Blog
5/27/16 In a criminal case there are two types of challenges to prospective jurors, strikes for cause and peremptory strikes. When a prospective juror is stricken for cause it means that the judge has determined that something the prospective juror has said or about their background renders them unfit to set fairly and impartially on…
5/26/16 Background checks are not created equally. Many people are surprised to find that mere criminal arrests, and not only criminal convictions, can and do turn up during some background checks and might well hold them back from good life opportunities. In Arizona, the Arizona Supreme Court’s Public Access to Court Information website, and…
5/25/16 Highly publicized school shootings have created an atmosphere of fear in college campuses around the country, and in reacting to that fear some schools have put in place measures that needlessly prevent people with criminal convictions, and even sometimes merely high school disciplinary records, from applying to or attending college. Recent trends are…
5/25/16 Last week a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ordered the release of portions of bodycam video footage in the Philip Brailsford case, in which an ex-Mesa Police officer is accused of second-degree murder in the January 18, 2016 shooting death of Daniel Shaver. Because of the circumstances surrounding the killing, namely, that Mr.…
5/24/16 On May 18, 2016, conservative Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed a bill increasing the number of justices on the Arizona Supreme Court from five to seven. According to an April 5, 2016 article in the Tucson Daily Star the expansion plan was opposed by five former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justices. Former Chief Justice…
5/23/16 The second police officer to stand trial thus far on charges stemming from the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland, has been found not guilty on all charges by the judge. Officer Edward Nero was one of the first officers on scene to interact with Mr. Gray, though not implicated in the actions…
5/23/16 In a unanimous opinion issued on May 19, 2016, the United States Supreme Court held that a criminal defendant’s Sixth Amendment Right to a Speedy Trial does not apply to the sentencing phase of the proceedings. In Betterman v. Montana, No. 14–1457, the defendant plead guilty in Montana state court to the offense…
5/20/16 A Florida man, travelling home through Georgia with his parents and fiancée, was killed after a bizarre confrontation with Sheriff’s deputies. Having recently been behaving strangely and alarming his loved ones, possibly due to ingestion of a synthetic form of marijuana, his family pulled over and called police to help him. Bodycam videos…
5/18/16 Yesterday concluded a two-day preliminary hearing in the second degree murder case against former Mesa Police Department Officer Philip Brailsford, charged in the January 18, 2016 shooting death of Daniel Shaver. At the conclusion of the hearing Judge Sam Myers ruled that the State had presented enough evidence to establish probable cause for the…
6/2/26 It is of particular importance in a second offense DUI situation to make sure the amount charged by the court for Maricopa County Jail fees is correct; although this fact is sometimes unknown and other times simply overlooked, the jail rates for second offense sentences are 50% less than for first offenses. For instance,…