If you want to understand the attitude and professionalism Arelice brings to each case, a good example is the case of “Dominick.”  His was a situation in which he faced felony charges for alleged domestic violence.  After Dominick’s girlfriend became upset with him and a verbal argument ensued, she contacted the police falsely claiming that Dominick was violent with her.  When the police arrived, she showed them her wrist which had red swelling on it. 

Dominick explained to the police that his girlfriend began striking him when he attempted to avoid the argument and leave the room and that he simply grabbed her wrist to stop her from striking him in the face and causing real harm.  Dominick explained to the police he was a medical doctor and that his girlfriend had a history of being physically aggressive when she became angry.  Even though the police officers appeared sympathetic, they notified Dominick they would have to place him under arrest per “policy” because his girlfriend’s wrist appeared red and he admitted to grabbing her.    

Terrified that his decision to be truthful with the police resulted in his arrest, Dominick became even more alarmed when he was notified he was going to be prosecuted for felony domestic violence by the Clark County District Attorney’s Office.  All he could think at the time was that he was in a living nightmare.  A fellow physician urged Dominick to immediately contact Tony Abbatangelo and The Vegas Lawyers.  After contacting The Vegas Lawyers and retaining the firm to represent him, Dominick spent many hours with Tony and Arelice compiling information for his defense, this included emails, text messages and third-party witnesses that could corroborate his story. 

Arelice put all the information together and created a helpful timeline of events that Tony could show the assigned prosecutor that if they went to trial on the case, they’d lose.  As a former judge, Tony knew exactly how the government would try to prosecute this case and what it would take to talk the prosecutors out of doing so.  Ultimately, the prosecutors dropped all charges after realizing Dominick’s girlfriend was not fully truthful and was misusing the system.  When they reviewed what Tony and Arelice had created for Dominick, they understand they had a major problem on their hands in trying to prosecute Dominick.  All charges were dismissed. 

Reflecting back on Dominick’s case, Arelice notes: “the biggest thing is making clients comfortable and helping them realize we are not here to judge but instead to help them on the search for justice.”  For Dominick, the experience was gut wrenching.  As a physician and someone that grew up with two sisters, he was horrified at the prospect of being prosecuted for domestic violence, an act he found abhorrent and contrary to everything he stood for. 

He also came to appreciate how having a legal team that truly cares about its clients and is willing to do the hard work to uncover the truth can make a big difference, including having legal professionals like Arelice who bring compassion and understanding to the process.  Sometimes the criminal justice system can be unrelenting and uncaring.  It takes a good legal team to even “the playing field” and get justice.