David Christopher Mason

Criminal Defense Attorney | Serving Bellevue, WA

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Criminal Defense

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David Christopher Mason

Criminal Defense Attorney | Serving Bellevue, WA

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Criminal Defense

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Biography

25 years in Criminal Law, Legal Scholarship, Supervising Prosecutor in Seattle, Legal Instructor at the University of Washington, Expert Witness on American and Washington Law in a Canadian Murder Trial.

I grew up in the Los Angeles Basin, went to UCLA as an undergraduate on academic scholarship, majored in english literature, and graduated with academic honors. I attended The Southwestern School of Law on academic scholarship and attended the "SCALE" Program, an accelerated method which completes law school in less than two years in lieu of the standard three.

I moved to Seattle in 1991 and worked as an intern at the Seattle City Prosecutor's Office and was hired as a prosecutor that year. I rose into management and helped develop the "High Impact Offender Program," a specialized unit that focused on high profile and high volume individuals in the criminal justice system. Over my eight years at the prosecutor's office, I was able to research, investigate, and prosecute a wide variety of criminal activity. I also trained prosecutors, paralegals, and law enfocement officers in investigation and evidence gathering, trial practice, the rules of evidence, and other disciplines related to criminal litigation. Throughout the HIOP Program, I gave presentations to City Council, other elected officials, and worked with groups of judges. I also sat on city roundtables to discuss economic and program impact. Throughout, I was also able to get a unique inside look into the political and economic workings that, more than evidence and law, can drive a prosecutor's office to make case decisions.

I have now had my own private law practice for over a decade and focus exclusively on criminal defense. I have taught criminal Procedure and the Rules of Evidence at the University of Washington Graduate School of Nursing. I enjoy the academic challenge of law and continue to find that good criminal defense work takes many of the same elements that came from the prosecutors office without all the political wardrobe - good investigation, good skepticism, an excellent command of the evidence and legal rules, finding and prosecuting the true wrongdoer, and a good amount of imagination.

I have also come to know that the most important element in any client relationship is, once again, the same thing that drives my success with any prosecutor or judge - trust and respect.