The anxiety is very real for anyone who has been in an interrogation room or on the witness stand and cannot provide basic details about a crime for which they are a suspect. It is clear that questioners doubt the veracity of the answers provided. Why is it that some…
Although it sounds incomprehensible, there have been multiple accusations of school personnel, such as counselors, teachers, principals, nurses, and school security police, strip-searching students in elementary and secondary schools across the country. In some situations, the adults were on a search for contraband like vape pens or marijuana. Other cases…
In late 2025, Federal Sentencing Guidelines were updated and took effect with an eye toward reducing circuit splits, reforming sentencing procedures and outcomes, and giving judges more discretion by basing sentencing more heavily on individual situations, as well as by revising various other sentencing rules. The Guidelines Manual is now…
An offense committed in the heat of intense emotion, such as rage, despair, or jealousy, is sometimes called Crime passionnel and more commonly referred to as a crime of passion. That emotional surge presumably affects a person’s capacity to think lucidly and wisely. It is a concept with well-defined parameters…
When prosecutors demanded that a California man who faced illegal gun possession charges be held without bail, the man’s defense team argued that the charges simply did not warrant such a harsh response. Prosecutors had pages and pages of explanations to support their argument. Unfortunately, for them, their extensive documentation…
Turn on the news and you will find all kinds of sports betting fiascos, driven by a number of high-profile scandals that have recently hit the headlines: ESPN reports that the Lucchese crime family was the mastermind in a network of bookmakers nationwide who facilitated roughly $2 million in illegal…
Let’s say you were alarmed when police approached you unexpectedly. As they attempted to arrest you, in your confusion, you reacted based on your instinct to try to get away. In hindsight, you recognize that you made some decisions that were less than perfect, but that awareness is not going…
If you have been indicted for a federal crime, or with any capital crime or felony at the state level– you likely have questions about the grand jury process. It is a procedure that is cloaked in secrecy, making it something of a mystery to the public. While we hear…
If you have been accused of violating a protective order, you are not alone. Studies indicate that half of all survivors of domestic violence who have obtained protective orders in the country report their abusers violate those orders, with a result of escalating violence. When those orders are violated, survivors…
When someone is accused of acquaintance rape, or date rape, the charge is exactly the same as for any other rape. The fact that the parties knew one another is beside the point. A guilty verdict could result in prison time and having to register as a sex offender. The…