Criminal defense lawyers console themselves about the self-destructive course some clients take by saying such things as: “You can lead a client to the courthouse, but you can’t make him think.” Courthouses are dark places; a courtroom rarely brings out the best in people.
Consider the case of Dr. Lishan Wang. He stands accused in New Haven of the murder of Dr. Vajinder Toor in Branford in 2010. The two men worked together in Brooklyn until Wang was fired in 2008. Suspicions abound that the shooting was in retaliation for some workplace grudge.
By all accounts,...
April 10, 2015
Now that the show trial is over, the real trial begins.
Now the United States of America will seek to convince a jury of 12 that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the two Boston Marathonbombers, must, in the name of justice, be killed. This next trial, the penalty phase, is the real drama. Will we look deeply into what made this young emigre into a killer, or will we simply lash out in anger and rage to kill him?
A capital proceeding is a two-step trial. In the first phase, the guilt phase, jurors decide whether a defendant has committed a death-eligible offense. Tsarnaev was found guilty...
April 9, 2015
Do black lives matter? Do cops’s lives matter? The answer to both questions is obvious: yes. That’s what makes the arrest of a fifteen year-old-girl in New Haven not long ago such a combustible topic. The sparks still flying after the arrest are proof that we need civilian police accountability boards.
The arrest was captured on YouTube. The officer forced a young black woman against the back of an SUV, and then used a leg-sweep to force her to the ground. She landed face- and shoulder-first on a curb covered with snow. It’s an ugly video, and the picture of the young...
April 1, 2015
Looking for a realistic portrayal of the practice of law in a small firm? Then you had better call Saul, as in Saul Goodman, the fictional creation of Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, creators of the new AMC series "Better Call Saul."
A busy law practice keeps me from watching much television, but I did watch Gilligan's earlier creation, "Breaking Bad," the saga of Walter White's transformation from high school chemistry teacher to methamphetamine king. Saul Goodman, you may recall, was Walt's lawyer.
Saul made me uneasy. He was a fast-talking, morally bankrupt, bottom-feeder made...
March 31, 2015
March 26, 2015
I just lost a tough case and, as in any loss, I am bitter about it. My client faces 60 years for the shooting of a rival gang member in...
March 25, 2015
What if just about everything we think we know about the war on drugs is wrong?
Start, for example, with the oft-repeated proposition that the...
March 23, 2015
Only rarely have I been able to use the Judas Iscariot sentencing argument. I did so today. My client was found guilty of murder, and faces a maximum...
March 23, 2015
I came home after dark last night to a report from my wife that our emu had died. She spotted him lifeless in the back of an outbuilding in which he...
March 22, 2015
Trial, some say, is a search for the truth. That’s specious tomfoolery. In fact, trial, at least a criminal trial, is guerilla warfare. Some of...
March 12, 2015
I’ve never understood why folks don’t regard public defenders as real lawyers. Some of the best lawyers in the state are public defenders...