Blog Posts


Suzanne Jovin: The Lab Tech Did It?

DNA evidence has become the gold standard of a criminal prosecution: Find it, type it and match it and a suspect is either transformed into a guilty party or exonerated. We forget, however, that DNA evidence does not speak. It remains circumstantial evidence. At most, DNA evidence permits a fact...

Someone Needs A Playmate

I am receiving multiple emails a day from a person signing on as "Jim" or "RADIOFREEWYO." I don't read them any longer, but the writer is obsessed with me, with the Trial Lawyers College, with Gerry Spence, with Scott at Simple Justice, and with a bunch of miscellaneous chatter. I've suggested he...

Ned Lamont and the Presumption of Innocence

I would not normally write about the voir dire of a prospective juror. I respect how difficult it is to answer questions in open court in the presence of strangers. But I am going to make an exception just this once. I am going to make an exception because the prospective juror is a public figure...

People V. DiPiazza: Rare Break For "Sex Offenders"

"The implied purpose of the sex offender registration act, public safety, is not served by requiring an otherwise law-abiding adult to be forever branded as a sex offender because of a juvenile transgression involving consensual sex during a Romeo and Juliet relationship."
Finally, some words...

Prosecutorial Immunity? Quit Your Job Or Stand Trial?

I am a realist and I read the Supreme Court's opinions. Prosecutorial immunity is virtually impenentrable in cases arising under 42 U.S. Section 1983. But I am also a true believer in the rule of law, and this belief dies hard. How is it that the courts have declared off-limits virtually...

Child Pornography And Computer Viruses

ABC News carried a terrifying story this weekend: Hackers have the ability to use an unsuspecting party's computer to store and transport child pornography. Reading the story was enough to make me wonder whether it made sense ever to go online. Check it out:...

Reasonable Fees: Should There Be A Lower Limit?

Bar regulators show an increased willingness to police the upper limit of attorney's fees, declaring some to be too high. What about the flip side? When are fees too low?
Actually, the rules are silent on both the upper and lower limit. Rule 1.5 of the Connecticut Code simply advises: "A lawyer...

The World Within: Faith, Hope, Love and Insight

"The four highest achievements of human effort [faith, hope, love and insight] are so many gifts of grace, which are neither to be taught nor learned, neither given nor taken, neither withheld nor earned, since they come through experience, which is something given, and therefore beyond the reach...

Say What? Big Brother's Lists A-OK?

Ken Krayeske is a political activist. He is outspoken. He is brash. And, insofar as Connecticut law enforcement is concerned, he is marked man. Guess what? That's just fine and dandy, according to a recent ruling by a United States District Judge.
Krayeske actively supported Green Party...

Ambivalence and the Plea

I was in the office until about 8:15 last night. My last call of the day was a friend. "You sound exhausted," she said. "What's the matter?"
"I just put a tough criminal case to bed," I replied. "It was that manslaughter case involving a claim of failed brakes and reckless disregard of truck...

© Norm Pattis is represented by Elite Lawyer Management, managing agents for Exceptional American Lawyers
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