No, only the Assistant Prosecuting Attorney can drop the charges against you and this is unlikely to occur. A victim of domestic violence often attempts to recant the statement they made to police in order to have the charges dropped against an abusive spouse. In the past this has led to a cycle of continuous [...]
Uncategorized
For adults, arrest and conviction records usually aren’t automatically expunged or sealed after a period of years. Individuals seeking expungement generally have to file a written application in court and follow various rules for expungement. These rules can be found in the laws of the state where the conviction or arrest was made. For juveniles, [...]
No. In most situations the police need either your consent or a search warrant to search your car unless they have a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. The sufficiency of any search warrant can later be tested to see if it was properly attained. However, if you give consent, any defects in procedure or evidence [...]
No, a harmless error of this type on a traffic citation will not result in a dismissal of the charges.
The most common defense raised in drug cases is to challenge the search and seizure that resulted in the police finding the drugs. If the police violated the defendant’s Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights, the court will suppress, or throw out, the drugs as evidence. The prosecution will then have far less evidence to [...]
In order to establish an alibi, an individual must be able to provide proof that he or she wasn’t at the scene of the crime. Often, testimony from other individuals is used to establish where the person was or wasn’t. Other records, such as work records or videos that are date- and time- stamped, can help establish the location [...]
If the defendant is convicted in a criminal case, the judge will set a date for sentencing. Before that time, a pre-sentence investigation may take place to help the judge determine the appropriate sentence from the range of possible sentences set out in the statutes. The pre-sentence investigation may consider the defendant’s prior criminal record, [...]
After receiving the instructions and hearing the final arguments, the jury retires to the jury room to begin deliberating. In most states the first order of business is to elect one of the jurors as the foreperson or presiding juror. This person’s role is to preside over discussions and votes of the jurors, and [...]
The defense lawyer may choose not to present evidence, in the belief that the plaintiff or government did not prove its case. Usually, however, the defense will offer evidence. In a criminal case, the witnesses presented by the defense may or may not include the defendant. Because the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects [...]
When people respond to a jury summons, they gather at the court house to form a pool of potential jurors from which they are called in groups for specific criminal or civil trials. There they are questioned by attorneys for each side and/or the trial judge about their background, life experiences, and opinions to determine [...]
