Notes from practice · D.C. Superior Court
“Nobody read me my rights”
When are police required to read you your rights? The answer actually is never. That is, not unless the suspect is in custody and is...
You Can’t Plead Guilty Without Admitting Guilt
I am watching a guilty plea from the gallery. The prosecutor reads out the alleged facts from the police report, and the defendant says, yes,...
What It Means To Be Heard
The complainant is having a melt-down in the hallway. It is not my case so I have no idea what is going on. All I...
You Are Not A Professional Criminal
You should not feel bad. Believe me, you are not the first person to be fooled by police into making a statement or doing something...
What Must You Disclose After Having Your Criminal Record Sealed in D.C.?
One of the questions I often get in connection with the sealing of a criminal record in D.C. is this: What must the person disclose...
Is Concession of Guilt In Opening Statement A Guilty Plea?
During the defendant’s opening statement at trial, Denardo Hopkins’ lawyer got up in front of the jury and conceded that this client was guilty of...
Let Me Talk To The Judge
Whenever a group of defendants are lined up before the court to do misdemeanor guilty pleas, one or two will often try to back out...
On the Crucible of Cross-Examination
It happens perhaps most often in domestic violence cases that the complainant fails to show up on the morning of trial. The government would have...
Young v. U.S.: The Confrontation Clause Is Still Alive In D.C.
The U.S. Supreme Court has made such a mess of the Confrontation Clause line of cases that the D.C. Court of Appeals declared today that...
Further Guidance on Significant Bodily Injury in Quintanilla v. U.S.
The D.C. Court of Appeals took another step last week in defining what up until recently has been a poorly defined term: the “significant bodily...
Unlawful Entry, Criminal Contempt, Double Jeopardy, and Prior Bad Acts
When people talk about evidence being admitted at trial, they tend to think in terms of physical evidence: guns, drugs, documents, fingerprints, DNA, that type...
D.C. Court of Appeals on “Furtive Gestures”
Sometimes you need to go outside your own jurisdiction to find the right language in support of an argument. For years I have been looking...
Constructive Possession: Intent Required, Not Just Proximity and Knowledge
That a controlled substance can be possessed constructively as well as actually is a court-made decision. As Judge Ruiz put it in her concurring opinion...
Dorsey v. U.S.: “I Want to Speak to a Lawyer”
Although you might think that invoking your right to remain silent and invoking your right to a lawyer would have the same legal effect, you...
Michigan v. Long Is Ripe for Reversal
Courts seem to be bending over backwards to avoid basing decisions on Arizona v. Gant. In an opinion issued last month by the D.C. Court of...