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Criminal Law

Law Of Criminal Defense

News, information, ethics opinions and analysis relating to criminal defense, legal ethics and professional responsibility.
By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Post Frequency: 11.2/day

Last Entry: March 25, 2011 at 18:32:28

NLJ: Lawyer discipline for online misbehavior

Posted on May 11, 2010
On lawyers' ability to screw up on the Internet, see Lawyers' Ethical Stumbles Increase Online by Tresa Baldas on NLJ: It's not as if lawyers never misbehaved before. But now they're making the same old mistakes -- soliciting for sex, slamming judges, talking trash about clients -- online, leaving a digital trail for bar counsel to follow...

NJ: Keeping client bonus from firm warrants suspension

Posted on May 11, 2010
New Jersey last week suspended a lawyer for three months for keeping a $50,000 bonus from a satisfied client. See Law.com, mentioning that the court found "clear and convincing evidence of conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation...

IL: No contact rule is matter specific, not fact specific

Posted on May 07, 2010
Rule of Professional Conduct 4.2, prohibiting communication with a represented party, is matter specific. Defendant was a respondent in a juvenile proceeding to make her children wards of the court. When a detective interviewed her, he did not have to consult with her civil lawyer first...

TX: "Masturbatory gesture" lawyer gets three years license probation

Posted on May 06, 2010
Finally, it's over. The “masturbatory gesture” criminal defense lawyer gets three years probation on his law license. The Austin Statesman American notes that his nickname on the State Bar website is “Bulletproof.” Prior posts are here, here, and here.

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NY: Right to counsel attaches at arraignment

Posted on May 06, 2010
Denial of counsel at arraignment of an indigent defendant is a constructive denial of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Hurrell-Harring v. State, No. 66 (May 6, 2010). At the judgment on the pleadings stage, the individual defendants stated claims for relief, and the legislature should remedy the problem: While it may turn out after further factual development that what is really at issue is whether the representation afforded was effective — a subject not properly litigated in this civil action — at this juncture, construing the allegations before us as we must, in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, the complaint states a claim for constructive denial of the right to counsel by reason of insufficient compliance with the constitutional mandate of Gideon...

CA7: Wrong event code in electronic filing did not void notice of appeal

Posted on May 05, 2010
Wrong event code in mandatory electronic filing did not make an otherwise timely notice of appeal untimely. But, counsel is warned to pay attention to the coding. Vince v. Rock County, Wisc., 10-1659 (7th Cir. May 3, 2010) (per curiam): Counsel practicing in the federal courts today would be well advised to pay close attention to their electronic transmissions, so that errors in electronic filing do not adversely affect one of their cases...

CA: Disbarment for serious conflict in federal crimial case

Posted on May 04, 2010
A California lawyer was disbarred and ordered to pay $670K+ for representing in a federal criminal case an individual he had opposed in related civil litigation while an associate at a firm he left to start his own practice. Among other things, while an associate, he assisted the government in the investigation that resulted in the indictment of the client whose criminal "defense" he later undertook...

NY: Ghost writing legal in NY

Posted on May 04, 2010
ABAJ: Ethics Opinion Says Lawyers May Ghostwrite Court Papers and Not Disclose It, quoting from the NYLJ.

"Eleven things that annoy clients the most"

Posted on April 28, 2010
Also from ABAJ: Eleven things that annoy clients the most.

Law.com: "Top 8 Reasons to Take Pro Bono Cases"

Posted on April 23, 2010
Top 8 Reasons to Take Pro Bono Cases by Dawn Levine from Fulton County Daily Report. And it's right. I tried a pro bono attempted murder case Wednesday, just because it was perfectly winnable, for a guy with five priors who always pled guilty before. He was on parole three weeks when this happened, and he was revoked for it...

Who hasn't felt this way before?

Posted on April 21, 2010
Lawyer Accused of Beating Client with a Baseball Bat Accepts Plea Deal.

KS lawyer in trouble for bringing in to prison a newspaper reporter as legal assistant

Posted on April 20, 2010
A Kansas lawyer has been recommended for a six month suspension for representing a reporter to be a legal assistant to get into a prison to do an article about prison sex. Lawyer in Hot Water for Helping Newspaper Reporter Write About Prison Sex.

Kieffer convicted again, in Denver this time

Posted on April 10, 2010
From the Denver Post: Impostor attorney Kieffer guilty of fraud, contempt, in the "client's" case from Aspen, which the 10th Cir. conditionally reversed.

10 Simple Google Sarch Tricks

Posted on April 10, 2010
On the NY Times website from last week: 10 Simple Google Search Tricks.

"11 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring a Criminal Law Attorney"

Posted on April 08, 2010
From Los Angeles News Today: 11 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring a Criminal Law Attorney and 6 Crucial Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Criminal Law Lawyer.

Padilla practice advisory

Posted on April 07, 2010
A Padilla practice advisory is on the Immigrant Defense Project website here. The bullet points: Some Key Padilla Take-Away Points for Criminal Defense Lawyers • Deportation is a “penalty,” not a “collateral consequence,” of the criminal proceeding...

Mark Stanford gets yet another

Posted on April 06, 2010
Mark Stanford gets yet another lawyer, and Kent Schaffer is relieved, both ways. Kent Schaffer, Stanford's last lawyer, said he and George “Mac” Secrest are happy to be leaving the case. He said the trouble the judge had with the obstinate Stanford this morning was a tiny taste of the difficulty he had in the months he represented Stanford...

CA2: Failure to argue tainted lineup IAC

Posted on April 06, 2010
Failure to argue tainted lineup where defendant was only person of Guyanese descent in lineup was ineffective assistance of counsel. Grant of habeas relief affirmed. Ramchair v. Conway, 08-2004-pr (2d Cir. April 2, 2010).

NLJ: Prosecutors increasingly interfering with witnesses

Posted on April 05, 2010
On NLJ today: Interference with potential defense witnesses | Prosecutors are increasingly being admonished or penalized for trying to stop or influence such testimony, by Laurie L. Levenson.

DC: Order to defendant to not discuss his testimony with anyone violated Sixth Amendment

Posted on April 02, 2010
"[A]ppellant Kelvin Martin claims the trial court violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by ordering him not to speak to his attorney about his testimony over a weekend recess that interrupted his cross-examination. We agree with appellant that this was plain error necessitating reversal...

MD: Deportation must be an acceptable collateral consequence

Posted on March 31, 2010
“An Unbroken Phalanx of Federal Authority” holds that deportation is a collateral consequence beyond ineffective assistance of counsel under Strickland. State v. Denisyuk, 2010 Md. App. LEXIS 49 (March 29, 2010): What makes certain costs of a criminal conviction collateral? Let us count the ways...

SCOTUS: Failure to advise of collateral consequence of deportation can be IAC

Posted on March 31, 2010
SCOTUS decided Padilla v. Kentucky today holding (7-2) that defense counsel can provide ineffective assistance of counsel in failing to advise a criminal defendant of the risk of deportation. Part of the syllabus: Petitioner Padilla, a lawful permanent resident of the United States for over 40 years, faces deportation after pleading guilty to drug-distribution charges in Kentucky...

CO: Divulging client secrets on discharge earns suspension

Posted on March 30, 2010
A Colorado lawyer was suspended for charging an unreasonable fee and then divulging privileged matter after being discharged and then defaulting the disciplinary. In re Fain, 08PDJ002 (Colo. January 25, 2010). Hat tip to LegalProfessionBlog.

CA8: D.Ct. erred in removing defendant from courtroom for talking loudly with defense counsel

Posted on March 29, 2010
Defendant was wrongly removed from the courtroom because he talked loudly with counsel. United States v. Ward, 09-1182 (8th Cir. March 29, 2010).

FL gets real bomb scare

Posted on March 29, 2010
FL Defense lawyer finds grenade hanging from office doorknob, on ABAJ.com.

Attorney suspended for failure to supervise staff

Posted on March 26, 2010
On ABAJ: Attorney Suspended for 6 Months Due to Paralegal’s Alleged Embezzlement of $80K--failure to supervise an employee.

AG Holder on defense of the unpopular

Posted on March 22, 2010
Attorney General Eric Holder speaking at the Pro Bono Institute Gala on March 19, 2010: In all of this work, you’ve helped people in crisis and in need. And, as you have stood by your clients, you have also stood up for, and honored, a basic principle that defines who we are as a nation of laws...

ABAJ: "Stolen Case Info Creates Ethics Haze for Lawyers"

Posted on March 22, 2010
On ABAJ.com: Stolen Case Info Creates Ethics Haze for Lawyers.

NYT: The right to counsel and a class action in NY

Posted on March 21, 2010
In today's NYTimes: The Right to Counsel: Woman Becomes a Test Case. A PD is alleged to have had a client plead to a felony that was not a felony, and a class action resulted that is argued this week in the New York Court of Appeals: Usually, such a minor case would go unnoticed; a little test of the constitutional right to a lawyer, results unknown...

GA: False billing of expenses to firm leads court to reject disciplinary settlement offer

Posted on March 20, 2010
In a awyer discipline case for false billing investigative services to his firm and he kept the money (>$520k), the Georgia Supreme Court rejected a voluntary discipline submission with a 6-12 months suspension, retroactive to June 2009. In re Shaw, S10Y0571 (Ga...

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