Hard cases, the maxim goes, make bad law. So it is hardly surprising that the Connecticut General Assembly is poised to weigh in on the use of deadly force by police officers with a sloppy piece of legislation. I wonder, really, whether new laws are necessary. And if they are, I harbor doubts about the bill unanimously passed by the Senate.
This year's domestic news has been dominated by films of protest and reaction in Ferguson, Missouri, endless videos of a fatal police takedown on Staten Island, and, let's not forget, the killing of Freddy Gray in Baltimore. Did I neglect to mention...
June 4, 2015
Those of you who spend time on Facebook and other social media sites know that the boundaries of free speech can be stretched to cover all sorts of uncivilly spoken smack. There is a limit on what can be said, however. One such limit is what the law calls “true threats.”
The First Amendment is simplicity itself: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of...
June 4, 2015
I cannot help but wonder whether the public trial rights of criminal defendants are routinely violated in Connecticut when judges conduct sensitive voir dire by means of the dreaded sidebar. Consider the implications of United States v. Gupta, a 2011 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit case.
Raghubir Gupta was convicted of one count of immigration fraud and sentenced to 51 months in prison. During jury selection, a courtroom deputy instructed Gupta's brother and another person to leave the courtroom. He later justified that decision by saying he was directed by the judge in...
May 27, 2015
I was at the Mohegan Sun casino the other day, during normal business hours. But I was not there for the purpose of gambling. I swear. I have a room full of police chiefs who are my witnesses.
For the second straight year, I was the guest of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, invited to speak about a criminal defense lawyer’s perspective on the challenges facing police officers. This year’s topic was simple: Why the sudden scrutiny of police use of force?
The group was somber. Their men patrol streets in neighborhoods where they are sometimes viewed less as law...
May 20, 2015
May 17, 2015
I’m always amazed when I read press accounts of cases I have either tried, or am in the midst of trying: the reporter’s gloss rarely...
May 17, 2015
Much has been made about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s demeanor during his recent trial. For 10 weeks he sat in a Boston courtroom. Observers report that...
May 8, 2015
Among the enchantments of criminal law is its specialized vocabulary.
For example, a new potential client often feels the need to approach...
May 7, 2015
Reliable information is hard to come by in the death of Baltimore’s Freddie Gray, but, from a distance, he looks to be a victim of a police...
April 29, 2015
I missed Bruce Jenner's interview with Diane Sawyer the other night, and, try as I might, I just can't seem to muster the will to go back and watch...
April 23, 2015
I wasn't under any illusions about what the sentence would be. My client was convicted of shooting a man in a drive-by shooting, killing him almost...