Michael Scott (Mike) Petty has been practicing law in Raleigh for 25 years. I have been fortunate enough to work on some of the largest and most complex cases in both criminal and civil areas of practice. I won my first civil jury trial as well as my first criminal jury trial. My first civil trial involved a group of young men that had dressed in white sheets and terrorized an African American truck driver causing him to wrecking his truck.The jury returned a verdict in our favor and over $35,000 was awarded in damages.
I subsequently began a series of lawsuits against the Brentwood Towing Company of Raleigh, which was notorious for preying on young people/college students by towing their cars from spaces not clearly marked. Brentwood then charged exorbitant fees to return them. I obtained several judgments against this company which subsequently caused them to file bankruptcy and cease their business.
In a joint civil and criminal action brought against a business owner by the federal government, we were able to negotiate over 2.5 million dollars worth of released property back to the business owner.
In a recent Superior Court Criminal Jury Trial, I defended a bus driver who was accused of trafficking almost 50 kilograms of cocaine which had been hidden in the bus tires. After a two week trial, I was able to convince the jury, and rightfully so, that this man had no knowledge of the cocaine and he was found not guilty.
Another interesting case involved a self insured hospital that I alleged wrongfully discharged a female employee to keep from having to pay for a heart operation for her spouse who was covered by their plan. The spouse had a heart attack and died. I was able to settle with the hospital for approximately one half million dollars for wrongfully discharging the employee.
In a recent conviction case I successfully had a first degree murder conviction overturned for a man who had received a life sentence. I presented ineffective assistance of trial counsel and self-defense evidence claims.
Please click on my Areas of Practice to see more details of case results.