Dennis Elias’s Latest Tweet :. Injustice News Twitter Feed :.Mark Bennett | January 31, 2009
Three virtually-identical emails from “Anthony Evans” and “Randy Miller” at linxmonster.com:
I was looking at websites under the keyword dui attorney [City] Texas and came across your site . . . . I see that you’re ranked # [X] in Google.
I’m not sure if you’re aware of why you’re ranked this low but more importantly [...]
Mark Bennett | January 31, 2009
Baby criminal defense lawyer Murray Newman writes:
The thing I loved the most about being a prosecutor was helping victims of crime. There was a profound feeling of doing something important when meeting with the victim’s family on a murder case, or the surviving members of an aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or assault and telling them [...]
Mark Bennett | January 30, 2009
Following Walter Olson’s (Overlawyered) posts about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, I thought I’d check out the criminal penalties for violation of the CPSIA.
Contrast this:
Any person who knowingly and willfully violates section 2068 of this title after having received notice of noncompliance from the Commission shall be fined not more than $50,000 [...]
Mark Bennett | January 30, 2009
A couple of the Harris County felony court judges deselected by the voters in November have, as I noted before, hung out their shingles as would-be criminal defense lawyers. They will, no doubt, advertise their ex-judgeness to the potential clients as a positive. And judicial experience could well be a positive in some cases.
One of [...]
Mark Bennett | January 30, 2009
English law blogger CharonQC interviewed U.S. Senior District Court Judge John Kane of Colorado a couple of days ago. Judge Kane had some interesting things to say about the war on drugs (as well as about civil procedure); I linked to the interview here.
With the permission of CharonQC, I’ve commissioned a transcript of the podcast. [...]
Mark Bennett | January 30, 2009
In response to this post, in which I talked about Williamson County, Texas’s criminal discovery policy, WilCo DA John Bradley emailed me:
In Williamson County, a defense lawyer receives full and complete discovery, including access to offense reports, before any trial. Mr. Hampton’s commentary is not accurate. Our discovery is more limited if there is a [...]
Mark Bennett | January 29, 2009
Continuing my discussion with “Interested Counsel” about the U.S. criminal justice system. He asks:
Another emotive issue over there appears to be disclosure. I had assumed this was similar to our own debate over when, in proceedings, full disclosure should take place. I infer from your (very good) podcast with the self-styled Charon QC that my [...]
Mark Bennett | January 29, 2009
From Above the Law:
A promising Harvard Law School standout told cops during a bizarre
drunken tirade that he would “lie and cheat” to ruin them if — as a
future attorney — he ever calls them to a witness stand, police said.
The 3L, an unpaid intern for prosecutors in Dorchester County District courts, also “badged” the cops:
“Give [...]
Mark Bennett | January 29, 2009
(Can you see the above video? Please let me know in comments.)
Austin officials aren’t taking the spoof lightly, noting it is a criminal act.
“The sign’s content was humorous, but the act of changing it wasn’t,” Hartley said.
Austin police are investigating the situation, and the vandals could face a Class C misdemeanor charge of tampering with [...]
Mark Bennett | January 29, 2009
If, like Francis M. Pignatelli, you moved from Ohio under a cloud and started representing people in Colorado, you wouldn’t even have to read the rules in their entirety to find it; it’s right there in Rule 1.2(a) of the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct:
In a criminal case, the lawyer shall abide by the client’s [...]
