The erosion of the Fourth Amendment is continuing at a rapid pace. I don’t know which will happen first.The disappearance of the Fourth Amendment or the melting of the North Pole. The U.S. Supreme Court dealt another body blow to the Fourth Amendment in Navarette v California . In Navarette , The Supreme Court of
May 2014
Will Being Too Poor to Pay Your Fine Send You to Jail ?
As I was driving to General Sessions Court in Springfield , Tennessee today , I was listening to a story on NPR . The storyline was about what happens when someone convicted of a crime can’t pay their fees. Often times , it appears that someone who can’t pay the fines or fees are…
Can The Police Search Your Trash Without A Warrant ?
On this day in 1988 , The United States Supreme Court allowed a search of a person’s trash without first obtaining a search warrant . Since that ruling a trash pull has become a standard police tactic in drug crime investigations. Once you put your trash can to the curb , the police can sift through…
Smile When You Enter The Courtroom
One of the blogs that I read is Seth Godin’s blog. It has a ton of information on business . One of his posts this week was on emotional hand-washing . Here is the post ;
Emotional handwashing
Emotions are far more contagious than any disease. A smile or a panic will spread through
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Issue Spotting in Tennessee DUI Cases
I was reviewing my material for a CLE presentation for the Tennessee Bar Association tomorrow. The topic I was assigned was the " Nuts and Bolts of DUI Defense ". One of the big mistakes that I witness among Tennessee DUI lawyers is identifying the issue. While I was at the Trial Lawyers College , one of the…
In Alabama , A Officer’s Word is Good Enough
One of my interests in the many components of the criminal justice is the area of forensic science . There has been a common occurrence of problems in forensic crime labs across the country . One of the biggest cases was of Annie Dookhan who falsified thousands of drug reports . Ms. Dookhan was later indicted and…
Knock and Talk Does Not Mean Talk and Wait
One police tactic is the ‘ knock and talk " . Basically , the police may not have enough information for a search warrant but they have a tip or suspect some type of criminal activity. It begins with a police officer knocking on the door then requesting to come in in to the house to…