The United States Sentencing Commission recently released proposed amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Among the proposed changes, including changes relating to [insert list here], is a proposed change to the guidelines regarding acceptance of responsibility. The Commission, through this proposed amendment, seeks to reconcile to conflicting circuit opinions regarding the interpretation of the existing […]
READ MORETo Testify or Not to Testify…That is the Question.
Few topics are discussed among lawyers more. Should you put your client on the stand or not? Sometimes it’s just not an option for any number of reasons. Maybe your client has a criminal history that has too much to impeach with. Maybe your client told so many inconsistent versions of a story to the […]
READ MOREPredicting Dangerousness and Flipping Coins
On April 20, NPR’s Morning Edition broadcast an interview with Phillip Merideth, “a forensic psychiatrist and the chief medical office for Brentwood Behavioral Healthcare in Mississippi [and] a lawyer who teaches about mental health and the law.” According to Dr. Merideth, “[p]sychiatric literature in the past has shown that efforts to predict — and I’m […]
READ MOREDeadline for Georgia Ethics Commission Employees to Produce Documents in Federal Grand Jury Investigation Relating to Georgia Governor Nathan Deal
The deadline for witnesses to produce records to a Federal grand jury for the Northern District of Georgia in its investigation of Georgia’s Ethics Commission and Georgia Governor Nathan Deal was last Tuesday. As reported by WSB-TV Channel 2, the grand jury investigation was begun after the Ethics Commission’s former Director, Stacey Kalberman and former Deputy […]
READ MORESt. Patrick’s Day Fatalities: 37 Percent Involve Drunk Drivers
St. Patrick’s Day means a much anticipated day of celebrating and drinking with friends for many people. But the celebrations involving alcohol have made St. Patrick’s Day one of the most dangerous days for road travel, due to the large numbers of drunk drivers that are often out on the roads. According to the National […]
READ MOREWill Obama crack down on Legal Weed
Don’t Try Mr. President. Just Don’t Try When the New York Times published, “Administration Weighs Legal Action Against States That Legalized Marijuana Use”, those with strong opinions were quick to jump on it. Writing for Huffington Post, Radley Balko said: “Notice what expressions do not show in the New York Times piece: pivot, possibly stopping […]
READ MOREAtlanta Securities Lawyer Gregory Bartko Sentenced to 23 Years for Securities Fraud
Gregory Bartko, a securities lawyer and Atlanta resident, was sentenced last Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina to 23 years’ imprisonment for securities fraud, as reported in the Columbus, Indiana, Republic. Bartko was convicted in 2010 at the conclusion of a 13-day trial on six counts of securities […]
READ MOREBrett Chidester and Salvia: “Suicide Solution” Redux
I’ve been very reluctant to write about the case of Brett Chidester, the Delaware teenager who killed himself in January 2006 and whose parents have been pushing for the criminalization of salvia divinorum. I’m reluctant simply because the fact of losing a child is overwhelmingly tragic, and I don’t have any desire to wade into […]
READ MOREDo Stand Your Ground laws worsen racial disparities?
Do Stand Your Ground Laws Provoke Racial Disparities Inside The Justice System With some observers believing how Stand Your Ground (SYG) laws warp the nation’s justice system, the discussion isn’t over — by a long shot. In state-jurisdictions where SYG laws are in place, murders are two-timed as apt to be determined “justifiable” as states […]
READ MOREAllen Stanford Guilty on 13 of 14 Counts
As previously reported here, there has been a dearth of media coverage of the Allen Stanford trial in Houston. Following almost 3 days of deliberation Stanford was found guilty on 13 of 14 counts in the indictment. Stanford, 61, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, four counts of […]
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