December 2013

From the Jury Room , the question is whether a older juror is more likely to vote for a conviction in a criminal case ? Unfortunately the answer is yes. A study was conducted in Florida in which 700 felony trials were analyzed . From the data , it appears that the elderly are more

Yesterday’s post was my modest proposal for Governor Haslam to commute all those on death row to a sentence of life without parole instead of the death penalty. The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts contacted me today with the cost of court appointed lawyers defending those facing the death penalty.

The cost to Tennessee

Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey made the news when he called for Tennessee to start executing those on death row. 79 people are on death row in Tennessee. Tennessee has not executed anyone in years. Delays are numerous as the appeals process is long and hard. With the delays , the victim’s families play the waiting

Last week , a young lawyer had a first court appearance . Fear seeped in after years of college and law school . Uncertainty was the mood of the day . Few law schools truly prepare a lawyer for their first court appearance . I was lucky. I clerked for a Nashville trial judge and felt comfortable

I have never figured out who reads this blog. I think mostly criminal defense lawyers and a few prosecutors. In that vein, I am starting a new feature that will be posted on Mondays. It will be the criminal law tip of the week. I just hope I have a tip each week.

My first

Troubled Titan’s wide receiver Kenny Britt now uses his smart phone to record the police when they question him. USA Today reported that a number of NFL players are now video recording their encounters with police officers. Britt is no stranger to the law having been arrested or facing charges since 2010. Britt now reports that

I have a confession. I love to read John Grisham’s books. I just finished Sycamore Row. It was a great story. Many of the characters were from Grisham’s first book . Jake  Brigance returns  to try a will contest case. The trial revisits emotions from a time long ago. I  highly recommend the book.