I was interviewed on T.V. for the show
Snapped: She Made Me Do It on the Oxygen channel last month. The show that I was on was episode 4
of season 2. The case pertained to Tansy Mathis, who was alleged to have
assisted in a murder for hire scheme in which Lacey Hirst-Pavek killed
her husband's mistress. I was hired to defend Tansy Mathis in 2009
and the case went to trial in 2010.
As a defense lawyer, you always hope the news coverage of your cases will address some of your perspective on this case. However, that is usually not the case. The evidence against Tansy Mathis came down largely to circumstantial evidence (she was present when the murder occurred) and also based on the testimony of co-defendant Brent Phillips who took a deal and turned state's evidence. The film crew came up from Los Angeles for the interview last winter. I was interviewed for about two hours. The case against Tansy Mathis is currently on appeal at the Washington Supreme Court, and my firm is helping her with a personal restraint petition. The case was in the news when the trial was pending because Tansy Mathis and I filed a lawsuit in 2009 against Okanogan County to prohibit the jail staff from shackling her when she was in the hospital giving birth to her baby. The practice of shackling pregnant inmates was outlawed by the state legislature a year later.