Notes from practice · D.C. Superior Court
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. ...
Things Slow Down
I always have the best intentions after attending a good CLE. Returning to my office with a binder full of great information, I have every...
DUI Trial Testimony: Basis for Car Stop
Q: Officer, as I understand it, you were parked behind my client at the intersection of 19th and M Streets northwest? A: Yes. Q: And...
DUI Trial Transcript: One-Leg Stand
Q: Turning your attention now, Officer, to the one-leg stand. A: Okay. Q: Mr. Jones had you step into the well of the court and...
DUI Trial Testimony: Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus
BY DEFENSE ATTORNEY Q: Now, officer, turning to the HGN? A: Yes. Q: The horizontal gaze nystagmus? A: Yes. Q: It’s fair to say that...
DUI Trial Testimony: The Car Stop
Q: Officer, you testified on direct that when you first saw my client, he was driving southbound on 7th Street? A: Yes. Q: You were...
Classic D.C. Trial Transcript: Key on St. Ledger, Part II
BY MR. KEY: Q: When was the last time this particular machine, the one in Government’s Exhibit Number 4, was actually calibrated? A: You mean...
Classic D.C. Trial Transcript: Thomas Key on William St. Ledger, Part I
In 2010, Thomas Key and Bryan Brown almost single-handedly dismantled the Metropolitan Police Department’s DUI program through a series of remarkable revelations about the inadequacies of...
Overruling Her Own Objection
Midway into my cross-examination of the police officer, the judge calls the prosecutor and me up to the bench so that she can talk to...
On the let-down after a lost DUI trial
I wake up again at 3:00 am but, for the first time in over a week, there is nothing to do but clean up my...
Anxiety on the morning of trial
Wayne my investigator is a worrier. I am too. Wayne is an early riser. So am I. This means I usually have company early mornings...
Knowing When A Case Has Been Lost
He is a senior prosecutor. He doesn’t hide the ball or over try his cases. He is pleasant and reasonable, and he lets you know...
Keith Evans on the “Newton Rule”
Rule 41 of Keith Evans’ Common Sense Rules of Advocacy is what he calls “Newton’s Rule.” Isaac Newton’s third law of motion, of course, was that for...
James Shellow: Cross-Examining the Analyst in a Drug Prosecution
There are certain reference materials that are essential to a law practice. In the case of a criminal defense practice in D.C., for example, you...
The Gold Standard in Witness Credibility
My investigator Wayne Marshall gets an A+ for his testimony yesterday at trial. Of course, I am biased. Marshall is everything you could want...