UNDERDOG - Criminal/DWI Attorney for Fairfax/Northern Virginia/Md. & beyond. - JK in the news & live.

BBC TV news interviews me about a Briton arrested on a plane.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

By Jon Katz, a criminal defense lawyer and DWI/ DUI/ Drunk Driving lawyer advocating in Fairfax County, Virginia, Montgomery County, Maryland, and beyond for the best possible results for his clients. http://katzjustice.com

Earier this week, Briton Sean Jude Kelly's allegedly drunken and "let's fight" behavior on a plane returning to England from Cancun, led to an emergency landing in Florida. Police arrested and removed Kelly from the plane, and he then allegedly proceeded to try to kick and threaten to kill one or more police, which is a felony jailable up to five years for each count in Florida.

Right now, Kelly is charged with the alleged crimes on the police. It remains to be seen whether he will be prosecuted for his in-air behavior, which might also pose interesting questions about the proper country in which to prosecute him for the on-flight behavior, and possible difficulty in getting the passengers and flight crew to fly to such a trial.

Such on-flight behavior as that alleged against Kelly is probably frequent on planes. Kelly posted Twitter messages before the flight started about his plan to get drunk to overcome his nervousness about the long flight. Unfortunately, drunkenness frequently brings out the worst and even most violent sides of people, whereas we do not frequently hear about marijuana increasing violent tendencies. Yet, marijuana remains illegal in the United States (with the exceptions of medical marijuana states, and possession in Washington and Colorado), and alcohol is ubiquitously legal. They should both be legal.

Close to finishing in D.C. Superior Court late yesterday morning, BBC television news invited me once again to be a talking head about the American criminal justice system, this time about Mr. Kelly's case. Late television news interview invitations are par for the course, in part because the news is ever changing and news organizations update their news coverage focus from hour to hour. That means that my availability to appear on the news is hit or miss, particulalry when I am asked to interview during business hours, because I am in court most days often not knowing when court will finish.

Was it worth it for me to change my afternoon's schedule to appear for what I already knew from past experience might be just two or three questions? Yes. Each time I get a chance to discuss the criminal law with the news, I am able to get the message out from the criminal defense side. Moreover, in this instance, the studio was less than two miles from the courthouse, and the interview time was only around ninety minutes after my court completion time, leaving me additional time to debrief with my client and to handle a matter at the court's criminal clerk's office.

The interviewer, Polly Evans, asked me the following questions, followed by my answers:

(1) Sean Kelly faces up to twenty years in prison. Will he have to serve that much time?

My answer: His first goal should be to win the case and not to get any jail time at all. He is presumed innocent, and it is the prosecutor's burden to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If Mr. Kelly is convicted, the sentencing judge will consider such factors as the allegations proven in the case, the circumstances of the case (e.g., drunkenness), his prior criminal record, and the rest of the picture of his life (for instance, he possibly leads an otherwise ordinary life in the business world).

(2) If convicted, will Mr. Kelly be deported?

So long as Mr. Kelly is not a United States citizen, if convicted of an aggravated felony (for instance by receiving a sentence -- both active and suspended -- over a year) or crime of moral turpitude (most felonies are considered crimes of moral turpitude in the immigration law, and he is charged with a felony), he likely will be deported. I did not add that his lawyer can try to craft an immigration-friendly disposition, including a subtitute count of disorderly conduct or misdemeanor assault with a sentence below a year (and ideally with the suspended and active sentence below six months to convert the matter to a petty offense), depending on how Florida law for those charges is written.

This interview was on BBC South East Today, on BBC One, live at 6:30 p.m. London time, and rebroadcast at 10:00 p.m.

When a criminal defense lawyer speaks with human sexuality graduate students.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

By Jon Katz, a criminal defense/drug defense/marijuana defense attorney, and DWI/DUI/Drunk Driving defense lawyer advocating in Fairfax County/Northern Virginia, Montgomery County, Maryland, and beyond for the best possible results for his clients. http://katzjustice.com

Last Friday, I returned for my nearly annual invitation to speak with graduate students at George Washington University's Human Sexuality class. From what I can tell, the fields the students might go into include school counseling, mental hospitals, and private counseling.

I provided this handout of topics that arise in the overlap between criminal defense lawyers, their clients, and psychological professionals. Among topics that students asked to discuss were:

- My assertion that America has a bipolar relationship with sex. I first heard that phrase from Adam and Eve's Phil Harvey when he spoke several years ago at the Cato Institute.

In this bipolarism, on the one hand, the 1960's and 1970's unleashed revolutionary sexual liberation, and the pendulum continues swinging in that direction on balance. On the other hand, Puritanism continues to invade sexual mores in America, including even the criminalization of publicly bared female breasts, while allowing men to bare away, whether attractive or not. . Add to the mix feminists who want to ban adult entertainment versus feminists who oppose such bans.

- The relationship among a criminal defense lawyer, the defendant, and a psychological professional. The ideal psychological professional takes an empathetic approach rather than a paternalistic approach to the client. The psychological professional should be scrupulously honest and meticulous in providing work, including writing an evaluation report and testifying. No expert should write a report until speaking orally with the lawyer, to see what items the lawyer wishes more details on (including backing up a position), and which items the lawyer deems irrelevant and potentially and unnecessarily damaging to the suspect, with the lawyer never putting words in the expert's mouth.

Continue reading "When a criminal defense lawyer speaks with human sexuality graduate students. "

My NBC Nightly News Interview (at 1:55 minutes, Dec. 30, 2012)

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 01:00:00 -0500

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

My "Today Show" interview (starting at minute 1:46)

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 00:10:00 -0500

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Jon Katz on NBC's "Weekend Today" and "Nightly News," on Dec. 30.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

By Fairfax County/Northern Virginia/Maryland/Beltway criminal defense lawyer Jon Katz. Defending DWI/ DUI/ Drunk Driving, drugs, marijuana/medical marijuana/cultivation, sex cases, felonies and misdemeanors. Fighting tirelessly for the best possible results for his clients. http://katzjustice.com.

Last night, NBC's Weekend Today interviewed me about the overkill school suspension of high school student Courtni Webb for writing a poem about the Newtown massacre, despite her never having handed in the writing. The segment aired December 30 around 8:20 a.m. My five-minute studio interview was cut to minute 1:46-1:58 in the broadcst here. Such cutting is common. UPDATE: Another segment of my interview aired on NBC Nightly News December 30, starting here at minute 1:55.

Of course, in the interview I stated my opposition to the suspension as a violation of Ms. Webb's First Amendment right to free expression, despite the Supreme Court's lower level of First Amendment protection within schoolhouse gates.

Here are some other points I made:

- The Sandy Hook massacre was deeply traumatic. For students and others to work through their feelings on this violence, they should not need to be looking over their shoulders when discussing it and should not feel compelled to bottle up their feelings on the tragedy.

- Ms. Webb is in a charter school for at-risk students. This suspension does no good for efforts to help her succeed in school.

- Although Ms. Webb's poem's portion that "I know why he pulled the trigger" sounds disturbing, the poem is First Amendment-protected and clearly would not have been punishable if communicated outside of the schoolhouse gates.

- As Ms. Webb says, Stephen King creates violent writings and never acts on that violence. As Mr. King has said: : "Certainly in this sensitized day and age, my own college writing would have raised red flags, and I'm certain someone would have tabbed me as mentally ill because of them."

- It appears that Ms. Webb was suspended under a statute that allows suspensions for threats. Ms. Webb's words do not seem to amount to threats.

- If we are going to prevent repeats of the Newtown massacre, it may be important to understand what motivated Adam Lanza to commit the Sandy Hook massacre, no matter how uncomfortable that might be. Ms. Webb seemed to be trying to do that. Similarly, trial lawyers are more effective in understanding the opponent, judges, jurors, opposing witnesses and others by reversing roles and by crawling under the skin of others. "Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto./I am human: nothing human is alien to me" - Publius Terence.

- Ms. Webb's suspension is a bad civics lesson for Ms. Webb and her fellow students, and might chill other students from expressing themselves.

ADDENDUM: If you want Courtni Webb's suspension reversed, please tell her school that now. The news reports that she was suspended from Life Learning Academy charter high school in San Francisco. The school's contact information is here and here including:

Life Learning Academy Charter High School

651 8th Street, Treasure Island
San Francisco, California 94130
(ph): 415-397-8957
(f): 415-397-9274

Principal: Teri Delane teridelane18@yahoo.com
CES Coordinator: Craig Miller cam@ix.netcom.com

My interview in Tara Brach's "Finding True Refuge" in mindfulness series.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Continue reading "My interview in Tara Brach's "Finding True Refuge" in mindfulness series. "

Video from last night's interview on gag order against disclosing juvenile defendants' names.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Continue reading "Video from last night's interview on gag order against disclosing juvenile defendants' names. "

Interviewed tonight about the Twitter outing of juvenile Defendants' identities. If you watch the interview, please send me a copy.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:00:00 -0400

By Fairfax County/Northern Virginia/Maryland/Beltway criminal defense lawyer Jon Katz. Defending DWI/ DUI/ Drunk Driving, drugs, marijuana/medical marijuana/cultivation, sex cases, felonies and misdemeanors. Fighting relentlessly for the best possible results for his clients. http://katzjustice.com

Local CBS TV Channel WUSA 9 interviewed me tonight at my office about the 17-year-old who tweeted the identities of the juveniles accused of sexually assaulting her, frustrated over what she felt was too lenient a plea deal. Apparently a gag order prohibited her from revealing the defendants' names.

The interview will air on the late/11:00 p.m. news in the Washington, D.C. viewing area. If you watch the interview and have a recording device, please send me a copy. We don't have television at home, so that we free up our time. The interview likely also will be linked for a few weeks on the WUSA website.

Welcoming your thoughts for my talk tomorrow to a graduate human sexuality counseling class.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0500

By Jon Katz, a criminal defense lawyer and DWI/ DUI/ Drunk Driving lawyer advocating in Fairfax County, Virginia, Montgomery County, Maryland, and beyond for the best possible results for his clients.

Tomorrow night, I am reprising for the third or fourth time my somewhat annual role in talking with graduate students at George Washington University's human sexuality class. It is a great opportunity to catch the students before they become set in their ways as psychological professionals.

Following is the general outline of possible discussion ideas that I have provided the course's instructor. If you have additional ideas of items to cover, please send them my way by a public comment here or by emailing me a jon@katzjustice.com .

GRADUATE HUMAN SEXUALITY/ COUNSELING CLASS- The perspective of a lawyer practicing criminal defense, adult entertainment defense, and defense of alternative mutually consensual sexual lifestyles.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER, JON KATZ

Jon Katz has been practicing criminal defense for over twenty years, starting with defending indigent people charged with crimes. Jon has been in private criminal defense practice for over one dozen years, defending people charged with drugs, drunk driving, sex offenses, assault, white collar defense, and the list goes on. Jon graduated from George Washington Law School (J.D. 1989) and Tufts University (B.A. 1985).

INTRODUCTION

To the class’s students: In my experience, a discussion works best rather than a straight lecture. I want to know what you want to discuss. I want to hear what you think. I am here as much to learn as to talk.

Here are some items that might be of interest to discuss. Please consider additional items:

- Relationship among treating forensic psychologists, their patients and lawyers.

- Confidentiality in dealing with patients and their lawyers.

Continue reading "Welcoming your thoughts for my talk tomorrow to a graduate human sexuality counseling class."

Jon Katz interviews live today on BBC TV and BBC radio.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

BBC interviewed me today 1:30pm EDT at its Washington, D.C., television studio, for TV Channel 1's South East Today, about Briton Christopher Tappin's extradition and armaments prosecution, now that he is scheduled to be taken soon to the United States by extradition order.

BBC Radio Kent interviews me tonight 11:30pm EDT about the same case, available at http://bbc.co.uk/kent.

Defending against allegation of driving under the influence of marijuana.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

By Fairfax County/Northern Virginia/Maryland/Beltway criminal defense lawyer Jon Katz. Defending DWI/ DUI/ Drunk Driving, drugs, marijuana/medical marijuana/cultivation, sex cases, felonies and misdemeanors. Fighting tirelessly for the best possible results for his clients. http://katzjustice.com

Earlier this month, the lawyers.com blog emailed me some questions about defending against charges of driving under the influence of marijuana. The resulting article briefly references some of my responses.

Here is more from Underdog, briefly, on defending against such an accusation, including the shibboleth claiming a connection between recent marijuana smoking and a green coating under one's tongue.

London Telegraph interviews me about terminated Yahoo! chief executive.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400

By Jon Katz, a criminal defense lawyer and DWI/ DUI/ Drunk Driving lawyer advocating in Fairfax County, Northern Virginia, Rockville, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Maryland, and beyond for the best possible winning results for his clients. http://katzjustice.com

On September 9, 2011, the London Telegraph quoted me about former Yahoo! chief executive Carol Bartz's non-disparagement clause, concerning her public complaints that the Yahoo! board "f---- her over" and about the board as "doofuses".

Although the article only covers snippets of my interview, I underlined to the interviewer that even with a non-disparagement clause, Bartz should be able to rely on the First Amendment's free expression protections at least to narrow any ambiguities in the clause. The reporter describes me as a libel lawyer. While I love defending the First Amendment for libel lawsuits and other matters, the vast majority of my work is in criminal defense and drunk driving defense.

Je parle la justice / I speak justice.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Photo from website of U.S. District Court (W.D. Mi.).

Thirty-five years after I started studying and practicing French, I find Spanish much more beneficial to my professional practice. To be sure, speaking any two languages is much better than speaking just one, and I soaked up Spanish all the quicker by having known French first.

Speaking a second language opens many doors, including the ability to communicate with more people, and to experience more authors, actors, directors and playwrights in their native language. Among the French writings I have sought out are those writings by authors in former French colonies, including Algeria, West Africa, and the Caribbean. I have also read French-writing authors from Quebec and Louisiana. I have had a greater problem finding French writings from Indochina, but imagine that the Internet will make such writings easier to find.

I got all the more accustomed to speaking another language behind the microphone -- and getting behind the microphone period -- during the first two years of being my own boss through 2000, when my former law partner Jay Marks and I hosted a weekend one-hour Spanish radio show with a call-in component entitled: "Legalmente Hablando, donde su causa es nuestra causa" ("Legally speaking, where your cause is our cause.") Through that radio experience, I did not feel like I was speaking to a huge audience, but that I was speaking person-to-person. That approach helps all the more for television interviews, particularly in the studio, where no technology seems yet to exist that does not make the bright studio lights -- apparently there to reduce shadows -- seem just a bit removed from interrogation lamps.

Now that Dominique Strauss-Kahn is in the klieg lights (here is the charging document against him), the French media is following. Take away Strauss-Kahn's political history and money, and we have a rather common criminal prosecution; but every criminal defendant must be treated as an individual, and not as a mere dehumanized number. I certainly welcome the opportunity for people to understand through his story the warts and redeeming characteristics of the criminal justice system, including the bail system, the accusatory and adversarial approach, the presumption of innocence, the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt bar, and the media circus that often accompanies such high-profile case.

Added to the mix here is that -- before Strauss-Kahn's arrest -- there apparently was a huge percentage of French inclined to throw their democratic will behind Strauss-Kahn as a replacement for President Sarkozy. His pretrial no-bond detention certainly slams against the possibility that he might ever achieve such a victory.

France 2 Television called me two days ago about Strauss-Kahn's plight, including where his case might go from here. Tomorrow, I am scheduled to be interviewed on tape about the case, as part of a piece to be aired this Thursday. I welcome this opportunity once again to spread the word about what does and does not work about our criminal justice system, and about the need to pursue persuasion at every turn for criminal defendants.

My interview will be in French, which I have done a few times before with French-language broadcast media.

Esquire quotes me on criminal defense.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Thanks to the Esquire magazine staffer who recently sent me the May 2011 issue that briefly covers the magazine's interview with me about why writers' and others' confessions about crimes involving drugs and other activities do not automatically translate into prosecutions and convictions.

I answered that an admission of a crime by itself is not sufficient to convict without at least slight corroboration of the crime, and without prosecuting the crime where it took place.

The piece is in the "Answer Fella" column -- an inane title for a column -- on page 50 of the May Esquire magazine.

Jon Katz discusses an extradition to the U.S., today on BBC TV.

nospam@example.com (Jon Katz) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Camera image from U.S. Geological Survey website.

Today, I appeared around 2:30 p.m. EDT, pre-recorded, on BBC TV Channel 1's South East Today, on the Christopher Tappin extradition case that I have discussed here and here.

The interview at BBC's Washington, D.C., bureau was about the recent British court order greenlighting Mr. Tappin's extradition to the United States on charges related to his allegedly having arranged unlawfully to export missile battery components to Iran. Mr. Tappin claims that his profit from the transaction would have been but a few hundred dollars, apparently to show that a man as wealthy as he would not engage in a criminal transaction for such a small profit. The news reports his plans to appeal the extradition order.

In the interview, I pointed out that American law enforcement authorities too often arrange for people to engage in criminal activities and then to arrest them. I underlined that in such financially-strapped times as now, governments should be reining in such excessive law enforcement activities.