"Top Picks: The lawyers lawyers would hire if they got busted." Over a hundred top lawyers were surveyed and the top fifteen most frequently mentioned lawyers were profiled.

Charles M. Sevilla: In his 30 years as a criminal defense attorney, Charles M. Sevilla has argued cases at all appellate levels. Currently a name partner at Cleary & Sevilla of San Diego, in 1990 he argued a case for Roger Hedgecock, the former San Diego mayor who had been accused of campaign reporting violations. Initially convicted of 13 felonies, 12 of which were reversed by the state Supreme Court, only 1 charge resulted in a misdemeanor for his client. People v hedgecock, 51 C3d 395. Sevilla also helped set the current standard for the insanity defense, with his 1985 case of People v Skinner, 39 C3d 765. That case reversed the state's interpretation of the 1982 statute, former Penal Code section 25(b), or the "wild beast test," which held that a defendant could be found insane only if he or she met both requirements of a two-prong test: not understand the nature and quality or his or her act, as well as not knowing right from wrong. Skinner reestablished the test that had been in use from 1850 until 1978: A defendant may be found insane on either criteria.

"If it was a death penalty case, I would probably get Charles Sevilla," says Ephraim Margolin of San Francisco. "Though he does mainly appellate work, he could handle that type of case." Dennis P. Riordan of Riordan & Rosenthal in San Francisco agrees: "I'd go to Chuck Sevilla. He used to be the No. 2 at the state public defender's office. He's smart and experienced."

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