Anne Bremner
Encyclopedia
Anne Melani Bremner is a Seattle, Washington-based trial attorney. She has performed legal work on a number of high-profile cases, including in the murder of Meredith Kercher
in Italy as legal counsel and a spokesperson for the Friends of Amanda Knox, and as the lawyer for the family of Rebecca Zahau following her death
in California.
, Oklahoma. Bremner attended Stanford University
, where she studied medieval history, graduating in 1980. She describes her student self as "a liberal, an idealist, and a Democrat" who was opposed to capital punishment
. She went on to Seattle University
, where she completed her J.D. degree in 1982.
trials; this experience, along with those later in her career, began to modulate her views on the death penalty. In 1985, she was deputy prosecuting attorney in a case against a University of Washington
policeman believed to be the first person to be charged under the state's new computer trespass
law; a trial court convicted the policeman of the charges, but the Washington Court of Appeals
overturned his conviction.
During her career in private practice, Bremner represented law enforcement and judges in various civil and criminal cases. In 1996, she successfully defended the Seattle Police Department
's use of police dog
s to find and bite suspects against an American Civil Liberties Union
challenge claiming that it violated suspects' civil rights and constituted excessive force. In 2001, she represented the Bellevue Police Department
during the inquest into the conduct of officer Mike Hetle during his second fatal shooting that year; the jury found that Metle had reason to fear death or serious bodily harm. In the 2002 case Vili Fualaau v. Highline School District and the Des Moines Police Department, filed by the family of Mary Kay Letourneau
's student Vili Fualaau, Bremner successfully defended the police department against liability for damages. She became acquainted with Letourneau during the course of the lawsuit, and the two remained friends afterwards.
student charged with the murder of Meredith Kercher
in Perugia, Italy. She was contacted by family members of Knox's classmates, including Mike Heavey, a superior court judge with whom she was previously acquainted. The group subsequently held fundraisers to pay for Knox's defense, lobby lawmakers, and conduct public relations activities, turning media focus toward the conduct of the prosecution, especially Perugia chief prosecutor Giuliano Mignini
. Bremner made various television appearances regarding the case, describing Knox as "naive" and comparing her to the title character in the French film Amélie
.
In 2011, Bremner began working with the bereaved family of Rebecca Zahau
after the San Diego County Sheriff's Department
closed its investigation into Zahau's death based on a suicide finding. The family strongly believed that Zahau had not committed suicide, and Bremner stated that it "doesn't pass the smell test" and that "This would be the first case in the history of the world that a woman killed herself like this ... It's ridiculous on the face of it.". She appeared on television and gave media interviews relating to the case. Some of her statements were criticized by Zahau's boyfriend and Medicis Pharmaceutical
CEO Jonah Shacknai, whose attorney said that Bremner had implied that Shacknai used his wealth and profile to improperly influence the police investigation.
and other cable networks covering the trial of Scott Peterson
for the murder of Laci Peterson
. Similarly in 2005, she took an unpaid leave of absence
from her job to offer television commentary on People v. Jackson
, stating that the publicity had brought in millions of dollars of business for her firm. In 2009, she appeared variously on CNN
with Nancy Grace
to discuss the Casey Anthony case.
In 2003, Bremner was one of the founding members of the Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town, along with Washington Supreme Court justice Phil Talmadge. The group was formed to pressure the Hearst Corporation
and the Seattle Times Company to continue printing their respective newspapers, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
and The Seattle Times
, under their joint operating agreement
signed in 1982. The group specifically opposed an attempt by the Times to dissolve the JOA and permit Hearst to close the Post-Intelligencer in exchange for 32% of the Times profits for 80 years. However, in March 2009, the Post-Intelligencer printed its last paper edition and moved to an online-only
format. In an e-mail about the event, Bremner stated: "What a terribly sad day this is. Only tomorrow will be worse."
. A county sheriff suspected she was intoxicated and arrested her. She pled guilty to DUI on September 1 and was sentenced to two days in jail.
Murder of Meredith Kercher
The murder of Meredith Kercher occurred in Perugia, Italy, on 1 November 2007. Kercher, aged 21 at the time of her death, was a British university exchange student from Coulsdon, south London. She was found dead on the floor of her bedroom with stab wounds to the throat...
in Italy as legal counsel and a spokesperson for the Friends of Amanda Knox, and as the lawyer for the family of Rebecca Zahau following her death
Death of Rebecca Zahau
Rebecca Mawii Zahau was a 32-year-old woman discovered dead on July 13, 2011, in a historic mansion in Coronado, California. Initial reports described her as being hanged to death while unclothed, with her hands bound behind her back and feet bound together...
in California.
Early life and education
Bremner was born in McAlesterMcAlester, Oklahoma
McAlester is a city in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 17,783 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pittsburg County. It is currently the largest city in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, followed by Durant....
, Oklahoma. Bremner attended Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, where she studied medieval history, graduating in 1980. She describes her student self as "a liberal, an idealist, and a Democrat" who was opposed to capital punishment
Opposition to capital punishment in the United States
Opposition to capital punishment in the United States existed as early as the colonial period. Opposition to the death penalty peaked in 1966 , rising to 47% opposition, higher than those who supported it , the rest had 'no opinion'...
. She went on to Seattle University
Seattle University
Seattle University is a Jesuit Catholic university located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, USA.SU is the largest independent university in the Northwest US, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs within eight schools, and is one of 28 member...
, where she completed her J.D. degree in 1982.
Work as prosecutor and with police
From 1983 to 1988, Bremner was a deputy prosecuting attorney with the criminal division of the King County Prosecutor's Office, specializing in sex crimes. During these years she came into contact with a number of high-profile cases, such as the Wah Mee massacreWah Mee massacre
The Wah Mee massacre was a mulitiple homicide on February 18, 1983, in which Kwan Fai "Willie" Mak, Wai-Chiu "Tony" Ng, and Benjamin Ng gunned down 14 people in the Wah Mee gambling club. Thirteen of their victims lost their lives, but one survived to testify against the three in the high-profile...
trials; this experience, along with those later in her career, began to modulate her views on the death penalty. In 1985, she was deputy prosecuting attorney in a case against a University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
policeman believed to be the first person to be charged under the state's new computer trespass
Computer trespass
Computer trespass is a computer crime in Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.-Virginia:...
law; a trial court convicted the policeman of the charges, but the Washington Court of Appeals
Washington Court of Appeals
The Washington Court of Appeals is the intermediate level appellate court for the state of Washington.The court is divided into three divisions. Division I is based in Seattle, Division II is based in Tacoma, and Division III is based in Spokane....
overturned his conviction.
During her career in private practice, Bremner represented law enforcement and judges in various civil and criminal cases. In 1996, she successfully defended the Seattle Police Department
Seattle Police Department
The Seattle Police Department is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Seattle, Washington, except for the campus of the University of Washington, for which responsibility falls to the University of Washington Police Department...
's use of police dog
Police dog
A police dog, often referred to as a "K-9 dog" in some areas , is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work...
s to find and bite suspects against an American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
challenge claiming that it violated suspects' civil rights and constituted excessive force. In 2001, she represented the Bellevue Police Department
Bellevue Police Department (Washington)
The Bellevue Police Department is located in Bellevue, Washington. As of 2006, there were 176 commissioned officers and 95 civilian employs. The department's annual operating budget is about $38 million . It services over 120,000 people. The main Bellevue Police Station is located in Bellevue...
during the inquest into the conduct of officer Mike Hetle during his second fatal shooting that year; the jury found that Metle had reason to fear death or serious bodily harm. In the 2002 case Vili Fualaau v. Highline School District and the Des Moines Police Department, filed by the family of Mary Kay Letourneau
Mary Kay Letourneau
Mary Kay Fualaau , formerly known as Mary Kay Letourneau, is an American schoolteacher who was imprisoned from 1997 to 2004 for having sexual intercourse with her 13-year-old student, Vili Fualaau. She gave birth to two of Fualaau's children while incarcerated...
's student Vili Fualaau, Bremner successfully defended the police department against liability for damages. She became acquainted with Letourneau during the course of the lawsuit, and the two remained friends afterwards.
Later major cases
In October 2008, Bremner went outside of her typical role as a defender of police to take up the cause of Amanda Knox, a University of WashingtonUniversity of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
student charged with the murder of Meredith Kercher
Murder of Meredith Kercher
The murder of Meredith Kercher occurred in Perugia, Italy, on 1 November 2007. Kercher, aged 21 at the time of her death, was a British university exchange student from Coulsdon, south London. She was found dead on the floor of her bedroom with stab wounds to the throat...
in Perugia, Italy. She was contacted by family members of Knox's classmates, including Mike Heavey, a superior court judge with whom she was previously acquainted. The group subsequently held fundraisers to pay for Knox's defense, lobby lawmakers, and conduct public relations activities, turning media focus toward the conduct of the prosecution, especially Perugia chief prosecutor Giuliano Mignini
Giuliano Mignini
Giuliano Mignini is a public prosecutor in Perugia, Italy, who came to widespread public attention for his role in investigating the murder of Meredith Kercher in November 2007, and for his subsequent prosecution for murder of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, whose convictions were overturned...
. Bremner made various television appearances regarding the case, describing Knox as "naive" and comparing her to the title character in the French film Amélie
Amélie
Amélie is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume Laurant, the film is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre...
.
In 2011, Bremner began working with the bereaved family of Rebecca Zahau
Death of Rebecca Zahau
Rebecca Mawii Zahau was a 32-year-old woman discovered dead on July 13, 2011, in a historic mansion in Coronado, California. Initial reports described her as being hanged to death while unclothed, with her hands bound behind her back and feet bound together...
after the San Diego County Sheriff's Department
San Diego County Sheriff's Department
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department, commonly known as the SDSO, is the primary and largest law enforcement agency in San Diego County, California. It is composed of approximately 4,000 sworn deputies and civilian support personnel...
closed its investigation into Zahau's death based on a suicide finding. The family strongly believed that Zahau had not committed suicide, and Bremner stated that it "doesn't pass the smell test" and that "This would be the first case in the history of the world that a woman killed herself like this ... It's ridiculous on the face of it.". She appeared on television and gave media interviews relating to the case. Some of her statements were criticized by Zahau's boyfriend and Medicis Pharmaceutical
Medicis Pharmaceutical
Medicis Pharmaceutical is a medical cosmetics company headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was founded in 1988. Among their products are Solodyn and Ziana for treating acne, and Restylane and Dysport for treating facial wrinkles. As of September of 2011, the company has also sold it's rights to...
CEO Jonah Shacknai, whose attorney said that Bremner had implied that Shacknai used his wealth and profile to improperly influence the police investigation.
Other activities
Aside from her work as an attorney, Bremner also appears on television as a legal analyst, explaining prominent cases to the general public. In 2004, she appeared on Court TVCourt TV
truTV is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Time Warner. The network launched as Court TV in 1991, changing to truTV in 2008...
and other cable networks covering the trial of Scott Peterson
Scott Peterson
Scott Lee Peterson , an American, was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child in Modesto, California, in 2002. Peterson's arrest and subsequent trial dominated the American news media until 2005, when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection...
for the murder of Laci Peterson
Murder of Laci Peterson
Laci Denise Peterson was an American woman who was the subject of a highly discussed murder case after she went missing while seven and a half months pregnant with her first child. Peterson was reportedly last seen alive on December 24, 2002...
. Similarly in 2005, she took an unpaid leave of absence
Leave of absence
Leave of absence is a term used to describe a period of time that one is to be away from his/her primary job, while maintaining the status of employee...
from her job to offer television commentary on People v. Jackson
People v. Jackson
People vs. Jackson was a 2005 trial involving recording artist Michael Jackson. The accuser was a boy, Gavin Arvizo, who was 13 years old at the time of the alleged crimes...
, stating that the publicity had brought in millions of dollars of business for her firm. In 2009, she appeared variously on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
with Nancy Grace
Nancy Grace
Nancy Ann Grace is an American legal commentator, television host, television journalist, and former prosecutor. She frequently discusses issues from what she describes as a victims' rights standpoint, with an outspoken style that has won her both praise and condemnation...
to discuss the Casey Anthony case.
In 2003, Bremner was one of the founding members of the Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town, along with Washington Supreme Court justice Phil Talmadge. The group was formed to pressure the Hearst Corporation
Hearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
and the Seattle Times Company to continue printing their respective newspapers, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
and The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
, under their joint operating agreement
Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970
The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 was an Act of the United States Congress, signed by President Richard Nixon, authorizing the formation of joint operating agreements among competing newspaper operations within the same market area. It exempted newspapers from certain provisions of antitrust...
signed in 1982. The group specifically opposed an attempt by the Times to dissolve the JOA and permit Hearst to close the Post-Intelligencer in exchange for 32% of the Times profits for 80 years. However, in March 2009, the Post-Intelligencer printed its last paper edition and moved to an online-only
Online newspaper
An online newspaper, also known as a web newspaper, is a newspaper that exists on the World Wide Web or Internet, either separately or as an online version of a printed periodical....
format. In an e-mail about the event, Bremner stated: "What a terribly sad day this is. Only tomorrow will be worse."
DUI case
On June 3, 2010, Bremner was in an automobile accident and called 9-1-19-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
. A county sheriff suspected she was intoxicated and arrested her. She pled guilty to DUI on September 1 and was sentenced to two days in jail.