Heroin in? A follow up.

I had a client not too long ago who was charged with "criminally possessing a hypodermic instrument" in violation of NY PL 220.45. My client was a heroin addict. He overdosed in a friends house. His friend called an ambulance. For some reason, the police showed up as well. Because there was a needle near my client, he was charged with a Class A misdemeanor, a relatively serious charge.

Well it turns out the house he allegedly committed his crime in was just across the town line, which was just outside the jurisdiction of the police department that wrote him the appearance ticket. Therefore, the court lacked "geographic jursiduction" over my client.

I showed up at the scheduled court appearance without my client and made an oral motion to dismiss the charge for lack of jurisdiction. The Judge really had no choice but to grant the motion.

The prosecutor basically conceded to my argument to dismiss. However, he questioned if what I was doing was in the best interest of my client, who obviously was a heroin addict. I felt a little guilty at first but now looking back, I am confident that a jail would have been worst possible place for my client to deal with his problem in.

Need a criminal lawyer? Read this.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6123526/The-Truth-About-Hiring-a-Criminal-Defense-Lawyer/

I love this guy. When I was starting out as a criminal defense attorney I spent most of my time seeking out and learning from the best practitioners out there. Brian Tannebaum knows what he is talking about in this e-book.

8 year old boy shoots dad

If you haven't heard, an 8 year old boy confessed to shooting his father and there is video of the confession.

Legal pundits are generally shocked that law enforcement conducted this interview for several reasons: One, because it was a child who just lost his dad. Two, because the cops were basically putting words in his mouth. Three, that if the confession was the truth, there is no way it would be admissible at trial and now the police have "blown" the case.

As a lawyer, I find this story interesting because it made me think about the laws that protect citizens from being the victims of coerced confessions. I'm sure that the police in this case believed they were doing the right thing. My opinion is that they intentionally pressured the kid to say that he did it. The kid is too young to understand that he has the right to an attorney to look out for him. Whether he did it or not, there can be no disputing the fact that the interrogators' convinced him the right thing to do was to admit to the crime, as opposed to telling the truth.

Texting While Driving or TWI

I knew it wouldn't be too long before legislatures everywhere created the new offense of "texting while driving". As a traffic ticket and criminal defense attorney, I'm a little intrigued. First of all, this new offense is completely unnecessary. It's not going to prevent people from texting while driving, just as the driving while using your cell phone law has not modified that behavior either. By the way, what about those 4x6 DVD displays people have in their dashboards? It won't be long until the new offense of "watching tv while driving" is created.

Lawyers love new laws. Sooner or later I'll get a client charged with the new offense. I can't wait until the cross examination. "Officer, you never actually saw my client type in text, did you?"

Plaintiff's lawyers like this law too. If someone is injured an a car accident by a "texter" and they are convicted of the texting offense, proving negligence will be easy.

Criminal Procedure

A big part of my job as a criminal defense attorney is simply making a prosecutor do his or her job. The criminal procedure law is very specific and failure to follow the rules for prosecuting a defendant can result in either a dismissal of a case, or a far better plea bargain offer than what was made initially. I make sure a prosecutor follows the rules. Most prosecutors do their job very well, especially in Saratoga County where I live. But every once in a while, a prosecutor slips up and my client makes out well. Don't worry, I'm not talking about violent criminals here. Most of my clients are white collar.

I'm always amazed when a prosecutor asks me if my client has a criminal history. First,I'm pretty sure that running a record on a defendant is part of a prosecutor's job. Second, most of my clients are actually criminals and are probably not telling me the truth. Third, I have no way of getting the records a prosecutor can get. So why would they ask me about my client's record?

Just the other day I was working out a deal for a client charged with a marijuana offense. I rejected the first plea bargain offer and I was negotiating. The prosecutor asked me if the client had a criminal history. My client did in fact tell me this wasn't his first offense but he couldn't remember the outcome of the case, nor could he even remember the charge. So the case could have been dismissed or plea bargained, who knows? When this prosecutor asked me the criminal history question, what was I supposed to say? I said I don't know, and that was the truth. Apparently that answer was good enough for him and he gave my client a sweet deal.