The criminal justice system uses a lot of terminology and jargon that may be difficult for non-lawyers to understand. If you've been charged with a crime, you need to make sure you understand everything you're being told and all the possible outcomes of your case. Just what does "acquitted" mean in court? In this article, we will define acquittal, [...]
The criminal justice system can be complex to navigate. If you or a loved one has been charged with a crime or arrested, you need to consider hiring a lawyer. Before you move forward with hiring an attorney, you need to ask yourself, "What type of lawyer should I be looking for?" If you're facing serious criminal charges which may [...]
Chances are, you’ve heard of posting bail. But what is ROR, and what does ROR mean in court? As a defendant, here’s what you need to know about this type of release. What is ROR Bail? First, you need to understand what bail is. Bail is a monetary condition of pretrial release that requires you to deposit a certain sum [...]
When I read Christine Flowers' op-ed in the Herald yesterday supporting Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ newly proposed rules on how to handle campus sexual assault allegations, I couldn't help chuckling to myself. It's incredible how the Trump administration (and Republicans in general) have all of a sudden become the champions of due process rights and the "wrongly accused" in the [...]
In his biting piece on underfunded public defender offices, John Oliver excoriates our criminal justice system for giving lip service to the constitutional right to counsel. And once again, Florida is the punchline. I highly suggest watching the whole clip, but if you want to skip to the part about Florida, watch from 12:36. As he does with so many [...]
Before this one, I had never been involved in a case that had been featured on “The First 48.” The more I learned about the case—and how the show insinuated itself directly into the homicide investigation—the more disgusted I became. During my cross-examination of Detective Bosch, I was literally flabbergasted at the things that I learned. Among them: the detectives [...]
If you haven’t caught it yet, I highly suggest taking the time to see the new film from Ken Burns documenting the wrongful convictions of five black and Latino teenagers who were arrested and charged with brutally attacking and raping a white female jogger in Central Park. News media swarmed the case, calling them a ”wolfpack.” [...]
Yes, innocent people do get convicted. Granted, the segment of the population that has the most contact with the criminal justice system is the criminal element. And the truth is that most people who are convicted are in fact guilty. But it’s the process by which these criminals are convicted that is of paramount importance to us all. As the [...]
