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.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mnY8WINAgQg%3Ffs%3D1%26hl%3Den_US

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 :

A person is criminally responsible for an offense committed by the conduct of another, if:

 

(1) Acting with the culpability required for the offense, the person causes or aids an innocent or irresponsible person to engage in conduct prohibited by the definition of the offense;

 

(2) Acting with intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense, or to benefit in the proceeds or results of the offense, the person solicits, directs, aids, or attempts to aid another person to commit the offense; or

 

(3) Having a duty imposed by law or voluntarily undertaken to prevent commission of the offense and acting with intent to benefit in the proceeds or results of the offense, or to promote or assist its commission, the person fails to make a reasonable effort to prevent commission of the offense.

Base upon Tennessee law if the jury found the defendant gave the gun to the shooter. The co-defendant is just as guilty.

I am again starting a new topic of The Nashville Criminal Law Report .Our new topic is the question of the  week. Please post your question on any issue in Tennessee criminal law or DUI law in the comment section of the blog. I will pick the best question and attempt to answer. The winner will receive a gift card as the prize. I will answer the question each Thursday beginning on September 30 2010.

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;

  1. Dour Aaron of Manchester , Tennessee will be speaking on ethics.
  2. Judge Steve Dozier ,  Division I Criminal Court Judge in Nashville  covers evidence issues in a DUI case.
  3. Nashville attorney Ed Ryan will be discussing tips for an effective preliminary hearing.
  4. Tony Corrato of Atlanta , Georgia gives his insights on the ins and outs on drug recognition experts.
  5. Judge Mark Fishburn , Judge of Division VI of Nashville’s criminal courts which handles all DUI cases at the circuit court level in Nashville , will be giving a DUI case law update.
  6. Sara Compher-Rice of Knoxville,Tennessee will be presenting on the most recent changes in Tennessee’ s new DUI laws in that go into effect 1-1-2011. 
  7. Eddie Davidson of Nashville has a great presentation on voir dire and the values based trial story.
  8. Glenn Funk of Nashville, Tennessee wraps up day 1 with a conclusion of ethics.

You can get more information and register for the seminar at www.TACDL.com

I hope to see you there.