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Criminal Law

Law Of Criminal Defense

News, information, ethics opinions and analysis relating to criminal defense, legal ethics and professional responsibility.
By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Post Frequency: 11.2/day

Last Entry: March 25, 2011 at 18:32:28

Lawyer's blog posting breaching confidence gets an ethics beef

Posted on March 25, 2011
See Internet Posting Leads To Charge Of Confidentiality Breach on Legal Profession Blog about a pending complaint.

CT criminal defense lawyer resigns bar for use of client funds

Posted on March 25, 2011
From ctpost.com: Lawyer admits mistakes, resigns from bar by Daniel Tepfer involving a Connecticut criminal defense lawyer. The resignation came after his trust account checks bounced and revealed use of client funds.

High profile Boston criminal defense lawyer charged with money laundering

Posted on March 24, 2011
Boston.com: Robert A. George, prominent defense attorney, charged with money laundering: A high-profile Boston defense attorney was charged today by federal authorities with allegedly laundering drug money. Robert Albert George, 56, of Westwood allegedly conspired with a person cooperating with federal investigators to launder $225,000 in drug proceeds between 2009 and 2011...

RIP Leonard Weinglass, a legend

Posted on March 24, 2011
The legendary Leonard Weinglass has died. He was one of the Chicago 7 lawyers.

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AZ: Profanity to judge and threatening move toward prosecutor gets 30 day suspension

Posted on March 24, 2011
The lawyer aggressively disagreed with the court's ruling and using profanity to describe it, and he had a prior record for doing just that. This time, he aggressively moved toward the prosecutor in a threatening manner and the CSOs stopped him. Thirty suspension, two years probation, and counseling...

WA: Padilla in action

Posted on March 24, 2011
Defense counsel shown ineffective under Padilla v. Kentucky. State v. Sandoval, 82175-5 (Wash. March 17, 2011): First, defense counsel’s mitigation advice may not be couched with so much certainty that it negates the effect of the warnings required under Padilla...

Defendant ordered to wear spit guard

Posted on March 23, 2011
Judge orders defendant Anthony Edward Watson to wear spit guard because he spit on his public defender.

Gitmo: "Defense lawyers protest new work rules"

Posted on March 19, 2011
The Pentagon has ordered new rules for Guantánamo defense lawyers. See Defense lawyers protest new work rules in yesterday's Miami Herald: With a new round of Guantánamo prosecutions on the horizon, a senior Pentagon official has ordered war court defense lawyers to sign freshly minted ground rules that not only gag what they can say to their alleged terrorist clients but also to the public...

"Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Paying Sheriff for Client Referrals"

Posted on March 17, 2011
Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Paying Sheriff for Client Referrals, Favorable Treatment by Debra Cassens Weiss on ABAJournal.com: A Kentucky lawyer has pleaded guilty to paying more than $57,000 to a former sheriff for drug client referrals and favorable treatment of the defendants...

"Texas Lawyers Reject Ban on Sex with Clients"

Posted on March 15, 2011
Texas lawyers get to have a referendum on ethics rules changes, not that it's binding, but I was surprised at this: Texas Lawyers Reject Ban on Sex with Clients by Debra Cassens Weiss on ABAJournal.com providing a summary of the voting. A proposed rule banning sex with clients was defeated 72...

More on Massachusetts plan to move to PDs v. appointed counsel

Posted on March 15, 2011
Lawyers Oppose Mass. Gov’s Budget Proposal to Replace Contract Lawyers with Full-Time PDs by Stephanie Francis Ward on ABAJournal.com: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick suggested in his 2012 budget proposal that the state eliminate 3,000 contract attorney positions from its indigent legal defense program in an effort to save $48 million...

Still no answer about CJA cuts

Posted on March 15, 2011
‘Dire Consequences’ for Courts If Federal Funding Fails Could Include Late Legal Fees Payments by Martha Nail on ABAJournal.com: Ongoing concerns about federal funding were a key topic of discussion today at a meeting of the Judicial Conference of the United States...

Idaho criminal defense lawyer killed over a divorce case

Posted on March 14, 2011
Emmett Corrigan, a criminal defense lawyer in Idaho in practice since October, who also did domestic work was shot and killed by the opposing litigant in a domestic case, when he filed a divorce on behalf of his secretary. The shooter apparently believed he was having an affair with her...

CA7: False certification of word count in appellant's brief gets summary affirmance

Posted on March 11, 2011
Knowing false certification of word count of brief leads to sanction of summary affirmance of a civil case. The appellee pointed it out. If appellant had admitted the brief was overlong, it would have been rejected, but no sanction. Abner v. Scott Memorial Hospital, 10-2713 (7th Cir...

MA: Omitting words without ellipsis is professional misconduct

Posted on March 11, 2011
Lack of an ellipsis for deleted words in a quote from a case in a brief was misconduct. First Appellate Brief Deemed "As Brazen A Piece Of Misrepresentation As We Have Ever Seen": The court further found that the respondent engaged in “as brazen a piece of misrepresentation as we have ever seen,” by deleting “certain words, phrases and sentences without use of an ellipsis, or any other indication of editing...

TN: Police detective pretending to be criminal defense lawyer in jail leads to dismissal of indictment

Posted on March 08, 2011
Police officers engaged in an elaborate ruse to have a detective pretend to be a defense lawyer and secure information from the defendant in jail, assuring the defendant that he should not tell his appointed lawyer. The trial court denied a motion to dismiss, but the Tennessee Court of Appeals found it so “abhorrent” that they could find no other remedy...

Retired Detroit prosecutor getting jail for promoting perjury

Posted on March 05, 2011
On ABAJournal.com, Retired Detroit-Area Drug Prosecutor Takes Plea in Trial-Testimony Case, Will Get 6 Months. The case involved false evidence to protect the ID of a witness. The lawyer will also lose his law license for at least five years.

More on CJA funding shortfall

Posted on February 25, 2011
From a reader in the Western District of Texas, this appeared on the District Court's website today: Important Notices: CJA Voucher Funding Posted: 2/25/2011 Dear CJA Panel Attorneys, Expert Providers and Interpreters. Likely, recent media reports have made you aware that funding for all federal organizations, including the U...

AZ bar opinion on representing MMJ dispensary

Posted on February 24, 2011
Op. 11-01: Scope of Representation (Feb. 2011): A lawyer may ethically counsel or assist a client in legal matters expressly permissible under the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (“Act”), despite the fact that such conduct potentially may violate applicable federal law...

CJA panel payments stopped maybe until October 1 for lack of funds in the budget

Posted on February 24, 2011
As a CJA lawyer, I get a memo via our local rep from the Director of the AOC of the U.S. Courts that CJA panel payments have ceased because of lack of funds in the current budget. Another area of concern is in the Defender Services account. The House bill funds that account at the FY 2010 level, which is $50 million below the level needed to meet base program requirements...

AR: Convicition for meth possession with good mitigation only warranted reprimand

Posted on February 17, 2011
An Arkansas lawyer convicted of possession of a small quantity of meth, who went into rehab and AA on his own and accepted responsibility and voluntarily was drug tested and was regularly clean, was subject only a reprimand at most based on the record...

NLJ: "Calif. lawyer pleads guilty to smuggling heroin into a jail"

Posted on February 15, 2011
On NLJ yesterday: Calif. lawyer pleads guilty to smuggling heroin into a jail by Amanda Bronstad: A Beverly Hills, Calif., criminal defense attorney has pleaded no contest to smuggling heroin into a secure area of a downtown Los Angeles jail last year...

ABAJ: Former PD suspended for year for sex with client

Posted on February 06, 2011
ABAJournal.com: Convicted of Official Misconduct, Former PD Is Now Suspended for 1 Year Over Sex with Client. From 2009: Former Public Defender Is Convicted in Sex-with-Client Case.

SFWeekly: "Prosecutor Apologizes for Handling of Crime Lab DNA Scandal"

Posted on February 04, 2011
Prosecutor Apologizes for Handling of Crime Lab DNA Scandal, by Peter Jamison in SFWeekly: A prosecutor in the office of District Attorney George Gascón apologized last week to defense lawyers for his failure to turn over potentially exculpatory documents indicating that a mix-up of DNA samples took place at the San Francisco Police Department crime lab in 2008...

CO: "Public defenders challenge law that delays access to a lawyer"

Posted on February 02, 2011
Public defenders challenge law that delays access to a lawyer in Colorado Springs Gazette.com via AP: The law in Colorado states that a misdemeanor defendant who can't afford an attorney may apply for a public defender only after meeting with a prosecutor...

NJ: Guilt relevant to criminal defense malpractice

Posted on January 31, 2011
Sued for Malpractice, Defense Lawyer Can Allege Client's Guilt by Mary Pat Gallagher in The Philadelphia Legal Intelligencer, January 28, 2011: A criminal defense lawyer sued for malpractice should have been allowed to pursue evidence to bolster his claim that the ex-client was convicted because he was guilty, a New Jersey appeals court says...

WI: "Convicted attorneys are still practicing"

Posted on January 30, 2011
In the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Convicted attorneys are still practicing / Some even have kept their licenses while serving time for their crimes by Cary Spivak and Ben Poston: At least 135 attorneys with criminal convictions are practicing law today in Wisconsin - including some who kept their licenses while serving time and others who got them back before they were off probation, a Journal Sentinel investigation has found...

MA moving toward PD system

Posted on January 24, 2011
On Boston.com today: Call for public defender overhaul / Patrick seeks to end costly use of private lawyers for the indigent by Andrea Estes: Governor Deval Patrick wants to eliminate the use of private attorneys to represent indigent defendants, an entrenched $200 million system that has been attacked as unfair by prosecutors across the state...

CA6: Lawyer mishandling child porn liable

Posted on January 21, 2011
Courthouse News Service: Lawyer in Hot Water for Photoshopping Child Porn by Dan McCue, also noted on ABAJ: Lawyer Acting as Expert Witness Violated Child Porn Law With Court Exhibits, 6th Circuit Rules. The case is Doe v. Boland, 09-4281 (6th Cir. January 19, 2011).

CT prosecutor resigns amid allegations of favorable treatment for one defense lawyer

Posted on January 17, 2011
A veteran Connecticut prosecutor has resigned amid allegations of favorable treatment of a defense lawyer who has been a friend since childhood: Waterbury State’s Attorney John A. Connelly has resigned effective Feb. 1, according to Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Richard N...

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