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Lawlor & Englert, LLC

We have represented hundreds of clients in a variety of criminal matters, including trial, appeals, state post-conviction, federal habeas corpus, and death penalty litigation. Because our practice consists of criminal defense cases exclusively, we keep abreast of important developments in criminal law. Our firm represents clients in felony trials, including murder, drug offenses, theft, robbery, and assault, in both state and federal court. We have appealed cases to the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The firm has also been appointed to handle several complex federal habeas corpus proceedings.

Mr. Lawlor and Ms. Englert believe in teamwork and a client centered approach to the practice of law. We understand the high personal stakes involved for our clients and their families. Thus, your case will be reviewed by a qualified attorney. Most post-conviction and habeas cases are reviewed by two attorneys, ensuring that all issues are given in-depth consideration.

Additionally, we believe that client communication is an important part of our representation and therefore make every effort to keep our clients apprised of the progress of their cases throughout our representation.

Recent News

The past year, 2009, was busy and productive for Lawlor & Englert, LLC.  The year featured several notable victories for our clients and the addition of a new attorney, Gwendolyn Waters.  Ms. Waters had been with us as a law clerk while she attended law school.  During that time, she has lent us her  invaluable assistance in all aspects of our firm’s practice.   Ms. Waters graduated this year from Catholic University, where she was a member of the school’s law review.  She  passed the bar this summer and was sworn in as a member of the Maryland Bar in December.
State Post-Conviction Cases
Michael Lawlor and Sicilia Englert obtained a new trial for David Head.   Mr. Head’s conviction for murder and sentence of life was reversed on a petition for post-conviction relief in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Maryland.  After a hearing , the Post-Conviction Court held that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that the delay in presenting Mr. Head to a district court commissioner should have been accorded very heavy weight in determining the voluntariness of his statements to police.  Mr. Head, sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in 1998, will have a new trial this year.
Michael Lawlor and Gwendolyn Waters, along with Gary Proctor, obtained Marvin Williamson’s release from prison on November 19, 2009.  Mr. Williamson was convicted of murder in Baltimore City in the late 1960’s and was serving a life sentence.  We worked on Mr. Williamson’s case for several years, including a successful appeal to the Court of Appeals of Maryland, before finally securing relief for Mr. Williamson. Mr. Williamson is now home with his family and doing well.
Federal Habeas
In light of the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Flores-Figueroa, we filed a § 2255 Motion on behalf of a client given a 54 month sentence for making and using false government identification and aggravated ID theft.  Following the filing of our § 2255 Motion, our client’s aggravated ID theft conviction was vacated by the federal district court and his sentence was reduced to 30 months.
State Trials
Michael Lawlor and Andrew Szekely represented a client charged with Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder who was facing the possibility of a life sentence.  Mr. Lawlor and Mr. Szekely negotiated a plea agreement allowing the client to plead guilty to handgun possession which resulted in a three-year sentence.  In another murder case in Prince George’s County, Michael Lawlor and Sicilia Englert obtained an outright dismissal of all charges.
Both Sicilia Englert and Andrew Szekely maintain active District Court practices in both criminal and traffic matters.  Ms. Englert recently obtained a probation before judgment for a client charged with Driving Under the Influence and a stet for a disorderly conduct case.  Mr. Szekely’s recent victories in District Court include probations before judgment in various serious traffic cases.
Appeals
Sicilia Englert had a notable victory in The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  On appeal, the Circuit Court vacated Collin Hawkins’s convictions for carjacking and use of a firearm in a crime of violence.  Mr. Hawkins was sentenced to 30 years for the carjacking related convictions and for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  The Fourth Circuit held that the carjacking charges were improperly joined with his felon in possession charge.  Sicilia Englert wrote the brief for Mr. Hawkins and argued the case in Richmond.  A new trial will be held this year.
In the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Sicilia Englert obtained a reversal of Shannon Marshall’s conviction for assault on a police officer and sentence of four years’ incarceration.  The Court of Appeals  held that the trial court erred when it instructed the jury that it could consider Mr. Marshall’s flight as a basis for finding him guilty of assault on a police officer.  In another case, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated a conviction for aggravated assault while armed, resulting in a one-year reduction in the client’s sentence.  Sicilia Englert wrote both briefs and argued both cases.
Federal Sentencing
Michael Lawlor and Andrew Szekely obtained sentencing variances in a number of cases.  One client, charged with mortgage fraud, received a variance of fifteen percent below the guideline range.  Another client, charged with money laundering,  received a variance more than thirty-three percent below his guideline range.
In another notable federal victory, Michael Lawlor and Andrew Szekely were appointed to represent a client at sentencing.  Upon reviewing the record and fully investigating the client’s prior convictions, they uncovered evidence that one of his prior convictions was invalid for purposes of sentence enhancement.  The client, originally facing a sentence of thirty-five years, received a final sentence of seventeen-and-a-half years – a fifty percent reduction in his sentence.
Michael Lawlor and Andrew Szekely also assisted several clients in obtaining substantial sentence reductions based on the changes in the crack cocaine sentencing guidelines.
Some Past Successes
In 2008, Mike Lawlor and Sicilia Englert were able to secure the release of an inmate who was serving a life sentence after uncovering evidence that the State had withheld Brady evidence.  That inmate, Louis Batty, served 13 years of a life sentence and is now home with his family.
The firm has also enjoyed success in litigating Petitions for Writ of Coram Nobis.  In one case in which an individual was charged with being a felon in  possession of a handgun, we were able to have his underlying 13 year old conviction vacated in Prince George’s County.  In a second case, the firm was appointed to represent an individual in federal court for the purpose of sentencing.  We successfully attacked the individual’s two prior state court convictions, reducing the sentencing range from 70 months to 24 months.
Ms. Englert had a string of successful motions hearings to suppress evidence in Prince George’s County.  She prevailed in four consecutive motions hearings, leading to the dismissal of charges in each of the four cases.

The past year, 2009, was busy and productive for Lawlor & Englert, LLC.  The year featured several notable victories for our clients and the addition of a new attorney, Gwendolyn Waters.  Ms. Waters had been with us as a law clerk while she attended law school.  During that time, she has lent us her  invaluable assistance in all aspects of our firm’s practice.   Ms. Waters graduated this year from Catholic University, where she was a member of the school’s law review.  She  passed the bar this summer and was sworn in as a member of the Maryland Bar in December.

State Post-Conviction Cases

Michael Lawlor and Sicilia Englert obtained a new trial for David Head.   Mr. Head’s conviction for murder and sentence of life was reversed on a petition for post-conviction relief in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Maryland.  After a hearing , the Post-Conviction Court held that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that the delay in presenting Mr. Head to a district court commissioner should have been accorded very heavy weight in determining the voluntariness of his statements to police.  Mr. Head, sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in 1998, will have a new trial this year.

Michael Lawlor and Gwendolyn Waters, along with Gary Proctor, obtained Marvin Williamson’s release from prison on November 19, 2009.  Mr. Williamson was convicted of murder in Baltimore City in the late 1960’s and was serving a life sentence.  We worked on Mr. Williamson’s case for several years, including a successful appeal to the Court of Appeals of Maryland, before finally securing relief for Mr. Williamson. Mr. Williamson is now home with his family and doing well.

Federal Habeas

In light of the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Flores-Figueroa, we filed a § 2255 Motion on behalf of a client given a 54 month sentence for making and using false government identification and aggravated ID theft.  Following the filing of our § 2255 Motion, our client’s aggravated ID theft conviction was vacated by the federal district court and his sentence was reduced to 30 months.

State Trials

Michael Lawlor and Andrew Szekely represented a client charged with Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder who was facing the possibility of a life sentence.  Mr. Lawlor and Mr. Szekely negotiated a plea agreement allowing the client to plead guilty to handgun possession which resulted in a three-year sentence.  In another murder case in Prince George’s County, Michael Lawlor and Sicilia Englert obtained an outright dismissal of all charges.

Both Sicilia Englert and Andrew Szekely maintain active District Court practices in both criminal and traffic matters.  Ms. Englert recently obtained a probation before judgment for a client charged with Driving Under the Influence and a stet for a disorderly conduct case.  Mr. Szekely’s recent victories in District Court include probations before judgment in various serious traffic cases.

Appeals

Sicilia Englert had a notable victory in The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  On appeal, the Circuit Court vacated Collin Hawkins’s convictions for carjacking and use of a firearm in a crime of violence.  Mr. Hawkins was sentenced to 30 years for the carjacking related convictions and for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  The Fourth Circuit held that the carjacking charges were improperly joined with his felon in possession charge.  Sicilia Englert wrote the brief for Mr. Hawkins and argued the case in Richmond.  A new trial will be held this year.

In the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Sicilia Englert obtained a reversal of Shannon Marshall’s conviction for assault on a police officer and sentence of four years’ incarceration.  The Court of Appeals  held that the trial court erred when it instructed the jury that it could consider Mr. Marshall’s flight as a basis for finding him guilty of assault on a police officer.  In another case, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated a conviction for aggravated assault while armed, resulting in a one-year reduction in the client’s sentence.  Sicilia Englert wrote both briefs and argued both cases.

Federal Sentencing

Michael Lawlor and Andrew Szekely obtained sentencing variances in a number of cases.  One client, charged with mortgage fraud, received a variance of fifteen percent below the guideline range.  Another client, charged with money laundering,  received a variance more than thirty-three percent below his guideline range.

In another notable federal victory, Michael Lawlor and Andrew Szekely were appointed to represent a client at sentencing.  Upon reviewing the record and fully investigating the client’s prior convictions, they uncovered evidence that one of his prior convictions was invalid for purposes of sentence enhancement.  The client, originally facing a sentence of thirty-five years, received a final sentence of seventeen-and-a-half years – a fifty percent reduction in his sentence.

Michael Lawlor and Andrew Szekely also assisted several clients in obtaining substantial sentence reductions based on the changes in the crack cocaine sentencing guidelines.

Some Past Successes

In 2008, Mike Lawlor and Sicilia Englert were able to secure the release of an inmate who was serving a life sentence after uncovering evidence that the State had withheld Brady evidence.  That inmate, Louis Batty, served 13 years of a life sentence and is now home with his family.

The firm has also enjoyed success in litigating Petitions for Writ of Coram Nobis.  In one case in which an individual was charged with being a felon in  possession of a handgun, we were able to have his underlying 13 year old conviction vacated in Prince George’s County.  In a second case, the firm was appointed to represent an individual in federal court for the purpose of sentencing.  We successfully attacked the individual’s two prior state court convictions, reducing the sentencing range from 70 months to 24 months.

Ms. Englert had a string of successful motions hearings to suppress evidence in Prince George’s County.  She prevailed in four consecutive motions hearings, leading to the dismissal of charges in each of the four cases.

Lawlor & Englert, LLC
6305 Ivy Lane
Suite 608
Greenbelt, MD 20770

Tel. 301.474.3404
Fax 301.474.3406

The information on this web site is provided for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Reading information from this web site does not create an attorney-client relationship.
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©2007   Lawlor & Englert, LLC