I’m all for civility at the bar, don’t get me wrong. Fighting with words doesn’t bring out the best in people. Lawyers ought to make a special effort to leave the conflicts on the record, where they matter. What goes on in the hallways is a different matter.
So I was surprised the other day when I was on the cusp of dropping a few expletives in the doorway to a courtroom. I share this story because I think there is a difference between civility and passive-aggressive whining.
Hartford’s criminal...
September 2, 2015
Every defendant has a mother, of this much I am certain. If there were justice, I am nearly as certain, many of these mothers, rather than the defendants themselves, would be behind bars.
Harsh words for mothers, you say?
Come. Take a walk on the wild side. Let me show you a thing or two, and see if you still think me too bold.
A man in his 30s is accused of beating his girlfriend senseless. She’s suffered a traumatic brain injury. She stands by her claim the defendant assaulted her while enraged. In fact, the defendant has previously been accused of violence toward...
August 26, 2015
I'm not sure how much money was spent on the renovations to the Elm Street courthouse in New Haven, but it wasn't enough. Sure, the courthouse looks pretty, although there are those embarrassing holes drilled in the stairs approaching the front door where contractors miscalculated where to sink the railings. Athena's got holes in her robe.
But inside, where it matters, plenty was left undone.
The courthouse is home to Geographical Area 23, the criminal court serving New Haven, East Haven and a few other surrounding towns. It's an accused's first stop in the criminal justice...
August 26, 2015
My first instinct was to shrug the call off, to regard it as unnecessary alarmism. But the caller was a lawyer I respect, and would turn to in a heartbeat if a family member were injured. I told him I would mull the matter overnight and then get back to him.
Were the pictures in his possession child pornography? Dare he send them to his adversary in a dog bite case?
A young girl, about 12 years old, was mauled by a pit bull. The dog tore at her breast and left garish scars on her buttocks. The caller had photographs of the fresh injuries. He wanted to use them as part of...
August 20, 2015
August 13, 2015
I doubt there was much celebrating on Connecticut’s death row today, where 11 condemned men sat, some for decades, awaiting execution. Not one...
August 13, 2015
A good friend called the other day. I was unable to take her case due to a conflict. Who would I call if I needed help? she asked.
That is a...
August 11, 2015
The numbers are hard to believe, even if the source of them, The Washington Post, is highly credible. As of August 10, 2015, 598 people...
August 9, 2015
There is a school of thought that holds there is no such thing as bad publicity for trial lawyers. Thus all manner of lawyers blog,...
August 5, 2015
Law students are taught that there are four factors a judge should consider when a criminal defendant is sentenced: specific deterrence, general...
July 29, 2015
The other day, I shared a podium with state Senator Gary Winfield-Holder and several others at the Courtland-Wilson Library in New Haven. The topic...