Category: Criminal Law

Do We Really Care About Prosecutorial Misconduct?

In my experience most prosecutors play by the rules.  They know their ethical duties and abide by them.  However, I, along with many of my colleagues, have observed a growing number of prosecutors that have no problem stepping over the ethics line.  The issue seems more to do with ignorance than intent.

For the most part,…

Arizona Criminal Law: A Review Of What Happened To SB 1070

On July 28, 2010 the federal district court issued an injunction to part of the highly publicized and talked about immigration bill in Arizona, known through-out the country as SB 1070.

Practically speaking, this means that part of the bill is not enforceable until the appellate courts determine its constitutionality. Judge Susan Bolton…

Best In Criminal Defense: July 2010

Here is a round up of the best criminal defense blog posts for July, 2010.  I always look for posts that provide either strong opinion, insight or novel information.  While July had a great selection to choose from, here are the top five:

• The

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If It’s Broken, Does It Matter Who Broke It?

At the core of the United States Constitution is the principle of Due Process.  In its most basic form, this principle provides that the government must respect all of the legal rights owed to the people. One of those legal rights is the guarantee of a fair trial to a person accused of a crime.A…

Arizona Drug Law: Cheat First And Search Later

Drug sniffing dogs – you see them at the airport, the bus station, and on television. They serve an important purpose for law enforcement and the public. That is, they smell drugs when humans cannot. Moreover, the dogs do it in a manner that is not invasive to the people being search. However, there are some…