Articles Posted in Criminal Law

We have discussed some of the myriad of issues which occur when defense counsel seeks to suppress evidence. In short, the defense brings a motion to prevent the prosecution from using evidence against a criminal defendant because it was discovered in violation of that defendant’s Constitutional Rights. It is an important tool to the defense and can often lead to the dismissal of the case altogether.

While this may anger some, that same “some” is often grateful for the efforts of counsel when it is their rights that were violated and the prosecution is only too happy to use that unconstitutionally discovered evidence against them.

But I digress. These are things you already know if you read this blog with any regularity.

Happy Halloween everybody!

Have your plans for tonite all ready? I will be hiding under my bed at my abode in Salem.

Whatever your plans, be careful not to take them too far. Law enforcement has a way of being overly-on-hand on nights like this. With good reason, actually.

In the practice of law, there are such things as “legal fiction’s”. These are generally items that lawyers make up in order to prove a point. .

Whether the charge is murder, drug trafficking or rape, you have been brought up to believe that the United States Constitution protects you in that prosecution in various ways. One of the most fundamental ways is that you are said to be “presumed innocent”. You are also told that the presumption remains with you unless and until you are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by the government.

We use that “presumption of innocence” to explain away and even excuse various inequities and wrongs inherent in criminal prosecutions. For example, a police report is written when charges brought against you. There are cases in which there is no resemblance between the facts described in the police report and what actually happened. “That’s okay”, we basically say. “That police report won’t be going into evidence and, anyway, you are still presumed to be innocent .”

Well, Jesse Mathew, 32, (hereinafter, the “Suspect”), whom we discussed yesterday, seems to be in more trouble than we knew. Search warrants weren issued today to carry out searches of his apartment. The search warrants are part of the ongoing criminal investigation into the disappearance of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham (hereinafter, the “Missing”).

Meanwhile, the Charlottesville Police Department is ramping up the pressure on the Suspect by releasing to the media a wanted poster for him, saying that he may be in possession of his sister’s car. They also indicate that he has known associates in Washington D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York in addition to his home state of Virginia.

Incidentally, I also know people in Washington D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia. Worse yet, I also know folks in New Jersey, Florida, Georgia and Ohio. As well as a bunch of other places. I suppose if I am ever wanted by Virginia for a misdemeanor motor vehicle crime, the poster would run out of space to list all the potential innuendo against me.

As mentioned in the beginning of this week, this blog is about to undergo some positive changes. We have discussed many things over the years that I have posted this blog. The tone has ranged from angry, to sad to somewhat humorous. In criminal justice issues, of course, those involved often find very little humor. However, for those of us who deal with it every single day, and care, laughter is necessary for survival.

We have talked about criminal, as well as quasi-criminal allegations. For a while, we heatedly debated The topic of bullying and the “heroic” statute that was rushed through the legislature to combat it.

Notice how dealing with that issue has basically vanished from sight.

Probably, in one form or another. There are things, though that can be done about it.

Being arrested and hauled into court for arraignment is, among other things, embarrassing. You don’t want the world to know about it and your family does not want the negative attention. Most of all, you have enough to worry about without having to be questioned or getting the “fish eye” from those with which you come in contact.

Imagine how you are going to feel when you see cameras and reporters when you enter the courtroom…and they are all there for you.

I am not going to tell you that every crime that is ever committed is discovered and/or punished. Likewise, I will argue forever that not everyone convicted of a crime is truly factually guilty.

However, the way cases are “discovered”, “solved” and brought to trial has to do with evidence. Most people figure that they know what constitutes evidence.

Many of those people are wrong.

We have spent the last two blogs discussing what one should do if approached by law enforcement in the middle of a criminal investigation. Should you accept the police offer to “give your story” without counsel?

A regular reader of this blog was kind enough to join in the discussion and ask an important question. He asks:

You always point out that officers can lie to a suspect to gain evidence. And that’s a reason to seriously consider contacting a defense attorney. Maybe you could address the following question I’ve always wondered about: can the police lie to your attorney? Or the minute you call your attorney in, do they have to start telling the truth? Do prosecutors have to tell the truth (out of court)? I know they can’t withhold evidence, but for example during settlement negotiations could they say they claim to have some evidence they actually do not have?

On Friday, we began discussing whether suspects, or potential suspects, should talk with the police who are conducting a criminal investigation when the officers come to interview them. We focused on the occasion in which the interviewee does not believe that he or she has anything to hide.

As naïve as that may seem.

Attorney Sam’s Take On Volunteering Admissions Without An Attorney Present