Information about the criminal defense process and criminal justice system in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Sometimes the only evidence against the defendant of a crime will be eyewitness identification. This is when a person actually sees the defendant committing the crime. This would seem to be highly reliable evidence. However, eye witness identification is actually…
Grand Jury Indictments vs. Bill of Information After a person is arrested for a crime in Louisiana, they will have criminal charges filed against them in either a Grand Jury Indictment or a Bill of Information. These documents list the…
It’s easy to think that anyone arrested for a crime has criminal tendencies and should be punished. But the truth is that many people charged with crimes are not what we would consider “criminals.” Sometimes a person is in the…
Parents are understandably scared and upset when a son or daughter is arrested and charged with possession of drugs. The severity of the charge depends on the type and amount of the drug, but if your child is a first…
In my approximately 25 years as a trial attorney, I have often run across the problem of locating witnesses and making sure that they attend at trial. Subpoenas, which are court orders for a witness to appear at trial, should…
My criminal defense clients are often surprised about how long it takes the State to bring them to trial. In some cases, you may not want to rush to trial. For example, if there is a lot of evidence against…
Plea bargaining is the process of negotiating a plea between the defendant’s criminal defense attorney, the prosecuting attorney and sometimes the judge. Generally, the prosecution or the State offers concessions to the defendant in exchange for a guilty plea. The…
The process of selecting a jury for civil and criminal trials is called voir dire. “Voir Dire” is a French phrase essentially meaning “to speak the truth.” This is the opportunity for the prosecuting and defense attorneys to size up…
When a personal injury or criminal trial is scheduled for a certain date, it does not necessarily mean that the trial will actually occur on that date – it might, but this will depend on the case’s position on the…
Evidence about prior criminal offenses is generally not admissible in court, unless it is directly related to the current charge. Every United States citizen is entitled to a fair trial, so it is important to avoid the inference that the…