I am attending a cutting edge seminar tomorrow on Tennessee's breath test machine . Virginia DUI lawyer Michael Tillotson is sponsoring the DUI defense training session. During the seminar , I will be posting updates. You can follow them at www.twittter.com/RobMcKinney I will be posting some articles here next week.
Yesterday was a milestone for the Nashville Criminal Law Report . Tuesday is DUI day in the General Sessions Court for Nashville Davidson County , Tennessee. All drunk driving cases that are set for trial or hearing are on Tuesday.As I was leaving court , a couple of officers told me I am behind the times on DUI enforcement on West End Avenue. I had previously posted about the DUI stops by Electronic Express. It appears they have moved down a block or two to set up shop in a liquor store parking lot.
Thanks for reading the blog guys. From the folks at Metro Nashville's DUI unit , October is the most common month to be arrested for DUI.
Most Tennessee driving under the influence (DUI) cases start with a traffic stop.Once a police officer observes a traffic violation then the police have probable cause for a traffic stop.One traffic violation that I see in Nashville are seat belt violations.
Under Tennessee law , all those in the front seat of a car or truck must be wearing a sat belt. A study from Washington State compared 3000 drivers who got seat belt tickets at night to 300 drivers who did not but were randomly selected from driver's license lists. The ticketed were over 500% more likely to have a felony record.Also , they were more likely to have prior alcohol violations.
Before you leave the parking lot , put on your seat belt.
In Tennessee criminal courts , we hear the word " Probable Cause'" used a lot.
Probable cause is a legal term of art that means a constitutionally prescribed standard of proof.Probable cause is the burden of proof necessary for the issuance of an indictment or an arrest warrant.
This is the standard of proof required to send a case from a preliminary hearing to the grand jury.
A Davidson county jury returned a verdict in the Mark Chesnut shooting of attempted first degree murder. The co-defendant who shot Officer Chesnut plead guilty on the morning of trial. The key question that had to be determined by the jury was the defendant criminally responsible for the shooting. In Tennessee , a person is just as guilty as the man that pulled the trigger if the jury finds he was criminally responsible for the criminal act.
Here's the law :
Base upon Tennessee law if the jury found the defendant gave the gun to the shooter. The co-defendant is just as guilty.
Interrogation techniques work and sometimes they lead to false confessions in murder and child sex crimes. Why ?
Suspect factors :
1. Studies have shown that vulnerable persons , such as juveniles , mentally ill or mentally retarded are much more vulnerable to police interrogation techniques.
2 .However , The Reid techniques and it's variations also work with normal people.
Three Interrogation Techniques :
1.Police bait present true and false testimony , thus create a feeling of hopelessness.
2. Contrasts of far worse punishment with minimizes version of offense that is offered. Leniency with the District Attorney and the judge may not be promised but it is implied.
3.Relentless interrogation over long periods of time.
Snitches or confidential informants are one of the standard tools that police and District Attorneys use in trying to obtain a conviction in a criminal case.. In two high profile cases here in Nashville , Tennessee the jail house snitch was used effectively. First , Perry March was tried of trying to arrange a murder of his former In-Laws from his jail cell. The state tried that case first and put Mr.March in jail based in large part of the snitch testimony.Secondly , Bruce Mendenhall was convicted in a murder for hire using a snitch as well.
Who makes the decision to develop jailhouse snitch testimony ? I often read the Snitching Blog. Today , Alexandra Natapoff wrote about an interesting efforts to preclude jailhouse snitching. Here's a copy of a motion designed to curtail jailhouse snitching. Take a look a homicide detectives that regularly use jail house snitches.
Thanks again to the Snitching Blog for their insights on this topic.
Criminal defense lawyers across the country continue to struggle with the ramification of the Padillia v Kentucky. I ran ac cross the federal public defender's web site and found this great form. it is a form to help criminal defense attorneys to determine a clients immigration status. Since Padillia made us immigration attorneys , it is imperative to get the facts.
For the last three years , I have organized the annual DUI continuing legal education seminar for the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense lawyers. It is scheduled for October 21 and 22 2010 in Tunica , Mississippi.Here's a list of the presenters for day 1 of the seminar;
You can get more information and register for the seminar at www.TACDL.com
I hope to see you there.
Why would an innocent person confess to a murder or rape that they didn't commit.Ask Eddie Lowery. Mr Lowery was convicted of rape with no physical evidence that he committed the rape. However , one piece of evidence was present , his confession. Mr Lowery was convicted by a jury , but later science set him free. After the conviction DNA evidence proved another person committed the crime.
Brandon Garrett of the University of Virginia School of Law has recently published a study of 40 other cases where a person gave a false confession that was later cleared of the crime by DNA evidence.One area of Mr.Garrett 's paper focused on police contamination of information . The accused is fed evidence by the police on details of the crime to make the confession have more credibility. Also , more than half of those that falsely confessed were mentally disabled.
What can be done to stop false confessions ?
Jim Trainum, a former policeman who now advises police departments on training officers to avoid false confessions, explained that few of them intend to contaminate an interrogation or convict the innocent.
“You become so fixated on ‘This is the right person, this is the guilty person’ that you tend to ignore everything else,” he said. The problem with false confessions, he said, is “the wrong person is still out there, and he’s able to reoffend.”
Mr. Trainum has become an advocate of videotaping entire interrogations. Requirements for recording confessions vary widely across the country. Ten states require videotaping of at least some interrogations, like those in crimes that carry the death penalty, and seven state supreme courts have required or strongly encouraged recording.
Some police detectives are trained in the Reid method of police interrogation. This technique can lead to false or involuntary confessions.
Here's my suggestion. Do not speak to a police officer without your lawyer present even if you are not charged with a crime yet.
Nashville , Tennessee was named recently as the fourth best college town in America. In Nashville , we are lucky to have Vanderbilt , Belmont , Tennessee State , David Lipscomb , Fisk and several other fine schools. Right down I-24 in Murfreesboro , Tennessee is MTSU. College students away from home sometimes have brushes with the police especially with alcohol and DUI charges. Here is a short video explaining the various issues with college students and the criminal process.
You might be wondering why I have a picture of Electronic Express on West End Avenue in Nashville , Tennessee on a criminal law blog.. Here's why.This parking lot is where a lot of DUI enforcement officers set up radar to catch drunk drivers speeding. A traffic violation is probable cause to stop a car.. As you are driving down West End after dinner , the police are looking for DUI drivers. West End Avenue in Nashville is one of the DUI hot spots to avoid in Nashville. Metro Nashville Police routinely step up on around Twenty-ninth and West End. Here's my tips on surviving a DUI in Nashville , Tennessee.
An arraignment is the first formal procedure in the criminal courts in Tennessee. An arraignment is the procedure where the accused is brought before the court to plead to the criminal charge in the indictment or presentment.The defendant is made aware of the charge and enters a plea.
Now , the formal reading of the indictment or presentment is usually waived. In fact , your appearance can be waived and your lawyer can appear for you at your first court appearance.
Your charged with a crime like possession of drugs or aggravated assault. You are put on probation and you think your problems are gone. Wrong. A new trend in Tennessee as it relates to probation cases is to include a condition of probation that waives your Fourth Amendment right of an illegal search and seizure. Paragraph 7 of the probation order of the Board of Probation and Parole provides as following:
I agree to a search, without a warrant, of my person, vehicle, property or place of residence by any probation/parole officer or law enforcement officer at any time.
When I first read this, I was shocked and was sure it was unconstitutional. However, the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Knights upheld a probation order search. Tennessee follows the Knights holding. The key difference in the Knights case is that the officers knew of the order. Does the probation order cure an illegal search if the officers were not aware of the order?
For now, citizens on probation in Tennessee have no Fourth Amendment protection.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled on whether cellphone tracking required the level of proof needed for wiretaps. The Court held that judges can require the government to meet the standards of wiretaps when requesting cellphone data to track alleged suspects in drug activity.The lower court demanded that law enforcement seek a search warrant for the cellphone records and the Justice Department was fighting the search warrant requirement. The attack on the Fourth Amendment continues to be waged by the government.
John Lennon's killer Mark David Chapman was denied parole for the sixth time in New York recently. Mr. Chapman has served over 30 years for the murder. Yoko Ono urged against Mr. Chapman's release on fears of safety for her family. Chapman will go up for parole again in 2012. He received 20 to life for his crime. I don't understand the New York penal code . If Mr. Chapman was convicted for first degree murder in Tennessee , he would have to serve over 51 years before he would be eligible. In 2012 , we will be talking about it again.
One of the critical elements of any drunk driving (DUI) investigation is the field sobriety tests. In this post , I hope to explain what the police officers are looking for in the walk-and-turn test. The walk-and-turn test is just one of the three standardized field sobriety tests. Often , I have clients that tell me they passed only to discover the police officer failed them on the DUI tests.
List of Clues on the Walk-and-Turn Tests
If you fail two or more of these eight clues , you fail this test.The tests are designed for failure. I created a video on the walk-and-turn test. Hit the link for more information on the walk-and-turn test.
If you have any questions about the topic , please feel free to post a message in the contact section of my website http://www.mckinneylawfirm.com/ Also , please feel free to let me know of any questions you might have in the areas of DUI law or criminal defense .
I had a motion to suppress a search warrant in a drug case in criminal court today in Gallatin , Tn.today.By agreement the case was dismissed and I headed back to Nashville. Riding down I-65 , I was thinking about lunch which is always a highlight. Prince's or Neely's BBQ was the option until I remembered the article in the Tennessean about Peter Chinn . Mr. Chinn opened a Korean BBQ taco restaurant on Clarksville Highway. I have been reading about the Korean BBQ taco trucks that are all the rage in Los Angeles. Here I go.
I finally found Peter Chinn's Korean BBQ. I pull in and it is take out only , however there are a couple of tables outside. I order a kimchi taco , a short rib taco , and a pork taco. Out comes the Styrofoam box and back to the office. My car is quickly filled with a wonderful aroma of Asian sensations. On Rosa Parks , I peek into the box and take a peek. Delight. I take a bite of the short rib taco. It melts in my mouth. I then think of the quickest way to get back.Oh the image isn't from Chinns but I wanted everyone to see what a Korean taco looks like.
Back at the office , the feast begins. The kimchi is first.Fermented cabbage and beef on a corn tortilla.Yum. Short rib next with a splash of the red fiery sauce on the side. The sauce overwhelmed the goodness of the taco. Warning be careful of the sauce. no sauce on the pork taco and I get the full flavors of what I smelled in the car.
The meal was Five stars. The only drawback was it was takeout and the location was not convenient. If it was in East Nashville or the Gulch it would be golden. It also had a vegetarian choice as well as a fish taco.
Check it out soon. Here's the web site www.peterchinns.com
Rudy Giuliani's daughter Caroline appeared in a New York courtroom Tuesday.She was charged with shoplifting some cosmetics from a store. Ms Giuliani received a plea under an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal (ACD). Once she performs some public service work likely to be at a sanitation garage ,her criminal case will be dismissed.
In the General Sessions Courts for Nashville Davidson County Tennessee , there are similar procedures to handle some petty crimes.Shoplifting , simple possession of drugs and various other criminal charges can be disposed of like Ms.Giuliani's case. The disposition in Nashville courts is referred to as an under advisement plea. Usually a plea bargain is reached to do public service work or some other type of project , a plea is entered but disposition is reserved if you do what you are supposed to do case dismissed. You fail to do it .Jail and a permanent criminal conviction will be on your record. These types of dispositions are not just for the rich and famous , but are available to the average citizen. Ask your attorney if you are eligible for this type of plea bargain.
As summer fades, the Labor Day weekend is upon us. Motorists and boaters will be out in full force in the Volunteer State this weekend. Holiday weekends also mark an increased effort by the police for DUI enforcement and more boat checks by the Tennessee Wildlife Resource officers.Firs , I encourage every one to drive safe and drink responsibly.. However , the DUI roadblocks have been announced.
In the State of Tennessee , it is expected the police will set up over 200 roadblocks and spend thousands of dollars running TV ads on public awareness. Mt Juliet Police announced a series of roadblocks they are conduction in Wilson County Tennessee.
DUI checkpoints are allowed under the Tennessee Constitution provided the particular DUI roadblock is established and operated under predetermined operational guidelines and supervisory authority that limits arbitrary discretion of law enforcement officers.
I hope every one has a safe and happy Labor day this weekend.
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