Team
JUSTICE MEDIA ASSOCIATES PROFILE
Justice Media Associates evolved as an outgrowth of John Brown and Associates, a Los Angeles based criminal defense investigation and sentencing mitigation firm, and works in partnership with John Brown and Associates.
JOHN BROWN
John Brown plays a key role as the founder and leader of John Brown and Associates, and as a co-founder and co-director of Justice Media Associates. He has worked in the field of investigations and sentencing advocacy since 1983, participating in the preparation of more than 2000 sentencing and pre-plea reports in the Federal, Superior, Municipal, and Juvenile Courts. He has been a member of the Restitution Community Advisory Board for the State of California Department of Corrections and has served as a board member for the Center for Recovery from Compulsivities, a community-based drug and alcohol treatment program in Whittier, California. He is a licensed private investigator (State of Calif. Lic. No. PI 12000) since 1986, and is fluent in Spanish.
MICHAEL SELLERS
Michael Sellers is a co-founder and manager of Justice Media Associates. He is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer with twenty years of experience overseeing complex investigations, both in the governmental and private sectors. He is also attended New York University Graduate Film Program and is an award-winning film writer and director whose extensive professional filmmaking credits may be reviewed at the Internet Movie Database. Bringing his filmmaking and multimedia skills to the investigative and advocacy process, in 2018 he authored 11 major video and multimedia presentations on behalf of criminal defendants.
JOHN BROWN AND ASSOCIATES PROFILE
John Brown, whose details are summarized above, leads John Brown & Associates, a consulting and investigations group. We assist attorneys in the bail request, pre-plea and sentencing phases of criminal cases, and we conduct investigation for trials and habeas matters, both capital and non-capital. The practice in its current form was started in 1988 in partnership with Stephen L. Wishny, a retired Federal Probation Officer. Our investigators and consultants have a diverse range of experience.
Sandy Gonzalez holds a BA in Criminology, Law, and Society from the University of California at Irvine and a JD from Western State College of Law. She is fluent in Spanish and has developed mitigation reports and alternative sentencing proposals in both the State and Federal Courts.
Patrick Moore has a Master=s Degree from San Francisco State University, and has taught at the community college level. He specializes in Federal guideline sentencing analysis and complex white-collar cases, as well as Bureau of Prisons designation issues.
George Mendoza is retired from a 32-year law enforcement career in which he worked his way up from patrol to coordinating multi-agency transnational investigations. He has worked as a private investigator both in Texas and California and has experience assisting defense counsel in capital cases in both the guilt/innocence and penalty phases.
Dennis Claxton is a former investigative journalist who joined us in 2002. He holds Private Investigator=s Lic. No. PI 25867 in California and has been a defense investigator for the penalty mitigation phase in capital cases. Previously, he worked as a paralegal in immigration law for eight years. He is fluent in Spanish.
Samuel Brown has worked with us since 2012, preparing sentencing reports in federal and state cases, developing mitigation for the penalty phase of capital prosecutions, and conducting investigations. He is a graduate of San Francisco State and is fluent in Spanish.
Clara Solis has been associated with us since 1992, specializing in investigation and records verification. She is bilingual (Spanish). Ms. Solis was employed as a court clerk with the Los Angeles County Superior and Municipal Courts for eight years. She has served as the First Supervisorial District’s representative to the Los Angeles County Commission on Judicial Procedures.
John Brown & Associates is a member of the National Association of Sentencing Advocates and associate member of the Criminal Courts Bar Association, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.