Appellate and Habeas Representation

The Firm

The Law Office of Cliff Gardner has been providing post-conviction representation in criminal cases since 1981, both in California and throughout the United States We provide appellate representation, as well as state and federal habeas corpus representation.

Our Lawyers

The firm has four lawyers from widely different backgrounds: Cliff Gardner, Lazuli Whitt, Daniel Buffington and Kevin Armonio. Each case which comes into the firm is handled by at least two of these lawyers.

Cliff Gardner

Mr. Gardner's post-conviction experience includes 40 years representing clients at all levels of the state and federal systems. He has argued more than 20 cases before the California Supreme Court, several cases in the United States Supreme Court and hundreds of cases in the California Courts of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Watch Cliff

In December of 2004, Cliff Gardner argued for petitioner Peter Sakarias in the California Supreme Court in In re Sakarias and Waidla, December 7, 2004. On March 3, 2005, the California Supreme Court granted relief to Peter Sakarias. In its opinion, the Court held for the first time that the Constitution precluded criminal prosecutors from taking inconsistent factual positions in two separate trials. Mr. Sakarias was released from death row several months later.


In re Sakarias and Waidla, Opening Argument