This ruling is epic! The United States Supreme Court ruled this week that Florida’s death penalty law is unconstitutional. The highest court in the land found, amongst other things, that Florida courts were violating defendants’ Sixth Amendment rights by ordering death in the manner in which they were. What the…
THE HYPOTHETICAL You’re driving home from a lovely night out on the town when you see those dreaded police lights behind you. You hope the officer is just trying to around you, however, you quickly realize that he wants you to pull over. As you think of all the reasons…
In response to the escalating rates of teen suicide, school shootings and cyber-bullying, Wisconsin has passed an ordinance imposing fines on parents of kids who bully. It’s not a criminal charge. Rather, it’s a civil ordinance which permits a fine of $124 against parents whose kids repeat bullying behavior after…
THE FACTS 36-year-old mother Qumotria Kennedy was recently a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over after the driver allegedly didn’t come to a complete stop at a stop sign. Though Kennedy wasn’t doing anything wrong, police demanded her I.D. and learned that she had a warrant for her…
No. There you have it. All my clients aren’t innocent. No beating around the bush from me. I won’t give you that frequently offered smug line, “All of my clients are innocent…until proven guilty.”(Even though they are legally innocent) As a criminal defense attorney, I do represent numerous “guilty” clients.…
This one is outrageous. A 16 year old boy was arrested and charged as an adult in criminal court and prosecuted for sexually exploiting a minor, under the federal pornography laws. Who was the minor? He was! Yes, North Carolina federal prosecutors prosecuted him for having nude pictures of himself…
…says my friend Whoopi Goldberg. In defending Bill Cosby, she stated, “The bottom line is, that’s the law.” She added,”Innocent until proven guilty.” In illustrating the importance of due process, Whoopi highlighted the 2006 Duke lacrosse case, where three Duke lacrosse team members were falsely accused of rape. In response,…
INTRODUCTION It has just been revealed that all six of the criminally charged Baltimore police officers, who were involved in the arrest of now deceased Freddie Gray, provided statements to law enforcement investigators. At the time of this posting, the contents of each of the officers’ statements is unknown. It’s…
This one really gets me. Two parents from Florida were arrested for felony child neglect. What did they do? Starve their child? Deprive their child of needed medical care? Leave the child abandoned on the streets for days with no food, clothing or shelter? No, nothing like that. The two…
INTRODUCTION Having practiced criminal law for over two decades as both a prosecutor and as a defense attorney, there’s one question I get asked more than any other, “Should I blow?” Solely for those whose minds tend to travel to unusual places, the “blow” I’m referring to concerns the breath…