The trial did not end the way I wanted. Hopefully, the appeal will go better. In the case I tried, the arrest was made on 11/27/2005. The officer had no recollection of the facts in this case. He admitted that he had spent the week before trial memorizing his police…
Quit letting the cops search your car. You have no idea what is in your car. Think of all the crazy people who ride in your car. Some of them use drugs. You might use drugs. Either way, just say no to consent searches. A cop asking to search your…
Grits inspired me revisit Opportunity Costs. The graph is from the FBI’s recent Crime in the US study. It shows the clearance rate for real crime; crimes with victims. A case is cleared by arrest or when a perpetrator is identified. These numbers represent the Opportunity Cost of the Drug…
According the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report police arrested over 826,000 marijuana consumers last year. The War on Cannabis is a war on ourselves. These are our friends, family, and loved ones we are arresting. George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Newt Gingrigh, Al Gore, and most college students have smoked marijuana.…
The DEA continues their consensual crime crusade. This time they made 120 arrests in an “illegal” steroid investigation. Who cares if adults use steroids? Is it wrong only because it is illegal? Is that the moral justification to ruin lives with incarceration? A fellow Texas Tech law grad, Karen Tandy,…
Do you watch Jeopardy? On Jeopardy they give you the answer and the contestants guess the questions. DWI field sobriety tests are performed just like Jeopardy. You see the answer to the field sobriety tests in that the officer attempts to perform them for you (although they routinely make mistakes).…
In Economics, the principle of opportunty cost states that the cost of something is the value of other foregone opportunities. Example-You went to the movies this afternoon. You could have exercised, worked, mowed the lawn etc. Those missed opportunities are opportunity costs. The War on Drugs has opportunity costs also.…
In Texas, discovery in criminal cases is limited. The State does not have to turn over much of the evidence used to prosecute. For example, in Texas the defendant does not have the right to obtain a copy of the police report in a case. Attempts by defense counsel to…
Have you ever wanted to see the Intoxilyzer 5000 without being arrested? Here it is. The Bill of Rights is under assault by an Atari 2600. How does it work? Here is the operator manual. Is it accurate? We don’t really know. The State’s Conviction machine runs on secret software…
I get that question often. The idea being that our system is so perfect that it is an insult to the God of Law Enforcement to defend the guilty. In my experience this sentiment is common but without much intellectual foundation. How do I respond? I do not believe in…