Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

While volunteering to be the designated driver is a noble undertaking, it probably helps to understand what exactly it is that you are volunteering to do, which is to refrain from consuming alcohol to the point that it affects your ability to drive so that you can escort others safely home. Hamilton Township (N.J.) Deputy Mayor Charles Cain may have misunderstood this concept, instead thinking that being the "designated" driver simply means that you are either the least drunk or most popular individual among a group of other drunk individuals, so that they "designate" you as the driver for the trip home.

Continue reading "Mayor Asks for "Professional Courtesy" during DUI stop..." »

If you surveyed all currently charged and recently convicted criminal defendants in Tennessee, you can bet that at least 95% of them would say they are innocent or were charged and convicted of a sentence more serious than that of which they should have been convicted. Because almost every criminal defendant that goes to trial claims his or her innocence, the public is all too willing to turn a deaf ear to defendants who claim that they are not guilty or that the have been charged too severely. The truth is that "overcharging" does happen, and does pose a serious problem for criminal defendants.

Continue reading ""Overcharging" in criminal cases..." »

For years, attorneys handling criminal appeals have been filing motions known as "skeleton" motions in order to avoid the thirty-day limit for requesting a new trial established by the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure. These motions are generally motions that contain just enough information to actually be considered motions for a new trial but without any real information pertaining to the motion, the case, or the grounds for appeals. Attorneys were able to use these motions as a type of placeholder because courts would allow them to go back and "amend" their initial motion by filling in the requisite information at a later time. This allowed the attorney more time to gather his or her thoughts and analyze the evidence before putting the grounds for appeal in the motion itself.

Continue reading "Court Appeals Cracks Down on "Skeleton" Motions" »

A lot of people like to complain about how the criminal justice system is "broken," and it is a safe bet that forty-six year-old Dung Hoang Duong of Orange County, California is one of those people now that he has been sentenced to serve a six-year prison sentence for shoplifting a solitary pair of socks valued at approximately $5.00. Mr. Duong was apparently spotted by a security guard stuffing the socks into his pants and then trying to leave the store, leading to his arrest. Duong tried to appeal the conviction but had no luck, and is stuck with his six-year shoplifting sentence.

Continue reading "Man Gets Six-Year Prison Sentence for Stealing Pair of Socks" »

Any attorney who does criminal defense work for a significant amount of time will undoubtedly participate in a client interview during which the following exchange occurs:

Client: "so, then I started to get nervous and so I asked the person "are you a cop?"
Attorney: "and what did they say?"
Client: "they said no."
Attorney: "but of course it was a cop..."
Client: "yeah, but I thought they had to tell you if they were a cop..."
Attorney: "they don't."

Continue reading ""Are You A Cop?"" »

Anyone looking for an example of how life imitates art need look no further than this blog article. New Yorker David Williams was enjoying one of his favorite outdoor activities, which unfortunately consisted of beating up his girlfriend, last Friday at around 8 p.m. in the Bronx when a Dirty Harry movie broke out right there on the sidewalk. According to reports, a passer-by noticed that a man was beating the stuffing out of his girlfriend right in the middle of the sidewalk (which is an unusual sight to behold even in New York) and walked up to ask the guy what his problem was. That was when things started to escalate.

Continue reading "Why You Shouldn't Beat Your Girlfriend in Public..." »

During any given week, you can expect to see a news story where a criminal suspect is identified by something that he or she has left behind at the crime scene. Very often it is something such as a shoe, a glove, burglary tools, or some sort of DNA evidence. Occasionally, however, the article that is left behind is something unusual and slightly amusing, like a photo ID or a full set of teeth.

Continue reading "Hit-and-Run Suspect ID'ed by False Teeth" »

The fact that criminal offenses must be proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" in order for a defendant to be convicted is probably the most recognized concept in criminal law this side of "the right to remain silent." That does not, however, mean the concept is well understood by most citizens. Unfortunately for criminal defendants, the "'beyond a reasonable doubt" does not mean that jurors should find defendants innocent unless they are 100% convinced that the defendant is guilty. Rather, it simply stands for the proposition that jurors can convict defendants if they are convinced that no reasonable person would doubt the defendant's guilt.

Continue reading "The Power of Circumstantial Evidence" »

The fact that criminal offenses must be proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" in order for a defendant to be convicted is probably the most recognized concept in criminal law this side of "the right to remain silent." That does not, however, mean the concept is well understood by most citizens. Unfortunately for criminal defendants, the "'beyond a reasonable doubt" does not mean that jurors should find defendants innocent unless they are 100% convinced that the defendant is guilty. Rather, it simply stands for the proposition that jurors can convict defendants if they are convinced that no reasonable person would doubt the defendant's guilt.

Continue reading "The Power of Circumstantial Evidence" »

If you are ever driving down the road, see a policeman in the middle of a traffic stop, and decide that the officer may need your assistance it is always wise to resist the impulse to help the officer. This is especially true if you are inebriated and randomly decide to turn that officer's traffic stop into your own personal job audition a la American Idol. Unfortunately, twenty-three year-old Crystal Mealer of Brewton, Alabama let her desire to become a police officer overwhelm her better judgment and pulled over to help an officer conduct a speeding stop.

Continue reading "The Police Do Not Need Your Help With Traffic Stops..." »

Failure to pay child support is not technically classified as a "criminal offense," but it is an action that often has criminal ramifications and often forces the accused to seek criminal representation. Every year, many Tennesseans find themselves being brought into court to answer for failure to pay. If you find yourself in that situation, you will be forced to explain to the judge or child support referee why you have not made the child support payments that you are obligated to pay and hope that the judge or referee thinks that your excuse is good enough. If they do not buy your reasoning, you could face up to six months in jail pursuant to T.C.A. 36-5-104.

Continue reading "Failure to Pay Child Support" »

Any college football fan probably knows a little bit about the day known as National Signing Day when most high-school football players sign their letters of intent and fax them to the school of their choice in order to accept a scholarship offer from that school. It is generally a day filled with surprises for recruits and schools, as many recruits change their minds at the last minute or try to sign with schools only to find that they will no longer accept that player on a football scholarship. For many of the signees, however, it is a day to celebrate the accomplishment of earning a football scholarship with overjoyed friends and supportive family.

Continue reading "Football Mom Forges Son's Name on Letter of Intent" »