An Ethical Prosecutor Confronts Her Own Witness
BY DEFENSE COUNSEL ON CROSS Q: Ms. Smith, do you have an email account? A: Do I have an e-mail account? Q: Yes. A: I do. Q: Is it a Yahoo account? A: No. Q: What is your… Read More
On the Benefits of a Flat Fee Agreement
Criminal defense attorneys often use flat fees; that is, we charge a set sum to cover the entire course of a representation. This includes arraignment, negotiations with the prosecutor, any legal research that needs to be conducted, preliminary… Read More
This Is Not About You Or Me
The prosecutor is mad at me. So I send her a quick email to apologize. It is true: I am sorry. I am sorry that she has been sick. I am sorry that her daughter has been sick…. Read More
Life Lessons for My Law Practice
I am in Nairobi. Kenya is famous, among other things, for its malachite jewelry, and I would like to buy my wife a malachite necklace. I check at the hotel store and see that the necklaces there sell… Read More
Judge Easterly Lets The Facts Speak For Themselves In Damning the Government for Brady Violations
You suspect it happens all the time: the prosecutor withholds exculpatory information from the defendant, thereby preventing the defendant from mounting an effective defense. The problem is that, with the government in sole possession of all the information,… Read More
Bronx Prosecutor Castigated for Withholding Exculpatory Evidence
According to the New York Daily News, a prosecutor in the Bronx failed to turn over exculpatory information to the defense in a rape case. The evidence in question was an initial statement by the accuser that the… Read More
When Police Officers Shade Their Testimony
“Runner!” This is what one police officer yells to the other two officers, and all three officers take off in pursuit of a suspect who has decided to flee. According to the officer’s testimony at trial, the officers… Read More
Taking The Fall For A Client
If you work for the federal government, you have a boss. Depending on the structure and size of an organization, staffers normally work for a branch chief. The branch chief reports to a division director who, in turn,… Read More
Thank You For Not Coaching Your Witness
We should be able to take it for granted that the other side will not coach its witnesses. But this is not an ideal world. A couple of years ago, for example, police officers in D.C. accused prosecutors… Read More
