About

I am Boise, Idaho criminal defense and DUI attorney Chuck Peterson, and for nearly thirty years I have been a practicing trial lawyer. I focus on providing the best defense possible to my clients facing criminal charges, and trying the best possible case for my clients in civil actions. In every case I try to bring a sense of reason to the situation, and search for the real story. Every case is a story. I try to answer the tough questions: What really happened? And why? Those are the same questions that jury will ask. I have tried well over three hundred civil and criminal cases, and represented people in virtually every level of legal proceeding - from simple misdemeanors to complex felony cases, in state and federal courts throughout the United States. My felony experience includes drug charges, sex offenses, aggravated assault and battery, murder, manslaughter, fraud, robbery, theft, and racketeering.

I started my lawyer life in the Army, as a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps, assigned to the 4th Infantry Division. I learned early the value of getting the facts right. My cases included murder, espionage and the usual type of criminal charges brought against soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.

In Boise, Idaho - where I hang my shingle - I teamed up with Gerry Spence to successfully defend Randy Weaver against charges that he murdered a U.S. Marshall. After Randy was acquitted, we won $3.1 million for Randy's children, who had lost their mother and brother at Ruby Ridge. I was lucky enough to join David Nevin, Scott McKay and Dean Arnold in their defense of Sami Omar Al-Hussayen. Sami was charged with providing material support to terrorists in one of the first such cases brought by the United States after the attack on the Twin Towers. Sami was not a terrorist and the jurors set him free. And more recently I joined with attorney Charles Craft in defense of a 14-year-old kid who was charged with murdering his father, who he claimed had been sexually abusing him for more than a year. Zachary Neagle ultimately pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is undergoing treatment in Idaho Juvenile Corrections. Keeping Zach out of adult prison may have been my most important challenge.

This blog is not just about criminal defense. I also write about civil cases - wrongful death, personal injury, and civil rights. I have tried civil cases involving racketeering and fraud, and argued to protect our first amendment rights to speak and worship freely, or not at all. And it is about lawyering - the business of standing up as a lawyer and being an advocate for your client - no matter how unpopular the client or cause may be.

I have also been lucky enough to practice in association with Gerry Spence's law firm in Jackson, Wyoming. Those lawyers are some of the most committed and brilliant minds in the country, so when I get the chance to spend time and work cases with them, I go to Jackson. Like each of them, I am a graduate of the Trial Lawyers College. If you are a lawyer and have not gone to the College - you should.

Here is some of the other stuff about me that you may want to know:

Practice Areas

  • Defense of criminal cases, including racketeering, fraud, murder, drug crimes, sex offenses and other serious felony cases
  • Defense of driving under the influence cases (DUI)
  • Plaintiff’s injury, wrongful death and civil rights cases
  • Plaintiff’s defamation and insurance bad faith

Professional Associations

  • Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Education

  • Gonzaga University School of Law; JD (magna cum laude); 1981
  • Gonzaga University; BA (Psychology – magna cum laude); 1978

Bar Admissions

  • Idaho State Bar
  • Washington State Bar (inactive)

My work in defense of Randy Weaver in the Ruby Ridge case is discussed in “Every Knee Shall Bow,” by Jess Walter (Regan Books/Harper Collins 1995), and in “Ambush at Ruby Ridge,” by Alan W. Bock (Dickens Press 1995). I received the Clarence Darrow Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho for my work on the defense of Sami Al-Hussayen.  I am listed in The Best Lawyers In America, 2008 - 2011 Editions, and finally, I  have received an “AV” rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the country's preeminent lawyer rating service.

And now I am joined in my practice by Attorney Courtney Peterson, my daughter. Courtney adds experience from the dark side - she was a prosecutor in a former life.  Glad to have her aboard. In addition to Courtney's experience in criminal defense, she has focussed her practice toward children and will be accepting child custody cases and juvenile matters. Flattering picture to follow soon.