Jamison Koehler takes on the topic of accepting responsibility. I read about it all the time in crime stories and legal blogs: The defendant is convicted, and the severity of his sentence depends on a number of factors, one of which is "accepting responsibility" for his crime. Jamison saw a case where it went like this: During sentencing, the judge told Bruckheim that he was … [Read more...] about Stalin In the Courtroom
Legal
Good Guys Don’t Suborn False Confessions
There's a lovely case over at Simple Justice today. According to the news story, it went something like this: A guy was murdered, and a man named Douglas Warney came forward to police saying he knew something about the victim. Police interrogated him, and he apparently confessed, providing eleven details about the murder that only the killer could have known. He was found … [Read more...] about Good Guys Don’t Suborn False Confessions
Oh My God, Chicago Has a Criminal Defense Blogger!
Back in July of 2009, I declared myself the Greatest Criminal Defense Blogger in Chicago. This was not a boast, it was a lament. I am not a lawyer, and most of my posts have nothing to do with criminal defense. Yet I seemed to be blogging more about criminal defense than any actual Chicago lawyer. Rob Deters was gone, Steven Molo's blog was fake, and James Dimeas mostly just … [Read more...] about Oh My God, Chicago Has a Criminal Defense Blogger!
Can’t Deduct Defense?
It's a good question, really... Over at Popehat, Patrick has this to say about Joel Rosenberg's defense fund: Note that this is not tax-deductible. The government does not encourage its subjects to stand up for the blameless. Well, why the hell not? As far as I can tell, the tax rule for legal expenses is that the expenses are tax deductible only if they are business or income … [Read more...] about Can’t Deduct Defense?
Smell the Retaliation
Scott Greenfield is more familiar than I with the history of Joel Rosenberg's recent conflicts with the Minneapolis police department, leading up to Joel's arrest, and in his latest post Scott offers this important bit of background: For a fellow who sincerely believes in principles, there comes a point, a threshold if you will, where he decides to take a stand. … [Read more...] about Smell the Retaliation