Is It Still Robbery If You Just Ask Nicely?
Let’s say you walk into a bank, go up to a teller and say something like, “Hi, I was just passing by your bank and thought I’d stop in and see if you’d be willing to give me some money….
Criminal Defense
Judge Ignores Defense Lawyer Because He Is an Owl
The caption in this KGMH report oversells the story a bit, but then so does my headline. The Aspen Times reported on May 19 that a man who was accused of violating a protective order brought a stuffed owl along with…
Dead Guy Sentenced to Six Months (Suspended)
The Associated Press reported last week that a Greek court had convicted a 46-year-old man of stealing electricity, although at the time of trial he had been dead for a couple of weeks. Normally, being dead is a pretty good defense,…
Judge Caught Driving Defendant’s Car Says He Was “Just Looking After It”
Things haven't gone too well for Eike Batista over the past few years. Once the richest man in Brazil and among the top ten in the world (he supposedly made it to eighth place), with a net worth of about…
Aggravated Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy
It's probably easier, though, if you are the head of the International Monetary Fund. In what seems like a very French sort of case, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and 13 other people are on trial for allegedly organizing—well, not surprisingly, what they're…
Just Because You Did It…
This is of course true in a couple of different ways (depending mostly on the meaning of "did it"), but it still seems to be a little jarring for people to see it on a billboard. Larry Archie is an…
S.F. Cops Arrest Public Defender for Publicly Defending
The officer's explanation to the lawyer at the time was that if she didn't stop objecting to what he wanted to do, "I will arrest you for resisting arrest." That either made sense to him or he just didn't care….
Again, Accused Taggers Should Reconsider Tagging the Courthouse
In covering some of these stories, I sometimes wonder whether I am potentially helping to deter future conduct of that kind or possibly just encouraging it. It depends a lot on what the particular conduct is, of course. I would…
Texas Bill Would Ban “Affluenza” Defense
If you committed a crime in Texas and are planning to ask for leniency because you were raised in a wealthy and privileged household, you might want to hurry. This is assuming you actually need to ask, which in most…
Court Unconvinced by Lawyer Dressed as Thomas Jefferson
Today in Least Surprising Updates: The Kansas Supreme Court unanimously held on November 14 that Dennis Hawver would be disbarred for violating <stops to count> seven ethical or court rules when representing a defendant who was ultimately sentenced to death….