In Criminal Defense Can We Ever Trust An Anonymous Tip?
As a seasoned Arizona criminal defense attorney, I have learned that deceit often lurks behind anonymity. I think Fezzik said it best in the movie, The Princess Bride, when he told Inigo Montoya to be careful in his dealings with the “Man in Black” because: “People in masks cannot be trusted.” The 6th Amendment affords […]
DUI Criminal Defense and The Blood-Breath Partition Ratio
Arizona law states that “alcohol in the breath does not cause impairment; impairment results when alcohol enters the body, is absorbed into the bloodstream, and is transported to the central nervous system.” Guthrie v. Jones, 202 Ariz. 273, 274, 43 P.3d 601, 602 (App. 2002). None of my DUI clients struggle with this concept. Their […]
Medical Marijuana Authorized for All Probationers #Marijuana-Attorney
In a case of first impression, Division 2 of the Arizona Court of Appeals recently decided that a person on probation could use medical marijuana so long as that use was compliant with the guidelines established by the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (herein the “AMMA”), A.R.S. § 36-2801 through 36-2819. See, Reed-Kaliher v. Hoggatt, 691 […]
Mile-High Marijuana for Arizonans #CriminalDefenseAttorney
As a criminal defense attorney in Arizona, I was paying particularly close attention on January 1, 2014, when Colorado became the first state in the Union to permit the legal use of recreational marijuana. In amending their state constitution, Colorado voters declared that: In the interest of the efficient use of law enforcement resources, enhancing […]
Do People Drink Beer for the Taste or the Buzz? #DUIDefenseAttorney
As a DUI defense attorney it doesn’t matter why a particular drink is chosen, it is the effect of your choice that matters. So, if beer is the drink you want at the weekend barbeque or while watching the ball game, have you ever wondered whether if it is the alcohol or the taste that […]
Arizona Criminal Defense Attorney – How Can I be Guilty of DUI Drugs if I Possess a Medical Marijuana Card?
As a criminal defense attorney in Arizona, I am consistently meeting people who are downright distraught and confused to have been charged with DUI Drugs (sometimes referred to as “drugged driving”) when the only drug they were using was medical marijuana. In Arizona, a prosecutor has three possible methods for proving that a driver has […]
In Criminal Defense Victim Restitution is Not Punishment, but it Sure Feels Like it! #CriminalAttorney
One of the fundamental principles of our criminal justice system is that one person should never be punished for the misdeeds of another. As a result, if an eighteen-year-old gets drunk and smashes several car windows with a baseball bat, his parents can never be sentenced to jail for the criminal damage caused by their […]
Can Prosecutors Prohibit Medical Marijuna as a Legal Medication? #MarijuanDefenseAttorney
Whenever an individual is placed on supervised felony probation, his or her probation terms are always set out in writing. Although the wording varies slightly from county to county, without fail, there is always a specific mandate that the defendant not possess or use any drugs or medication “without a valid prescription.” Thus, for most […]
Are Jurors Entitled to Have a Conscience? #CriminalDefense
Jury nullification occurs whenever a criminal jury’s collective conscience is troubled by what is deemed to be an unjust law or a truly unique set of circumstances that justify ignoring the law. In such rare cases, the jury has the power to render a verdict that disregards both the evidence presented in court and the […]
Can Arizona Cops Seize my Medical Marijuana? #CriminalLawyer
As a criminal defense attorney in Arizona I can tell you that under Arizona law, police officers are vested with authority to immediately seize illegal drugs, including marijuana. Pursuant to A.R.S. §13-3413(C), seized drugs are then “summarily forfeited” which means that they are never returned to the owner and are destroyed without any kind of […]
Criminal Defense Lawyer | California Teacher Charged For Misconduct With a Minor
The criminal statutes of every state in the Union contain time limitations. Although the various states differ greatly in their applicable limitation periods, the reason for their existence is always the same. “Statutes of limitation in criminal cases are designed primarily to protect the accused from the burden of defending himself against charges of long completed misconduct.