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The Chinese strategist Sun Tzu has written on the five factors from which victory can be obtained. One principle is "One who, fully prepared, awaits the unprepared will be victorious."
One of the best tools to achieve that teaching of being prepared is the preliminary hearing.
Everyday I see criminal lawyers in various counties waving
Scott Greenfield writer of Simple Justice posted about an issue on jury selection which is the most crucial part of a trial. The Ohio Supreme Court reversed a homicide conviction because the trial judge refused to dismiss a deaf juror from the panel for cause in State v. Speer.The basic facts were that the
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Facebook , Twitter and other forms of social media are exploding. I am constantly amazed at what people put on their Facebook or MySpace. Police and District Attorneys are looking at you.My advice is if you are facing criminal charges in Tennessee is to take down all social media.Live without it until your case is
Nashville ,Tn. television station WSMV is running gavel to gavel coverage of the trial of Ron Killings this week. Killings is on trial for the homicide of a young girl.It is alleged that Killings was driving his car at twice the legal speed when he struck and killed the young girl. Killings was on duty as a law enforcement officer in Rutherford County.The District Attorney’s theory was that it was a reckless homicide.A jury was brought in from Chattanooga,Tn to decide the case.Mr. Killings attorney moved for a change of venue due to pretrial publicity.
Rule 21 of The Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure provides for a change of venue under certain conditions.The court may change venue of a criminal case on the defendant’s motion or on it’s own initiative with the defendant’s consent.The court should order a venue change when a fair trial is unlikely because of undue excitement against the defendant in the county where the offense was committed or for other cause.
Continue Reading A Change of Venue In Murfreesboro Murder Case
Nicole Young and Clay Carey of The Tennessean reported about the use of social media by Detective Dean Haney of the Metro Nashville Police Department to combat crime.The use of social media such as Facebook,Twitter , and My Space is growing at a tremendous rate. I even have a Facebook page.Using Facebook and other social media in criminal and personal injury cases have been used since it’s inception, but now it’s use is exploding.
Detective Haney searches the photos he retrieves from MySpace and Facebook to post on the wall at Nashville’s North Precinct.It amazes me what people post on Facebook.Haney reports that he has seen AK-47 rifles , weapons, and stacks of cash.In under age consumption of alcohol cases , The Franklin Police Department and the Brentwood Police Department routinely search social media sites to corroborate the charges.Police in Chattanooga,Tn discovered an on line forum of people planning illegal drag races.Continue Reading The Use of Facebook to Gather Evidence Takes Off
The Sentencing Law Blog reported on the U.S.Supreme Court’s Order in Briscoe v. Virginia which I have discussed in previous posts. In Briscoe , The Court heard arguments in January of this year on the application of The Confrontation Clause as it relates to forensic evidence reports specifically in drug and DUI cases..It was anticipated
Laura Sullivan of NPR just finished a three part report on the bail bond crisis in America. As a criminal defense attorney , I could not agree more with her conclusions.Ms. Sullivan reports in her article that Nashville Davidson County’s jail is one of America’s most overstuffed jails . The average daily jail population is 3,528 and it is at 107 % of capacity.
How does the bail bond system work in Nashville,Tn ? Once a defendant is arrested , a night court commissioner sets a bail bond. It is based in part on the nature of the crime and the defendant’s prior criminal record as well as several other factors. Once the bond is set, the accused can pay the cash amount , obtain a property bond , get pretrial release, or hire a professional bail bondsman.
The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office has a pretrial release program.If you qualify , one can be released without paying any of the bond amount.However, there are some fees that apply.A professional bail bondsman charges 10 % of the total bond plus an administrative fee.For example , the night court commissioner sets a bond of $10,000. You must pay a fee of $1000.00 to be released from the Davidson County Jail plus a fee for the service.Continue Reading Bail Bond Crisis in the U.S.
On Monday January 11,2010, The United States Supreme Court hears arguments in Briscoe v. Virginia. The Court takes up the issue of confrontation rights of a defendant less than seven months after the Court further expanded the defendant’s rights under the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts. Lyle Denniston of The SCOTUS Blog reported that prosecutors claim the Melendez-Diaz ruling has caused a severe disruption in the criminal justice system especially in prosecuting illegal drugs and drunk driving cases.It appears the Court is poised to reverse Melendez-Diaz.
Melendez-Diaz held that a defendant’s right guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause required the government to allow the defendant to face his accusers.The case further held that forensic reports from crime labs could not be used at trial unless the lab technician or forensic scientist who prepared the report was available for trial.Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court May Reverse Melendez-Diaz
Earlier this year, in Nicole Young’s The Tennessean article, Alcohol abuse rises on Tennessee waters, she wrote about the rise in boating under the influence cases (BUI) in Tennessee.
In 2008, there were over 152 arrests for boating under the influence. It’s no surprise to me, considering the number of lakes we have around