Criminal Law

Woman Tries to Avoid Forgery Hearing With...Forged Doctor's Note

Posted on March 31, 2011
If one were to make a list of the best ways to convince a judge or that he or she is not the kind of person who should receive a harsh sentence after being convicted of forging prescriptions to obtain medication, showing up to court with a forged doctor's note in order to have the sentencing hearing reset would probably be fairly low on the list...

Student Steals $60,000 Worth of Textbooks From College

Posted on March 28, 2011
With the outrageous prices that colleges charge for new and used textbooks and the less-than-vigilant security that often surrounds college bookstores, there can be no doubt that cash-strapped college students across the country steal textbooks and resell them in order to make a little cash on the side...

Man Manages to Outrun Electricity, Can't Avoid Police

Posted on March 24, 2011
Advocates for the legalization of marijuana often contend that it does not affect the mind or body as severely as many legalized substances such as alcohol and cigarettes. That argument is made a little stronger every time someone like thirty-one year-old Pennsylvanian Seth Sanders decides to get high on some legal substance and embark on a miniature crime spree...

The Defense of Duress

Posted on March 21, 2011
Every criminal case is different, and there are situations where it is simply best for a criminal defendant to say "OK, I did it," rather than trying to fight the case out in court. Admitting responsibility for a particular occurrence does not, however, mean that an individual is admitting that he or she is guilty of a crime...

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Court of Criminal Appeals Upholds Congressional Crackdown on Commercial Carriers...

Posted on March 20, 2011
If you hold a commercial drivers' license and are reading this blog, the first thing you thought when you saw the title was "wow, that is a lot of alliteration," but the second thing you probably thought was "great, now I have no shot at getting out of those three speeding tickets I accrued in three different states last week...

New Jersey Bill Gives "Sexting" Teens a Break

Posted on March 17, 2011
In what is hopefully a sign of things to come, the New Jersey Assembly has passed a bill that allows teens who are caught "sexting," (a slang term for sending nude or sexually explicit pictures of oneself to another via text message) to avoid being prosecuted as sex offenders...

Court of Criminal Appeals Overturns Murder Conviction

Posted on March 13, 2011
Imagine that you are the defendant in a trial where you have been charged with first-degree premeditated murder. At your trial, the state has introduced evidence that it thinks demonstrates that you did the following: declarations previously made by you that you intended to kill the victim, evidence that you procured of a weapon prior to the murder, that you used a deadly weapon on an unarmed victim, that you killed the victim in a particularly cruel manner, that you inflicted multiple wounds on the defendant, that you destroyed or hid of evidence of the killing, and that you were noticeably calm immediately after the killing...

"Can You Guarantee That I Will Not Go To Jail?"

Posted on March 10, 2011
It is the question that is routinely asked of every criminal defense attorney in any kind of criminal matter ranging from the smallest misdemeanors to serious felonies. Plainly put, criminal defendants want to know if their attorneys to whom they are going to pay their hard-earned money for criminal representation can guarantee the outcome that every criminal defendant desperately desires: that he or she will not have to go to jail...

Marijuana Growers Use Alligator to Guard Merchandise

Posted on March 09, 2011
Truth be told, it is pretty hard to deny that you are serious about growing pot when you have 2,300 pot plants in your basement. It is even harder to deny that you might be a marijuana salesman when you use a four-foot long alligator named Wally to guard your stash from intruders...

Is That a Chicken in Your Pants, or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

Posted on March 05, 2011
It would seem that the most effective way to avoid being caught shoplifting (besides, of course, not shoplifting) would be to remain inconspicuous and not draw too much attention to yourself. To that end, then, it would stand to reason that shoving a rotisserie chicken down the front of your pants and strolling through Wal-Mart might not be the most effective means of evading arrest and getting away with the goods...

Chain of Custody

Posted on March 04, 2011
Chain of custody is a concept that generally finds itself in the spotlight when a certain piece of evidence plays a critical role in a criminal trial. Two examples of when chain of custody issues would iris could occur when a blood test is the only piece of evidence that might link the defendant to intoxication in a murder trial or when a fluid sample is the only piece of evidence linking a defendant to a murder scene in a homicide trial...

Nanny-Cam Catches Abuse of Toddler

Posted on March 01, 2011
Leaving your child in the care of another person is an extremely nerve-racking proposition for most parents, especially if the person caring for your child is a nanny or some other individual with whom you do not have a prior-existing relationship. In an effort to quell this anxiety, many parents have started installing "nanny-cams" in their homes to allow them to keep an eye on their young ones while they are away...

Mayor Asks for "Professional Courtesy" during DUI stop...

Posted on February 26, 2011
While volunteering to be the designated driver is a noble undertaking, it probably helps to understand what exactly it is that you are volunteering to do, which is to refrain from consuming alcohol to the point that it affects your ability to drive so that you can escort others safely home...

"Overcharging" in criminal cases...

Posted on February 24, 2011
If you surveyed all currently charged and recently convicted criminal defendants in Tennessee, you can bet that at least 95% of them would say they are innocent or were charged and convicted of a sentence more serious than that of which they should have been convicted...

Court Appeals Cracks Down on "Skeleton" Motions

Posted on February 21, 2011
For years, attorneys handling criminal appeals have been filing motions known as "skeleton" motions in order to avoid the thirty-day limit for requesting a new trial established by the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure. These motions are generally motions that contain just enough information to actually be considered motions for a new trial but without any real information pertaining to the motion, the case, or the grounds for appeals...

Man Gets Six-Year Prison Sentence for Stealing Pair of Socks

Posted on February 18, 2011
A lot of people like to complain about how the criminal justice system is "broken," and it is a safe bet that forty-six year-old Dung Hoang Duong of Orange County, California is one of those people now that he has been sentenced to serve a six-year prison sentence for shoplifting a solitary pair of socks valued at approximately $5...

"Are You A Cop?"

Posted on February 16, 2011
Any attorney who does criminal defense work for a significant amount of time will undoubtedly participate in a client interview during which the following exchange occurs: Client: "so, then I started to get nervous and so I asked the person "are you a cop?" Attorney: "and what did they say?" Client: "they said no...

Why You Shouldn't Beat Your Girlfriend in Public...

Posted on February 13, 2011
Anyone looking for an example of how life imitates art need look no further than this blog article. New Yorker David Williams was enjoying one of his favorite outdoor activities, which unfortunately consisted of beating up his girlfriend, last Friday at around 8 p...

Hit-and-Run Suspect ID'ed by False Teeth

Posted on February 12, 2011
During any given week, you can expect to see a news story where a criminal suspect is identified by something that he or she has left behind at the crime scene. Very often it is something such as a shoe, a glove, burglary tools, or some sort of DNA evidence...

The Power of Circumstantial Evidence

Posted on February 10, 2011
The fact that criminal offenses must be proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" in order for a defendant to be convicted is probably the most recognized concept in criminal law this side of "the right to remain silent." That does not, however, mean the concept is well understood by most citizens...

The Police Do Not Need Your Help With Traffic Stops...

Posted on February 08, 2011
If you are ever driving down the road, see a policeman in the middle of a traffic stop, and decide that the officer may need your assistance it is always wise to resist the impulse to help the officer. This is especially true if you are inebriated and randomly decide to turn that officer's traffic stop into your own personal job audition a la American Idol...

Failure to Pay Child Support

Posted on February 04, 2011
Failure to pay child support is not technically classified as a "criminal offense," but it is an action that often has criminal ramifications and often forces the accused to seek criminal representation. Every year, many Tennesseans find themselves being brought into court to answer for failure to pay...

Football Mom Forges Son's Name on Letter of Intent

Posted on February 02, 2011
Any college football fan probably knows a little bit about the day known as National Signing Day when most high-school football players sign their letters of intent and fax them to the school of their choice in order to accept a scholarship offer from that school...

Akron Mom Jailed For Placing Kids in Better School...

Posted on January 31, 2011
Ohioans who lose sleep over the thought of poor children becoming educated can rest easier now. In fact, they can rest assured that their state will apparently do whatever it takes to make sure that children who are unfortunate enough to reside in public housing do not distract the more fortunate children from getting a top notch education in its nicer public schools...

How Strong Is the Evidence Against Me?

Posted on January 30, 2011
In criminal trials, the question is not so much whether a defendant did or did not commit the crime alleged, but rather whether the prosecution will be able prove that the defendant committed one or more of the crimes alleged. This inquiry is especially critical during the stage of a criminal trial where the option to plea bargain is still available to the defendant...

Illegal Search Causes State Supreme Court To Overturn Drug Conviction

Posted on January 27, 2011
If a criminal defendant is charged with a drug-related offense, there is a pretty good chance that he or she was caught with drugs on their person, in their car, or in their home or that witnesses saw that person participate in a drug transaction. Because evidence of this type is extremely difficult to overcome at trial, making sure it is not presented to the jury is a criminal defense attorney's number one priority...

Release Eligibility Dates

Posted on January 25, 2011
Release eligibility is a concept that is misunderstood by many Tennesseans who are discussing criminal sentencing. Most often, it is misinterpreted as automatically allowing a defendant to walk out of confinement after serving only a portion of their sentence, especially by those who are displeased with the criminal justice system and complain that criminal defendants often get off too easy...

Detectives Pose as Fake Lawyers to Secure Guilty Plea

Posted on January 22, 2011
In every profession, there are some who go about their job the right way and some who do not. Unfortunately, those who do their job the wrong way and happen to be in law enforcement have the ability to put the lives and freedom of citizens in serious jeopardy...

Crime Scene Photographs

Posted on January 19, 2011
If you watch any legal drama or real-life murder trial, the chances are pretty high that you will see the prosecution attempt to get photographs of the crime scene introduced into evidence and displayed to the jury at trial. Very often, these photographs will depict the victim covered in blood, riddled with gunshots, or in some other manner that proves extremely prejudicial to the defendant...

Double Jeopardy Considerations

Posted on January 17, 2011
Double jeopardy is a criminal law concept of which most Tennesseans have at least a basic understanding. In it's most basic form, it signifies the Constitutional guarantee that criminal defendants who are acquitted of a particular offense do not have to fear being placed on trial for that offense at a later date, but the double jeopardy clause actually provides far more protection than that under its current interpretation.

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