Tito Rodriguez has more than 19 years of criminal defense experience. He graduated from Stanford Law School in 1993 and immediately joined the public defender's office in Seattle. Mr. Rodriguez handled thousands of misdemeanor and felony cases as a staff trial attorney at The Defender Association (TDA) before being selected to be a supervisor in the felony unit and later Deputy Director of the organization.

Mr. Rodriguez left the public defender in 2001 for private practice. In addition to representing private clients, Mr. Rodriguez currently serves as Monitor for the Grant County Public Defense System, a position created as part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit over the quality of representation provided by Grant County's public defenders.

The following are examples of victories Mr. Rodriguez achieved for past clients:

MURDER – Seattle criminal defense lawyer Tito Rodriguez won a not guilty verdict for a young woman falsely accused of premeditated murder in the shooting death of an acquaintance.  Through extensive trial preparation and creative use of exhibits, Mr. Rodriguez demonstrated to the jury that the defendant acted in self-defense.  The defense subsequently won a special verdict that required the State of Washington to pay costs for wrongful prosecution.

RAPE – Seattle criminal defense attorney Tito Rodriguez won a not guilty verdict for a man falsely accused of raping a young girl at a party.   Through exhaustive investigation and vigorous cross-examination, Mr. Rodriguez established his client's innocence and earned a complete acquittal.

RAPE – Seattle criminal defense lawyer Tito Rodriguez won a not guilty verdict for a teenager falsely accused of locking a friend in the bathroom at a post-prom party and forcing her to have sex with him.  Mr. Rodriguez' cross-examination of the alleged victim convinced the jury that no rape had occurred.

RAPE – Seattle criminal defense attorney Tito Rodriguez won a dismissal for a local engineer falsely accused of assaulting and raping his ex-girlfriend.  Through exhaustive investigation, Mr. Rodriguez demonstrated that the woman had lied repeatedly to authorities about the alleged rape, and he ultimately convinced the prosecutor to drop all charges.

INDECENT LIBERTIES – Seattle criminal defense lawyer Tito Rodriguez won a not guilty verdict for a nursing home employee falsely accused of molesting a patient.  Mr. Rodriguez succeeded in discrediting the State's lone eyewitness, a nurse who had falsely accused the client to cover up her own crimes.

ASSAULT – Seattle criminal defense lawyer Tito Rodriguez won a not guilty verdict for a businessman falsely accused of assaulting a 14 year-old boy.  Through skillful cross-examination, Mr. Rodriguez made it clear to the jury that the boy was lying.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ASSAULT – Seattle criminal defense attorney Tito Rodriguez won a not guilty verdict for a man falsely accused of assaulting his wife by grabbing her by the neck, pushing her to the floor, and kicking her.  Mr. Rodriguez established that this had actually been a verbal argument rather than an assault and that the wife had called police and lied in order to "win" the fight and teach her husband a lesson.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE NO CONTACT ORDER VIOLATION – Seattle criminal defense lawyer Tito Rodriguez won a hung jury and subsequent dismissal for a man falsely accused of sending letters to his ex-girlfriend in violation of a no contact order.  At trial, the judge excluded virtually all defense evidence, severely limited cross-examination of the alleged victim, and refused to allow the defense to argue the facts of the case in closing argument.  Despite being shut down at every turn by the judge, Mr. Rodriguez convinced several members of the jury that trial had not been fair, so they refused to convict the client.  Mr. Rodriguez later succeeding in getting the judge removed from the case, and the charge was dismissed.

BURGLARY – Seattle criminal defense attorney Tito Rodriguez won a hung jury for a man falsely accused of burglarizing the home of an acquaintance.  After the defense convinced a majority of the jury that the client was actually trying to stop the burglar rather than help him, the prosecutor agreed to reduce the felony burglary charge to misdemeanor trespassing, and the case was closed.

VUCSA POSSESSION OF COCAINE – Seattle criminal defense lawyer Tito Rodriguez won a dismissal for a man accused of drug possession after police caught him with cocaine in plain view.  Mr. Rodriguez convinced the judge to suppress all evidence of the cocaine due to police misconduct.

VUCSA POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA – Seattle criminal defense attorney Tito Rodriguez won a dismissal for a man accused of drug possession after police found marijuana in his pocket.  The judge granted the defense motion to dismiss in the middle of trial.

UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A FIREARM – Seattle criminal defense lawyer Tito Rodriguez won a not guilty verdict for a man falsely accused of illegally possessing a gun.  Police found a gun in a grocery bag at the man's feet during a traffic stop, and police insisted that the man had admitted it was his.  At trial, Mr. Rodriguez established that the gun actually belonged to someone else and that the police officer had misunderstood the defendant in thinking he had admitted otherwise. 

THEFT - Seattle criminal defense attorney Tito Rodriguez won a not guilty verdict for a young woman falsely accused of theft after she cashed a fraudulent check for thousands of dollars.  Mr. Rodriguez persuaded the jury that the defendant was a naïve but well-intentioned young girl who had been duped by a friend and had no idea the check was a fake.

No criminal defense lawyer can guarantee a favorable outcome in your particular case. In reviewing these examples, it is important to remember that each case is different and that Mr. Rodriguez' success in past cases may not translate into success in your case.