The “Beauty Queen” Murder Case: I hate it when they call it that. It really has absolutely nothing to do with the case. But it sure sells “widgets”. It just goes to show you how hard it can be to get a fair trial when the media, especially the silly social media,...
Grand Rapids Michigan Skyline Over Grand River
Famous Cases
Structure and Rules and What Happened in Montana
Structure and rules, fairly applied, hold our society together. They save us from chaos and injustice. You can have structure and rules, but without fairness it doesn’t work. Just think Nazi Germany. You can have fairness, but without structure it fails. Woodstock...
Parenting, Politics, and the Rule of Law
Don’t worry. This won’t be another rambler. I realize that last post was a bit tangential. There was a reason for taking that approach; it was an experiment in trying to get people to read it. As Donald Trump knows well, sometimes making yourself a target of criticism...
Was the Airstrike in Syria Legal?
All-righty then, another legal issue for us in this political nightmare we live in; one I feel that I can comment on in my goal to show how legal analysis comes up every day in regular life, even something as irregular as politics. At least it’s not controversial or...
In Like Flynn – Up to His Neck in Immunity Confusion
For the two or three people who read my blog, you may have noticed that I have been off the grid lately. If you look at the timeline on that as closely as reporters are looking at Devin Nunes’ trips to the White House in his epic performance to obscure his sources,...
Lying to Get Out of Trouble = More Trouble
If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it a million times. I’ve blogged about it a million times. At least it feels that way. I have definitely lectured clients about it about a million times: lying to get out of trouble just winds up getting you into more and more trouble....
Why are the Olympic Swimmers In Trouble in Brazil?
As usual, I have no idea. But I can guess. Here are some of the rather sketchy “facts” that have emerged so far: Ryan Lochte was out with some of his other superstar swim team members for a night on the town after completing his grueling week in the water, winning...
False Rape Accusations: is this a Thing?
Even criminal defense attorneys, like me, need to be reminded occasionally about the presumption of innocence. I read a piece recently in Seattle’s “Stranger” about Matt Hickey (no joke, that’s his name), a well known techie who was being accused of sexually...
Technology: The Best Tool To Target Terrorism?
OK, this time it’s personal. It hasn’t been, lately; I’ve been watching the recent carnage in a sort of state of shock. It seems surreal, as if it can’t really be happening. Not part of my world. Too horrible. And sad. And depressing. Promenade des AnglaisSo,...
What is Assault, Anyway?
I want to begin by thanking Donald Trump’s campaign manager. Just when I was wondering what new legal issues were floating around that were relevant to criminal law, there it was. Assault! Campaign Aides Gone Wild! Or not… Which is what this is going to be about:...