Criminal Defense

If you've seen a crime drama unfold on television, then you've likely heard about plea deals. What you may not know is what motivates prosecutors to make such offers to defendants. You may also wonder why you should consider agreeing to a plea deal instead of going to...

Children are taught from the earliest levels of public school education to respect those in positions of authority, like police officers. The mainstream media and even entertainment help reinforce the idea that citizens must always comply with the instructions or...

The goal of predictive policing is to do away with racial bias. A computer is used to predict where crimes will take place. The algorithm can tell officers where to go in advance if there’s a high probability of this activity, and they can hopefully respond quickly....

You lost your temper, that’s true. Maybe you uttered a few threats that you didn’t really mean and threw a punch or shoved someone to the ground in anger. Now, the police are calling your number or have come to your door and you’re not sure what to do. You’re pretty...

There are generally three situations in which police officers can search you, your vehicle or your property. The first is when you give them permission to do so. Once you grant permission, especially if they find signs of illegal activity, it will be nearly impossible...

When you walk into a store, the employees and owner of that shop likely don’t expect that you’re going to try to take something without paying the asking price. Unfortunately, some businesses regularly deal with people trying to steal from them. Shoplifting is a...

Burglary is different from any other kind of theft crime because it involves someone attempting to hide their activity from the intended victim. A burglar will often try to break into a home or business when the owner or operator is not present in order to avoid...

There is substantial and complicated overlap between addiction and criminal behavior. Some people even compare the correlation between crime and addiction to a chicken-and-egg situation because it's often difficult to tell which one really came first. Thanks to laws...

Your personal right to freedom ends when your decisions impact other people. For example, you aren't free to just pick something if it clearly belongs to someone else, just like you aren't free to use physical violence to get what you want from another person. Those...

An impartial witness who watched a crime take place should be able to give an accurate account of what happened, right? They were not involved, so they have nothing to gain and nothing to lose. They were simply watching for at least part of the time, and they can...