In my experience, client calls from jail or prison facilities come in two forms. Sometimes, a client will call me directly from the facility using the facility’s telephone equipment. On other occasions, I will receive a call from a friend or family member who will then “third-party” the client in…
Discovery in New York State criminal cases has long been completely unfair to defendants. The New York discovery rules have not been substantially revised since 1979. More than a dozen reform bills that have been introduced over the last 40 years have been successfully blocked by the State’s district attorneys’…
Our Supreme Court decided State v. Brown on February 4, 2019. The case is very significant because it addresses the ongoing issue of the State’s obligation to produce discovery in a timely manner. The facts surrounding the discovery violation and its ramifications in this case are somewhat complex. Suffice it…
Discovery rules in criminal cases can vary greatly between jurisdictions. New Jersey has some of the most liberal discovery rules in the nation. It is common for discovery to be produced well before an indictment. Further, under current rules, all discovery must ordinarily be produced at or just prior to…
Our personal information is constantly being collected by third parties without our realization. Every time we use one of our devices, we expose personal details and information to collection by any number of entities that use the data for various purposes. Privacy is clearly on the decline as the use…
It has been said that the defense attorney is frequently the most ignorant person in the room. The reason for this unflattering description is that s/he knows the least about what actually happened at the crime scene. The prosecutor has an army of investigators tasked with developing as much information…