When I first heard the news that there was a verdict in Cleveland Police Officer Michael Brelo’s shooting case I was pleased. I thought it would give me a great opportunity to demonstrate what I had been talking about in prior posts regarding these types of cases: Let...
Famous Cases
Who Really “Won” the Tsarnaev Trial?
Well I guess I was wrong about the jury in the Tsarnaev case. Sounding a bit facetious (but not really) I did not expect them to play so willingly into the Tsarnaev brothers’ murderous hands. Nor show such mercy. To some of you doing that may not make much sense (and...
Free Range Chicken vs. Free Range Kids
Or…. Enough About Police Brutality Already; Let’s Talk about Something Really Controversial: Parenting! Free Range Chicken is a good thing right? We all know that the more “free” things are the better they are. To eat, at least. Even Eric Holder is in on the being...
Baltimore and the War on Drugs
It is not always crystal clear what causes things like riots to get out of control. One politician even blamed gay marriage for what has been happening in Baltimore recently(!) I try to be open minded about other people’s opinions, but seriously? A more serious...
BALTIMORE IS BURNING
I’ve been watching the events in Baltimore over the past two weeks with fascination. And Horror. It’s like watching a Shakespearean drama unfold, only it’s real. When I first heard the news about Freddie Gray dying in police custody I groaned out loud for several...
Tampering with Evidence Makes You Guilty…
Tampering with Evidence Makes You Guilty… of Tampering with Evidence, not Murder. This is, for now, the final installment of the sad saga of Officer Slager’s shooting of poor Mr. Walter Scott. People are talking about how Slager must be guilty because he apparently...
A Perfect Storm of Bad Things: Tales from the Boston Bomber Trial
Well, I have resisted getting into the Boston Bomber case. However, it represents the perfect storm of many of the themes we’ve been exploring in recent posts: an impossible fact pattern, a Defendant who is universally reviled after killing or maiming a bunch of...
Don’t Talk To Anyone About Your Case–Not Even Yourself!
I am sure you can guess what this will be about. Robert Durst. Good grief. Seems that you can’t even mutter to yourself these days without incriminating yourself. Of course the fact that Durst was stupid enough (or egotistical enough) to agree to have HBO follow him...
Do Crazy People “Get Away With Murder”?
We all know the way it works. Some crazy nut job goes out and whacks some innocent person for no apparent reason. Sure enough. Out come the legal guns to blast out defenses like Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity or Diminished Capacity. Next thing you know they walk out...
Domestic Violence, the NFL and Constitutional Rights in Criminal Cases
If you are charged with a Domestic Violence crime (or DUI, Drug Offenses, Shoplifting or Murder), you are entitled to representation by a criminal defense attorney, to have a jury trial and cross examine witnesses, and, above all, to be presumed innocent. It is with...