‘Influencer’ mom taps high-profile criminal defense attorney to fight Petaluma charges

She gained tens of thousands of Instagram followers after her videos alleging a "kidnapping" plot at a Petaluma Michaels went viral. Now she faces charges.|

The Sonoma influencer charged with false reporting after she accused a Petaluma Latino couple of attempting to kidnap her kids has tapped a high-profile lawyer for her defense.

Katie Sorensen, 28, who faces possible jail time over two misdemeanor charges centered on providing false information to police and police dispatchers, appears poised to fight the case, with a GoFundMe launched on her behalf seeking to raise $50,000.

And she has hired "tenacious litigator“ Gail Shifman, a San Francisco-based criminal defense attorney with experience trying dozens of major cases to bolster her defense, which started in earnest Thursday.

At her arraignment in Sonoma County Superior Court on Thursday, Sorensen asked the court for a demurrer, sometimes called a motion to dismiss, asserting that even if the allegations she faces are true, they are insufficient to establish a valid cause of action.

“In laymen’s terms, they’re saying, ‘If all the facts are true, then these facts are insufficient,’” Sonoma County Assistant District Attorney Bill Brockley said.

Sorensen’s defense will have until Thursday to state its case for the legal maneuver.

Shifman, a white collar criminal defense specialist whose clients have included the IRS analyst who pleaded guilty to leaking former Trump associate Michael Cohen’s bank information, did not respond to phone messages or emails Thursday and Friday seeking comment.

In her LinkedIn and SuperLawyers online profiles, Shifman touts her success in representing clients accused of sexual & gender-based harassment, domestic violence and rape and in winning acquittals or reduced sentences for others facing serious criminal charges.

She has also represented clients facing a variety of other charges, including insider trading, large-scale drug offenses, counterfeiting, racketeering, child pornography and homicide.

In her LinkedIn profile, Shifman also highlights her ability to secure deals.

“Gail is also a master of victories achieved quietly, outside of the courtroom, far from the glare of adverse publicity,” according to Shifman’s online profile.

Sonoma County prosecutors confirmed the two misdemeanor charges for Sorensen April 29, and each come with a maximum penalty of six months in jail, Sonoma County Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Staebell said last month.

The District Attorney’s Office’s decision to charge Sorensen, a Sonoma-based Instagram influencer, came nearly four months after she accused Petaluma parents Eddie and Sadie Martinez of attempting to kidnap her two children Dec. 7 at a local Michaels craft store. Sorensen would later document the allegations, now widely viewed as a case of racial profiling, in two Instagram videos that garnered 4.5 million views and set off a firestorm of media attention while funneling tens of thousands of new followers to Sorensen’s Instagram account.

In the videos posted Dec. 13, Sorensen recounted in harrowing detail how she had narrowly avoided a pair of shoppers attempting to abduct her two young kids.

In the days following the high-profile accusations, Petaluma police announced Sorensen’s claims were without merit and cleared the couple of any wrongdoing. But the episode left the Martinez family reeling, after their innocuous trip to buy a decorative baby Jesus last December launched them into the public eye.

The family learned of its part in the tale that had circulated like wildfire online only after Petaluma police released security camera stills of the Martinezes.

“My kid came to me and showed me the picture, and said, ‘Mom this looks like you’,” Sadie said in an interview with the Argus-Courier in December.

In the months since, the couple, who are parents to five, have grappled with the accusations, recently turning to activism and community engagement.

Petaluma Mayor Teresa Barrett appointed Sadie to the city’s citizen-led advisory committee on policing and race relations, where she recently debuted her version of San Francisco’s Caren Act, which made racially motivated 911 calls a crime.

Sadie has also long-championed consequences for Sorensen, who she blames for thrusting her family into the national spotlight with accusations Sadie characterized as a case brazen racial profiling.

Following the District Attorney’s Office’s decision to charge Sorensen in the case, Sorensen’s mom, Jill Turgeon, established a GoFundMe with a goal of raising $50,000 for Sorensen’s legal defense.

In the GoFundMe post, Turgeon calls the accusations “completely misguided,” and says the $50,000 fundraising goal is to pay for attorney’s fees and possible court proceedings, signaling Sorensen is prepared to fight the charges.

Since it was created May 9, the campaign has raised $2,250 via 27 mostly anonymous donations.

Brockley said it likely will be a few additional weeks until the court has a chance to decide on the demurrer and whether or not to take the case forward.

“If the demurrer is granted, then the court will dismiss complaints. Or, the demurrer can be denied, and if that happens, then (Sorensen) will enter a plea, followed by conference and a jury trial date,” Brockley said.

Contact Kathryn Palmer at kathryn.palmer@arguscourier.com, on Twitter @KathrynPlmr.

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