Recent Blog Posts
Why Would Someone Waive The Right To A Jury Trial?
Disputes over the validity of evidence, and sometimes even appeals of verdicts that have already been returned, occur when the state does not notify defendants in criminal cases of their rights or when defendants waive those rights as a result of deception or duress. For example, courts have overturned convictions on appeal in cases… Read More »
Is A Mistake Of Fact Defense Your Ticket To An Acquittal?
Law students realize, by the time they finish their first semester course on criminal law, that the ways you can legitimately cast doubt on a defendant’s guilt are virtually endless. From alibis to prosecution witnesses with ulterior motives to unfairly obtained evidence, defenses go well beyond saying, “I didn’t do it.” You could spend… Read More »
Hope Cards And Florida Domestic Violence Cases
In public, everyone says that there is no such thing as a minor incident of domestic violence, but you probably know a couple that got in a fight, called the police, and then smoothed things over with few legal consequences, if any. Perhaps they are still together, even after multiple calls to the police… Read More »
Ketamine’s Hellish Cousin Is Gaining A Foothold In Florida
If you had surgery at an outpatient surgery clinic, chances are that you were not asleep through the entire procedure. The surgeon might have talked to you, and you might have understood. Perhaps you even responded, or maybe you just gibbered like a Minion, in response to an interlocutor visible only to you. If… Read More »
Opening Statements At Criminal Trials
In eighth grade, you learn that the first paragraph of an essay should contain a thesis statement, usually preceded by some introductory remarks that lead up to it. Teachers who have read enough such essays tend to joke that this rule leads to students beginning their essays with sentences like, “Throughout history, students have… Read More »
What Is The Difference Between A Question Of Law And A Question Of Fact?
In criminal trials, the role of the judge is different from the role of the jury. The case has not proceeded according to the dictates of the law or of justice if the judge or jurors overstep their roles. Jurors are supposed to be completely unbiased for or against the defendant. They must simply… Read More »
Deerfield Beach Man Pleads Guilty To Purchasing Large Shipment Of Synthetic Opioids From China
Two entire generations have grown up hearing that you should stay away from drug mixtures purchased on the street, because what looks like Studio 54 grade cocaine could be a mixture of rat poison and broken glass. It also seems like a lifetime ago that the talking heads on TV were saying that fentanyl… Read More »
Are Roommates Guilty By Association?
The nice thing about having enough money to rent your own apartment is not having to deal with shady roommates. It is hard to live with your own family, much less people you didn’t know very well before moving in together. It is bad enough when your roommates leave dirty dishes in the sink,… Read More »
Jury Instructions In Florida Criminal Cases
Movies and true crime documentaries tend only to show the most interesting parts of criminal proceedings. Witnesses delivering chilling accounts of the crimes they witnessed make for good television, and so do compelling closing arguments that leave just enough room for reasonable doubt. By contrast, audiences are generally uninterested in watching lawyers bicker about… Read More »
Beware Of The New Synthetic Cathinone In South Florida’s Drug Supply
Most Floridians have never heard of khat, a plant whose stimulant properties can be tapped by chewing the leaves; chewing khat has been a popular recreational activity in Yemen and parts of East Africa for centuries. The drug has never caught on in the United States, since cathinone, the active ingredient in khat, is… Read More »
