Category Archives: Criminal Defense
The Legal Pursuit-Evidence, Rules, Argument, Judgment
It is rare that an aspiring law student or lawyer has not heard of the movie, “The Paper Chase.” For it is instructive to both law school and life. In one scene with the study group one member, neurotic and fumbling, has a massive outline, multi hundreds of pages, that ultimately blows apart as it falls […]
Bureaucratic Logic and Catch 22
First rule of any negotiation is to know who is who, which is also a necessity of political competition. A corollary might come from Joseph Heller’s Catch 22, “It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference who wins the war to someone who’s dead.” And, “The enemy, … is anybody who’s going to get you killed, no […]
Fourth Admendment
The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides, “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the […]
Reputation and Criminal Law- Why you must hire a criminal lawyer.
Having discussed criminal matters with literally thousands of people over the last 30 plus years and I am continuing taken back by how little people realize that any contact with law enforcement as a suspect that results in an arrest and charges will probably result in damage to their reputation. This is the age of […]
Wizard of Oz, Hegel, Eco, and Sherlock Holmes
Sometimes the greatest dialectical problem is that heroes and villains are not pure characters anymore than Kansas is a utopia. The scariest thing about the past is that it may not have been a result as Hegelian as a storyline, and so neither will be the future. It turns out, if one follows the story, […]
If you want Justice
If you want Justice, then you will have to fight for it, because the other side wants to win and for you to lose. You will not get your full due process unless you demand it.Your lawsuit will not settle on terms that you think are fair unless you are willing to force the issue by using […]
Reasonable Doubt
Most people who pay attention to current events in criminal justice circles are aware of the reports of convicted persons who are being released because they are in fact innocent persons unjustly imprisoned, sometimes after being falsely imprisoned for many years. These stories should give any rational person who is a member of the criminal […]
The Legal System and the Trial Lawyer
Why hire a lawyer you might ask? Well, let us think about it. A lawyer has been to college and law school and has passed a state bar exam. Presumably after all of that he or she knows something about the American legal system and just as importantly can think rationally about a legal problem […]
Sociology and Criminal Law
Many theorists see the criminal law as a product of society. Theorists can clash and often do so strongly on the origins of law, but at some point the law is implemented by people and that intersects with politics. Law, politics and sociology are intertwined. So, the study of sociology is a useful tool for […]
Plea Deals
Whether you are talking to criminal defense lawyers to hire one or thinking about representing yourself pro se, it is always a mistake to plea guilty prior to understanding the admissible evidence in the prosecution’s case. In an effort to get the case over with it may be tempting to take the probation or apparently […]
