The police need reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed prior to pulling someone over or temporarily detaining them. The police need probable cause to arrest someone. Even if the police are wrong, as long as they acted in good faith, the stop, detention or arrest is still valid. […]
When police arrest a suspect, the suspect is considered to be in custody. Because of the psychological power police can have over someone in custody, there are restrictions as to what the police can and cannot do in that situation. This includes questioning suspects while in custody. Questioning suspects in[…]
Dressing for court is important. Lawyers have a clear rule: male lawyers wear a minimum of a jacket and tie and usually a suit and tie; female lawyers wear a suit or other professional attire. If you see an attorney wearing anything else, you will usually hear the attorney apologize[…]
I often hear my clients tell me that someone else got a certain sentence for a similar offense and whether they could also get the same sentence. My usual response is that no two cases and defendants are exactly alike and so the sentences would not necessarily be exactly alike. […]
Before the police can question someone who is in custody, they must give Miranda warnings, which are: You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot[…]
There are times when the police conduct citizen tip traffic stops. When the police observe traffic violations that, by themselves, justify a traffic stop, courts need not analyze the reliability of the citizen’s tip in determining whether the traffic stop was valid. However, the police often gather little to no[…]
Many states, including Ohio, criminalize the refusal to submit to alcohol testing after being arrested for DUI. The United States Supreme Court, in ruling mandatory DUI blood tests unconstitutional, imposed severe limits on such state laws. Individual Rights And Liberties Are More Important Than Getting Tough On Crime This case[…]
Apple and the FBI have gotten a lot of attention lately on the government’s power to search cell phones. Apple refused to unlock its phones and FBI figured out how to do it by themselves. Long before this battle ensued, the Ohio Supreme Court issued the following decision: Ohio cell[…]
Ohio Supreme Court Declares Repeat OVI Offender Specifications Constitutional In 2016, the Ohio Supreme Court found the repeat OVI offender specifications constitutional. The accused challenged the Ohio DUI sentencing laws as unconstitutional because they violated equal protection of the law. The Ohio Supreme Court did not agree with that argument.[…]