Legal and General Media Center -

Archive for March, 2010

Criminal Law

March 29, 2010

DUI Lawyers

DUI LawyersThe first piece of advice that most parents give their children when they start driving is not to drive under the influence of an intoxicant. A person found driving under the influence of alcohol or any other intoxicant is in serious trouble with the authorities. Only an experienced DUI legal professional can help you out of this mess.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a serious crime in any part of the world with very severe consequences. It is advisable for people who are charged with this crime to consult a good lawyer before any further action is taken. The defendant could have their license confiscated permanently. He could also be fined heavily or be sentenced to jail for a very long period of time.

The outcome of your case depends mostly on how good a DUI lawyer you hire. Therefore, hiring a capable attorney is essential. Although finding a good DUI lawyer could be quite a daunting task. There are many lawyers out there, but not all of them could serve your purpose. So how do you make sure the person you are hiring is the right one?

* Ask questions. Find out a bit about your lawyer. Where has he got his degree from? If he attends meetings and seminars about the constantly changing DUI laws? A good lawyer will be able to answer all such queries and doubts.

* Also find out how much experience does the lawyer you are engaging have? The longer he has been practicing law the better.

* It is always advisable to hire a local attorney. Each state has its own set of laws. So, a local lawyer will be familiar with the laws of your State.

* A good attorney will make the effort to get a little information about the judge and the prosecutors.

* Discuss about the fees. There is no point in beating around the bush and then getting burdened with a huge bill that you cannot pay. However, do not opt for the cheapest lawyer!

* Find out if the person you are hiring has been reprimanded for misconduct in the courtroom.

* It is advisable you opt for a lawyer who you are comfortable with as you have to trust him with rather sensitive information.

It may not be an easy task, but, it is very important to find the right DUI lawyer. Lehigh has one of the most professional law firms: Aaroe Law Offices.

Criminal Law

March 26, 2010

Wrongful Convictions

Wrongful ConvictionsI’d like to think that can not happen here. I am a retired cop. But I learn something new every day.

They do happen. In one state alone 41 people have been exonerated thanks to DNA. That is a lot of people in jail. There are tools out there to be utilized. The Polygraph, Statement Analysis and the FMRI to name a few.

I am working on a case in NH wherein my client, in jail, did not commit the crime. I know he did not. I analyzed the statement of the “victim” and it is very deceptive. To be sure I had a polygraph done. He passed it with no problem. He was not offered a test during the investigation.

The prosecutor is fighting our attempts to get a new trial. That is too bad as this state uses the polygraph to put people IN prison: Post Conviction Sex Offender Testing. It is good enough to put someone back in but not to get them a new trial.

Now as you all know from watching Law and Order it is the duty of the prosecutor to keep people in jail…or is it?

Lets take a peek at the Supreme Court’s thoughts on the matter.

The prosecutor’s duty is in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done.

Berger v. U.S., 295 U.S. 78, 88 (1935).

The police have the obligation to convict the guilty and to make sure they do not convict the innocent. (United States v. Wade)

So we see that Court focus more on Justice than the mere fact of a conviction. Police and Prosecutor seek justice, not merely a conviction. This is a good thing.

The hardest type of case is the he said/she said case. For a gal to put a guy away is easy. Consensual sex. This provides forensic evidence. Then just claim rape. Happens more than you would think.

Real rapist should be put away for a long time…but only the real ones.

Criminal Law

March 23, 2010

How to Choose the Right Divorce Lawyer

Choose the Right Divorce LawyerDivorce is a step taken in the extreme conditions of misunderstandings and frauds cropped up among married couples. It is not an easy step to undergo. To make it easy for yourself, it’s better to take the help of right divorce lawyer suitable as per your requirements. It is essential to hire an experienced successful lawyer for your divorce case.

Divorce case is not just a matter of separation of the couple. It involves a lot of other settlement as well. For example, division of valuable assets, alimony, decision on will, child custody and much more. For all such issues to be resolved successfully, you’ll surely require divorce attorney’s expertise.

Now the question arises how to find one such lawyer? Here are few simple things you must consider while hiring a lawyer and you’ll surely get a satisfactory decision from the legal court.

Refer to the bar association. It has a long list of practicing lawyers for all locations. Call the Bar Association and discuss in complete detail about your requirements. Make sure you share each and every minute detail with the lawyer you hire for your divorce case so as to avoid any fuss in the court.

Search on the Internet about various divorce lawyers available in your area. Sort out the selected ones with their contact details. Be sure that you have checked their past experience through the reviews given about them on the Internet and the kind of cases they have dealt with. However, it is recommended to check personally about the attorney’s you are interested in so as to avoid any sort of fraud or failure later on.

Asking and taking suggestions regarding a good reliable attorney from your near and dear ones is the oldest and most proven method to hire suitable lawyer for your divorce case. However, do keep in mind that the lawyer who was suitable for your friend’s divorce may not be suitable for your own. Therefore, do contact the attorney referred by your friend and clarify about his specialization.

Do esquire if you can have a meeting with the lawyer at the initial stage of the case discussion. This is the time to best judge his capabilities and seriousness towards your case. Make sure you share compatible views at the time of discussion.

Last but not the least, discuss about his fees and payment procedure at the initial stage of the case. In the beginning itself, do inform him if your spouse has all authorities over financial and you are not allowed to pay him at the moment. A good divorce attorney will suggest you the best way to solve such trouble.

There are chances that after getting details about your case, the attorney may come up with an amicable settlement, if possible.

Criminal Law

March 20, 2010

Justice And The Penal System

Justice And The Penal SystemWhen I was a kid I heard that prison inmates made license plates for cars. I also actually remember seeing work gangs on the country highways. But for a long time after that, as far as consumer products are concerned, I didn’t hear a thing about what inmates were spending their time doing. Judging from the media, it was basically either getting involved in gangs, body building, occasionally killing each other, and always the one guy out who worked as the prison librarian.

Now though I hear that prisoners are employed by cooperate America doing all sorts of odd things. For one thing, I hear that a lot of online operators for airline and software companies are actually incarcerated convicts. In fact, it seems that prisoners are making everything for everybody, from ammunition belts for the army to lingerie for a well-known realtor of women’s apparel. They even make dental implants.

America now has by far the highest prison incarceration rate in the world, far above Iran, which is number thirty-three. Russia, interestingly, is second. I don’t want to stir up too much debate but one has to wonder: Have American prisoners become a source of cheap (almost free) labor? Has the prison system itself become a profitable big business enterprise?

Or is it just that the American people are the most criminal in the world and are simply paying their debt to society as justice mandates? It seems to me that something smells rotten not in Denmark, but right here in New Jersey. The United States incarceration rate is on average about eight times as high as the rest of the world. China, famous for its hard line, only imprisons one seventh as many people as the United States does, per capita. Something is going on here, and this writer doesn’t think it has anything to do with liberty and justice for all.

Criminal Law

March 17, 2010

Basic Knowledge About Criminal Records

Basic Knowledge About Criminal RecordsCriminal records are just a series of details about offenders such as their arrest, identification, conviction, confinement, registration in the listing of sex criminals, lawful standing, details on warrant and anything else connected with the offender. The records are completed by the law enforcement organizations in the state as well as the central. This way people can collect specifics of a man or woman whenever they want. It is really useful when you are trying to find suspects in some situations.

The criminal records are obtainable to the public in America. Nevertheless, if it is the initial misdeed of the offender and it’s a tiny misdeed, then the judge has the title to seal the file. As soon as the file is sealed, it will be available just to particular government organizations which are provided with entry to it. Thus those individuals can effortlessly tell they’ve never been judged guilty in the past and it will be completely lawful. This really is a problem that is remarkably requested in the course of hiring.

When a hirer or some other persons desire to search on a specific individual, the superior way to achieve this could be to search up the criminal records in each county. You will find also some businesses on the web that declare to supply a full database yet they can’t be depended on. That is due to the fact that you’d not be offered the date of birth or the SSN of the man or woman you’re hunting for and therefore there exists just about every possibility of a mistake.

Plenty of the states in America at the moment are placing the data on the web for simple entry to public. You’d also probably discover free websites which will offer these data and there may possibly some intriguing information that may please us as well. The NCIC (National Crime Information Center) is the branch in FBI which maintains these criminal records which contains theft of firearms, vehicles and so on.

The knowledge about the necessity to understand a lot more concerning the individual they employ is developing extremely rapidly among all the hirers. Each worker will be checked completely on all the criminal records. The hiring procedure is considered to be quite severely. They even see the language utilized in the application sheet, whether it’s comparatively unclear, long or limited and so on.

The combined DNA index system maintains the file of criminals inside the sheet of DNA profiles, both unidentified and recognized. The criminal records can assist not only in recognizing offenders of law but additionally in punishing the undetected ones.