Defense Attorney: “I am moving to suppress the officer’s testimony.” Prosecution: “Why? We disclosed the evidence as soon as we got it.” -Flashback 12 hours- It is the night before trial and your email shows a new message. It is from the attorney you will be in trial with – tomorrow morning. He writes, “We just realized that there is some evidence we intend use tomorrow that you are unaware of.” It turns out the officer who arrested your client
Here are the latest posts from my DUI Blog: A Reported Result vs. A Complete Result In DUI cases, a machine called a gas chromatograph is often used to measure an alcohol concentration in a blood sample. The measurement, which the machine prints at the end of the process, is called a reported result. We are finally at the point in Arizona, where courts are starting to recognize that merely providing a reported result is not sufficient evidence. The
With the recent passage of Proposition 203, voters made Arizona the 15th state (along with the District of Columbia) to legalize medical marijuana. The vote was a close one, with just 841,346 in favor and 837,005 opposed, just passing the 50% mark. The count from vote on election day, Nov. 2, was so close that the result wasn’t declared until nearly 2 weeks later. Of course, Proposition 203 does not give free rein to hopeful or would-be marijuana users in
The Arizona Supreme Court’s holding in State v. Geeslin was a rare event. In most circumstances, when a court makes a mistake, a formal objection to the court’s ruling must be found in the record. Put another way: if you fail to object to a court’s decision, you waive your right to appeal the ruling. However, as shown in Geeslin, there are some exceptions. In Geeslin, the defendant was arrested for putting shoplifted goods in a stolen vehicle and was
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, the public is unaware of this growing problem. It is only when the misconduct is so outrageous and the victim has the means to
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 fair trial includes preventing the State from unfair or suggestive identifications which would direct a witness to make a false identification. The most common situation
Just in case there was any doubt, the Arizona Court of Appeals made it official that your religious beliefs are not a legal defense to the crime of Possession of Marijuana. In the case of State v. Hardesty, Mr. Hardesty was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. After a routine traffic stop, drugs were found in Mr. Hardesty car. He claimed that the drugs were part of his religion, and tried to assert a defense under
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 rules, like the 4th Amendment to constitution, that restrict how these dogs can be used. For example, law enforcement can’t just bust down your
The amount of probation a person can receive for an Arizona criminal conviction is one of the questions I am most frequently asked. Thus, I have put together the following table. The table is based upon Arizona Revised Statute §13-902.
We should all be able to agree if you are charged with a crime, you should get a fair trial. An obvious prerequisite to a fair trial is that the jurors at least understand everything going on in the courtroom. That is, a juror should, at a minimum, be able to comprehend all evidence presented and understand the rules (i.e. the jury instructions) provided by the judge. What if a juror says to the judge, “I can’t read English” Upon
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