Nashville Criminal Law Report : Nashville DUI Lawyer & Attorney : Rob McKinney Law Firm : TN Criminal Defense, Domestic Violence : Cheatham, Davidson, Montgomery Counties

I started reading James McElhaney's Trial Notebook. Mr McElhaney has written over the years on litigation for the American Bar Association. Here is his list  for the essential qualities of winning attorneys ;

• Want to help others.
• Need to right a wrong.
• Must maintain high ethical standards.
• A need to know everything.
• Need to communicate.
• Winners must have goals.
• Be imaginative
• Be energetic and persistent.
• Be realistic.
• Not afraid to fight.

I have read Mr. McElhaney's columns for years and I have always learned something . Chapter one of his book was a great start.

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A murder trial in Washington D.C. was the scene  where a client made a poor choice in his attorney for his pending murder charge . Judge William Jackson relieved  Joseph Rakofsky during the middle of the defendant's murder trial. The judge made findings that the lawyer didn't have a grasp of legal procedures . The last straw occurred Friday when Rakofsky's private investigator made a filing in court alleging that Mr. Rakofsky wanted him to fabricate a witness's testimony. Rakofsky encouraged his investigator to undertake unethical behavior and then refused to pay the investigator. One last tidbit , it was Rakofsky's first trial. No , he didn't want to start out on a simple theft case . At least Cousin Vinny won his first trial.

Several of the criminal law pundits in the blogoshere have crucified Rakofsky for his marketing and his trial conduct. I would agree that he got in over his head and from reports acted in an unethical manner .  Moreover , he shouldn't have accepted the case .Worst of all he bragged on his Facebook page of getting a mistrial. Most lawyers get a mistrial when the jury is deadlocked not when they can't try a case . Also , what exactly is the blogoshere and does it matter ?

The lesson in this story is how to you hire a criminal defense lawyer . In Nashville , Tn., someone accused of a crime gets about 20 letters in the mail soliciting folks as clients . Do you hire a criminal defense lawyer because they have a nice letter and will represent you for four hundred bucks. No. You should hire a lawyer on years of experience , training , the willingness to take cases to trial , have preliminary hearings ,and basically fighting the man. it appears Mr. Rakofsky made dubious claims on his website. One question you might ask is have you tried any cases like the one I have been charged . One lawyer in Nashville even puts on his website I don't take cases to trial . Is that guy respected by the D.A.'s office ?  The bottom line is to check your lawyer's credentials out .

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It saddens me to report most DUI lawyers in Nashville, Tennessee have no clue as to the new DUI laws in Tennessee. The 2010 Tennessee State Legislature enacted several tough DUI laws. I have been been posting blog posts on the topic .I was asked to present a talk on the subject by the Tennessee Bar Association.The Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers sponsored a DUI training session where Sara Compher-Rice provided an excellent summary of the laws. I presented the new laws to a gathering of lawyers this month.Yet,lawyers have been asking me daily on the new DUI laws.

What does it take to be a great criminal attorney ?

Read and study the law and especially the new laws. It's a crying shame that the new laws came into effect and they are just now learning a client can't get bond on a DUI second offense.In Nashville , the General Sessions review docket is the answer. However , you have to hire a lawyer ASAP to get on the case.If you need help for a loved on with a DUI in Nashville or Middle Tennessee, send me an email Rob@RobMcKinneylaw.com

One last thought.If you are thinking about hiring a DUI lawyer ,ask them this question.How will the new Tennessee's new drunk driving laws(DUI) impact my case ? I am curious to know their answer.

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Seattle Trial lawyer Paul Luvera wrote an excellent post on his thoughts of being a plaintiff's lawyer. I thought his commentary applies to criminal defense lawyers as well.Here is his two points and with some of his observations ;

1.  We must be willing to fight for what we know to be right.

Criminal defense lawyers must be willing to fight the fight for the clients. We must defend the Constitution in every case or watch it be eroded with each opinion from an activist court.

Our 26^th President, Theodore Roosevelt gave a famous speech at the Sorbonne in Paris April 23, 1910 which became known as the "the man in the arena" speech. He told the audience:

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My trial tip of the day is to have a single or limited theory of the case. In a drunk driving (DUI) case , there are many defense theories that may be available.Pick the strongest and stay with it. Here is an example.Today , I had a case where there were two key issues.The strongest point was the issue of physical control of an automobile.So  instead of fighting the high breath test, I  focused on whether the client was in physical control of the car.By the way , my commentary on the physical control rule under Tennessee law is that it needs improvement.Under Tennessee law we are punishing a driver who decided they shouldn't drive by sleeping in the car then arresting them.

If it is a breath test case and your defense is acid reflux , talk about acid reflux and that a breath test machine may read the result in error.If it is a disconnect case , talk about that the physical manifestations not equaling the blood alcohol test.Pick the defense and show how the facts fit in that single category.A shot gun is a good weapon to shoot ducks , quail and friends of Dick Cheney.It is not a good weapon to attack a DUI case.You need a laser focus.

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Today starts a new topic for the Nashville Criminal Law Report .Brentwood , Tennessee lawyer John Day wrote a series of posts on " What it takes to be a great trial lawyer". I read Mr. Day's series of posts with a passion.  As I sat in court listening to a sentencing in criminal court here in Nashville , It reminded me of his thoughts. and observations. So here's my thoughts on " What it takes to be a great criminal defense lawyer.

                                              Know The Tennessee Rules of Evidence

As I mentioned earlier , I was watching a sentencing hearing while waiting for my case to be called. The defendant had plead guilty to  aggravated assault and was testifying as to his story of what happened . The Assistant District Attorney was cross examining him trying to impeach his testimony based upon a prior statement.to the police. One warning never talk to the police unless you have a lawyer with you. The method of cross by the state was against the rules. The defense attorney made a timely objection. However,  the court did not make any rulings because the objection was not precise as to reason the cross examination was improper.

The Assistant District Attorney was cross examining the defendant from a police report on what was alleged to have been his statement. No transcript or written statement was used.

One quality of a great criminal defense lawyer is you must know the Tennessee Rules of Evidence backwards and forwards. The second teaching point is always have your client read any report that may have his statement in it before he testifies at any hearing or trial.

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