Information about the criminal defense process and criminal justice system in Louisiana and Mississippi.
When a jury for a criminal trial cannot agree to a verdict, a mistrial is declared. Mistrials can be advantageous for a criminal defendant because the State may decide not to retry the case and the charge will be dismissed…
Many of my criminal defense clients and their families ask similar questions -- What diversion programs are available? Am I eligible? What about work release, GPS monitoring, and day reporting programs? Could I enter a drug diversion program? Where do…
In criminal cases where there are multiple defendants for a single crime, the district attorney or prosecuting attorney can bill the charge under one docket number. This means that all defendants will be tried at the same time in front…
While people may know that the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects them against “unreasonable search and seizure,” they may not know the practical aspects of this right. This is a real life example that shows how the…
As a Louisiana criminal defense attorney, I frequently have clients who are trying to decide if they should accept a plea agreement or go to trial. A key element of the decision making process is the possible sentence exposure –…
If you are a defendant in a trial and you are called to the stand to testify, it will only be by your lawyer. The prosecution cannot order you to testify at trial and cannot call you to the stand…
Probation Revocation is when the district attorney’s office is attempting to revoke your probation and force you to serve time in jail. If you receive probation as part of a criminal sentence, the jail time associated with the charge is…
Everyone has heard of the term “fair trial’ – but what does this really mean? The right to a fair trial is part of our constitutional right to due process. This means that your life, liberty and property cannot be…
“What did they really see?” This was the title of a New York Times editorial about the New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent decision to impose stricter guidelines for using eyewitness evidence. As I mentioned in a previous blog ("Eyewitness Identification…
As LSU football fans already know, on August 19 there was a fight outside of a Baton Rouge, Louisiana bar which resulted in four people going to the hospital for treatment. LSU football players were allegedly involved and two players…