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Being human, prosecutors can act like Lucy van Pelt
As liars go, Lucy van Pelt was a pro. How else did she repeatedly convince Charlie Brown to try to kick a football that she always pulled away a split second before his foot touched the ball? Being human, prosecutors, judges, criminal defense lawyers, and...
Down by law for upskirting and downblousing
Bill of Rights. (From the public domain.) On the one hand, I think peeping camera laws have gone too far to to the point of chilling legitimate photography and other legitimate activities that have no lascivious intent and no intention of capturing intimate images. On the other...
Using Scene-setting to Persuade the Decision Makers, and to Get the Client to Open Up to the Lawyer
Often I feel an ill-placed center of gravity sought or accepted by too many judges. Of course judges bear the brunt of overloaded dockets and postponed cases by at best feeling like a grocery store cashier with never-ending lines of customers mixed in with inconsiderate...
To choose a lawyer
Many criminal defendants naturally wish to know an attorney’s fee — or at least a ballpark or fee range — over the phone or email before taking up to several hours to drive roundtrip to meet with the lawyer. Criminal cases often are scheduled for quickly-approaching...
The eternal mantra is “I want an attorney. I want an attorney…”
Police are well trained to break down people’s assertion of their Constitutional rights, including: – "If you are innocent, why do you need an attorney, and at such unnecessary expense?" – "If you have nothing to hide, why not pop open your trunk for me...
The canard of “I will never forget that face”
Imagine the dissonance felt by the victim of a serious crime not to be able to identify the perpetrator. If the perpetrator is not found and convicted, the victim may feel that the victim has been let down, the police have been let down, the...
The dissent gets it right in Supreme Court’s latest speedy trial decision
The United States Supreme Court ordinarily rejects criminal cases for review absent a material split of opinions in the state appellate courts, federal appellate courts, or both, unless the Court finds a compelling Constitutional question to justify review nonetheless. Apparently intended as a pre-emptive ruling...
Preserve the right to be let alone
NOTE: The current version of this blog entry constitutes a substantial rewrite of my original blog entry from earlier this morning, after I more closely read and sifted through the Fourth Circuit’s Whorley decision discussed below. Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557 (1969), was one of...
Cops are not permitted to make up law as they go along
Cops can get touchy about suspects who put their hands in their pockets, lest they have a weapon in there. Imagine if cops were permitted to conduct searches on a hunch, just to increase their safety more, and to decimate individual liberty more in the...
Gerry Spence on video
The powerhouse of John Johnson and Gerry Spence (Aug. 1995, Thunderhead Ranch) Lately, more videos of trial great Gerry Spence — who founded the Trial Lawyers College, which I attended in 1995 — are getting to YouTube. Here are the most notable videos: – Cross examining,...