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Tag: Gross Misdemeanor

POSITION OF POWER: Officer v. “Reasonable Person”

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Police Officer use of force is an ever-growing topic of discussion in today’s society. The news and social media have allowed people to not only hear about, but actually see, videos where force, even deadly force, is used. The take away, whether you agree with the officer’s actions or not, is that if an officer is telling you to do something, DO IT. Their authority is obvious and intimidating. They have the power and they will decide how to wield it. If you want to avoid trouble, listen, be polite, and answer their questions. The Fourth Amendment protects people from…

Bail: Misuse Leads to Coerced Guilty Pleas

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Every person arrested faces the potential that they will have to pay some sort of amount of money in order to gain their freedom during the course of their ciminal case.  If a person cannot pay their bail, or cannot come up with the money to pay a bail bondsman to pay their bail for them, they will remain in custody (jail) until their case is resolved. A few weeks ago, the New York Times published an article call the The Bail Trap.  (I highly recommend reading it!) The article focuses on the consequences that can befall a person who is…

It’s All Hearsay…or Is It?

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It’s All Hearsay! They don’t have anything. I often hear a client or potential client tell me that the police or prosecutor don’t have any evidence against them. “All they have is hearsay.” But what is hearsay really? Typical cases where hearsay is an issue are the ones where it is a “He said, she said” case such as domestic assault, assault, or criminal sexual conduct charges such as rape. Hearsay is not usually admissible as evidence at trial and lawyers can spend a lot of time arguing over what can and cannot come in as evidence. A simple question…

You hear it on TV and in the movies, “You have the right to remain silent…” But what does it mean?

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On more than one occasion, I have spoken to someone who tells me, “ They didn’t read me Miranda when they arrested me.” They think that this means that the arrest was bad and that the case will get thrown out.   But, the Mirandawarning you hear on TV and in the movies has nothing to do with the validity of the actual arrest – even though it is almost immediately recited to the “perp” upon arrest in the entertainment realm.  “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of…

I Was Pulled Over & I Have Been Drinking – What do I Do? (Part 2)

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Whether to take a test is like picking the lesser of two evils. Charged if you do, charged if you don’t. To preface this post – I am ONLY TALKING ABOUT whether or not there is a way to avoid being CHARGED with a DWI AFTER BEING ARRESTED.  I am NOT DISCUSSING whether or not a person will ULTIMATELY BE CONVICTED OF A DWI.  These are TWO VERY DIFFERENT THINGS. How to advise someone about whether or not to take the test has been a difficult question to answer for over a year now. The short answer is that there is…

I Was Pulled Over & I Have Been Drinking – What do I Do? (Part 1)

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It depends… It depends because DWI stops vary and so do the people involved.  Do you think you are over the limit? Are you close? Do you know you are over?  If your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is 0.08 or more, you are over the legal limit and will be charged with a DWI. As I have found from people’s reactions to my advice and information, a person’s comfort level in exercising certain rights he or she may have during a traffic stop varies. In this answer, I am answering as a defense attorney, with my eye on possibly defending…