Criminal Defense
Prosecutor’s belittling the defense becomes feces thrown at a fan
A great trial law teacher warned criminal defense lawyers about throwing feces at an opposing witness during cross examination, lest the witness act like a cooling fan that shoots back the feces all over the lawyer’s face and clothes. Too many prosecutors cloak police with...
4th Cir.: Guilty Plea is Reversible when based on Material Police Lies
I have repeatedly underlined why police lying is all too common. Lying is bad enough among humans in any time or place. When a police officer lies to the detriment of a criminal defendant’s liberty, that is particularly reprehensible. For every police officer caught lying,...
Police must keep their drug dogs at bay more than they wish
Yesterday, I kept pinching myself in ecstasy over the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision requiring police to have probable cause to believe the existence of relevant criminal activity before taking a drug-sniffing dog to the front door of one’s home. Florida v. Jardines, ___ U.S. ___...
50 years after Gideon, we have far to go in assuring quality criminal defense to the poor and non-wealthy
Clarence Gideon. Beyond — and also part of — the fanfare of yesterday’s fiftieth anniversary of Gideon v. Wainright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963) (requires making available tax-paid lawyers for indigent defendants facing incarcerable prosecutions, under the Sixth Amendment), here are some of my own thoughts:...
Fourth Circuit puts brakes on police using innocent facts to detain and search people.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is often referred to as one of the more conservative circuits for criminal law. Fortunately, the Fourth Circuit breaks from that characterization from time to time, including earlier this week, when the court determined that...
Getting to the place where the client is, from the power of zero
For me to truly help my client, I need to shed my lawyer’s cloak, keep and enhance my humanity, and find the place where my client is, so that we may move forward together. A criminal defense colleague of mine told a great true story...
Reconnecting with NACDL members after 13 years
Today through this Saturday is a golden opportunity for area criminal defense lawyers to attend the Washington, D.C., quarterly CLE conference of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, which last had a quarterly conference in this area in 1999. The continuing legal education program is...
Of prosecutors, power, high horses, and the magic mirror
In all state-level courthouses where I practice, prosecutors take over a table in the courtroom well within feet of the judge, unless a jury trial is scheduled there. Depending on the courthouse, judge and circumstances, a criminal defense lawyer who tries entering the well before...
Don’t let prosecutors rejoice over divisive competition among criminal defense lawyers
“We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”- Ben Franklin. Prosecutors’ offices likely share with each other on email listservs and at conferences to help make each other better prosecutors. Plenty of criminal defense lawyers do the same, and...
A blue uniform makes one no more likely to tell the truth (and more likely to lie?)
When I remind judges that the law does not cloak police with any more credibility than a civilian, they readily agree with me. However, in reality, a huge percentage of judges seem to assign a higher level of credibility to police. It is exasperating to...