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…
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…
Under Louisiana statutory law, murder charges can be either first degree or second degree. The difference between the two is that first degree carries the possibility of the death penalty. Punishment for First Degree Vs. Second Degree If you are…
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…