In any jurisdiction in the United States, a person who is accused of a crime is presumed innocent unless and until his guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt as to each element of every crime charged in either an indictment or other accusatory instrument.…
I am often asked by clients to explain to them the differences between the criminal justice system on the state and federal level. I will try to explain some of the differences in both a succinct way and then in a more elaborate way. Some…
The Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases have gotten a lot of attention lately. And because in both instances the grand jury failed to indict, the grand jury system has also gotten a lot of attention. It seems like the process itself has come under…
Suppose three people named Adam, Brian, and Charlie decide to rob a bank. They devise a plan in which Adam is going to go in first and announce that a robbery is occurring. The plan is for him to take out a gun and to…
There is obviously a lot of talk in the media lately regarding whether Police Officer Darren Wilson was legally justified in killing Michael Brown. In addition, Akai Gurley was fatally shot by a police officer in Brooklyn a few days ago. People tend to get…
Suppose a person has a few glasses of wine with dinner and then drives home. Right before getting home, he turns onto his block without signaling. A police officer then pulls him over and detects an odor of alcohol coming from his breath. The officer…
Everybody seems to have at least some understanding of entrapment. From a common layperson’s perspective, the idea usually comes up in the context of a situation where an under cover cop pretends to buy or sell an illegal product or service and then arrests the…
Using the testimony of a person who “has turned state’s evidence” is a common and effective tool used by prosecutors throughout the United States. There are many different circumstances in which a prosecutor’s office would want to do this. An example would be a circumstance…
Under New York law, a person who possessed a gravity knife can go to jail for up to one year. If that same person has previously been convicted of a crime, then the possession of the knife is a felony offense and depending on what…
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