frank J. Ochoa (Ret.) with the firm. Ochoa retired after 32 years on the Santa Barbara trial court bench in 2015. He has an active arbitration and mediation practice, and will be taking selective...
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Robert Sanger Gives Keynote Speech at Santa Barbara College of Law
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On May 1, 2016, Robert Sanger, senior partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, gave the keynote speech at the commencement for the Class of 2016 from the Santa Barbara College of Law. Mr. Sanger serves as an adjunct professor for Santa Barbara COL where he teaches Jurisprudence, Restorative...
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Robert Sanger Interviews John Paul Stevens, United States Supreme Court Justice
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Robert Sanger, Senior Partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle and Past President of California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, sat down with ...
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Proposition 47 Reduces Felonies to Misdemeanors
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Proposition 47, passed by California voters on November 4, 2014, provides that drug possession crimes and a number of forgery, theft, grand theft offenses, in which the value of the property is less than $950, can now be charged only as misdemeanors rather than felonies, unless the defendant...
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Robert Sanger Invited to Present at 2015 AAFS Annual Scientific Meeting
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A paper authored by Robert Sanger, senior partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, entitled Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient Test Scores and the Impropriety of “Ethnic (or Socio-Economic) Adjustment” in Atkins Cases has been accepted for presentation at the 67th Annual Scientific Meeting...
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Santa Barbara Gang Injunction Denied
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Sanger Swysen & Dunkle partner Stephen K. Dunkle was one of the leaders of a team of attorneys who defeated an effort by the City Attorney and District Attorney of Santa Barbara to obtain a civil gang injunction.
In March of 2011, the People of the State of California filed a...
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Stephen Dunkle Certified as Appellate Law Specialist
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Stephen Dunkle, partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, was certified as an Appellate Law Specialist by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. In order to be certified as a specialist, an attorney must pass a written examination, demonstrate a high level of experience in a...
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Robert Sanger Accepted Into American Academy of Forensic Sciences
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Robert Sanger, senior partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, was nominated to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences based on his writing and work on legal/scientific topics,...
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Catherine Swysen Elected to The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
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Catherine J. Swysen, managing partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, was elected to The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation on January 29, 2014. The Fellows of...
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Catherine Swysen Recognized For Volunteer Work
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Catherine J. Swysen, partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, was the subject of an article on Noozhawk, an online news publication, highlighting nominations for Santa Barbara’s Man and Woman of the Year awards. Ms. Swysen was recognized for her volunteer work in Africa with Chad Relief...
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Sanger Swysen & Dunkle Hires New Associates
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The law firm of Sanger Swysen & Dunkle is proud to announce two new additions to our team of criminal defense and civil litigation attorneys.
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Associate attorney Julie A. Lawrence graduated with honors from Santa Barbara College of Law in 2012. She was...
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Robert Sanger Sworn In As President of California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
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Robert M. Sanger, partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, was sworn in as the president of California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ) on December 14, 2012 at the Annual Fall Criminal Defense Seminar in San Francisco. CACJ is the country's largest statewide organization of criminal defense...
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Sanger Swysen & Dunkle Represents Gang Injunction Defendants Pro Bono
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In March of 2011, the City of Santa Barbara and County of Santa Barbara filed a complaint in Santa Barbara County Superior Court seeking an injunction restricting the activities of thirty named defendants within certain zones of the city. Stephen K. Dunkle, partner at Sanger Swysen &...
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Magistrate Dismisses Charges Against "Vandenberg 15"
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Catherine Swysen, partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, prevailed in obtaining a dismissal for her client, Daniel Ellsberg, as part of a team of attorneys representing protesters accused in federal court of trespassing at Vandenberg Air Force Base to protest the February 25th...
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The Michael Jackson Trials
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Robert Sanger, partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, was co-counsel in the criminal trial of the late Michael Jackson in the Spring of 2005. Stephen Dunkle, partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, was responsible for the law and motion and appellate work during the case. Mr. Sanger and his...
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Robert Sanger Given the Special Achievement Award for Work on the Death Penalty
Death Penalty Focus awarded Robert Sanger the Special Achievement Award for his work against the Death Penalty. The award was presented at the DPF Annual Dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. In attendance were Mike Farrell, actor and human rights advocate, Harry Belafonte, Former...
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Catherine Swysen Defends McGregor Eddy in Vandenberg Peace Protest Arrest
Sanger Swysen & Dunkle partner, Catherine Swysen, defended human rights advocate McGregor Eddy in the United States Magistrate's court in Santa Barbara. Ms. Eddy acknowledged that she had violated the law by crossing the "green line" at Vandenberg Air Force Base. She said she...
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Catherine Swysen Receives Santa Barbara County Bar Humanitarian Award
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Catherine Swysen was presented with the 2009, Richard Abbe Humanitarian Award for her outstanding efforts in the African country of Chad. Ms. Swysen is a member of the Board of the Chad Relief Foundation (CRF) and has made numerous trips to the country to further relief efforts for refugees...
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Grand Jury Rights: A Significant Victory in the Court of Appeal
The Third District Court of Appeal handed down an opinion which represented a significant victory for one of the firm's clients and for all people accused by secret Grand Jury proceedings.
On August 15, 2000, six years of fighting on behalf of their client paid...
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