I originally posted this in 2010. Over the weekend, I was approached and asked for permission to republish this by a third party. I am reposting today to remind folks that you do not have to talk to the police. Indeed, it's never a good idea to do so without the assistance of a lawyer.
I'm a battle-hardened criminal defense lawyer, so it always surprises me how weak in the knees I get when a policeman pulls me over. The urge to confess runs rampant, even if I haven't done anything. I assume the authorities must have a reason for wanting to talk to me. What have I done?
Police prey...
May 13, 2013
Tamerlan Tsarnaev is dead. He can’t hurt anyone again. So what’s the big deal about whether he is buried in Hamden, or in Russia, or on the dark side of the Moon?
In medieval times, courts pursued claims not just against persons who committed harm, but also against the material things that cause the harm. Strike me with a stick, and I might have brought an action against you and the stick. This later form of claim is what the law calls an in rem proceeding.
I’d like to believe that law has evolved beyond the point of thinking we need to punish...
May 9, 2013
Is Amanda Knox guilty of murder? One Italian jury said yes. Then a second jury said no. Now the case is being sent back for another trial. Ms. Knox isn’t waiting any longer to tell what she knows about the matter. Her new memoir, Waiting to be Heard, is her account of what she knows about the murder of her flatmate, Meredith Kercher, in Perugia, Italy, in November 2007, and of her trials and her four years’ imprisonment.
The Knox trials are endlessly fascinating. The case turns on a disputed confession, the statement of a co-defendant, an alibi defense, and the...
May 8, 2013
If you are confused by the recent actions of Bethany’s Planning and Zoning Commission, here’s an attempt to decode them. The commission’s vote last week to deny the Green Haven application for a change in zoning regulations to permit what amounts to condominium development in Bethany was rejected "without prejudice." In legal speak, that means the application can be resubmitted all over again, as in Tuesday morning, after Monday’s general elections.
In the town’s general elections on Monday, a series of municipal offices will be filled, including First...
May 5, 2013
May 2, 2013
Perhaps the most telling moment in Ken Burns’ new documentary on the Central Park Five case is when a juror explains why he voted...
April 27, 2013
Update: The Bethany Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to reject Green Haven's proposed zone change last night, with Patricia Winer...
April 25, 2013
Trial is an imperfect vehicle for finding the truth. We all know that. Juries and judges make mistakes. We permit clients to seek a new trial when a...
April 25, 2013
Before leaping to the conclusion that lawmen in Boston worked a miracle last week by locking the city down as they searched for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,...
April 22, 2013
I fail to see why the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit went out of its way to tomahawk Attorney John R. Williams. But there it...
April 21, 2013
If it takes a village to raise a child, then what kind of society spawns a 19-year-old terrorist? We can explore "foreign" influences on Dzhokhar...