It happens to everyone. You are driving at night and suddenly you see the lights come on and you are pulled over for some minor traffic infraction and then the question,"Have you had anything to drink tonight?"

What do you do?

What do you say?

Nothing . . . you say absolutely nothing to the police officer because you have just become a suspect.

Even Tiger Woods knows . . . NEVER talk to the police.

If the wealthiest sports celebrity in the world does it, you better believe you should too.

Never, ever talk to the Police. Exercise your Fifth Amendment right to REMAIN SILENT and ask for your lawyer. You have the right to have a lawyer appointed at the instant you feel that adversarial proceedings have begun. The Supreme Court states that this occurs when you are arrested, BUT may occur even sooner, depending on the circumstances.

So do your self a favor this holiday season, don't talk to the police. Find a good lawyer and keep their phone number with you at all times.

Remember the holidays are fun, and everyone likes to have a good time, but the police are out there looking for their next arrest. Don't let it be you.

I am always surprised to learn from clients that they have a hard time choosing the right lawyer for the case. They sometimes think that the more a lawyer advertises, the better they must be. Or, if that lawyer handled my friend's case, he can handle mine.
My experience has been that there are a few good lawyers anywhere you go. Only a few. They are the one's that are hard working, they don't waste time talking with other lawyers at the courthouse and they are in high demand. They typically focus on one area of law and handle the toughest cases. The cases that no other lawyers can take . . . and win. These lawyers charge high fees because they put their hearts and souls into the cases and really work for their clients. These are the right lawyers for your case.
I have many people call me, having heard of the great verdicts and trial wins, and the first question they ask is "how much do you charge?"
When that question is asked, I know that this person has dealt with other lawyers that may have web pages or advertisements where they pretend to be criminal lawyers on the internet or in print.
After all, what's difference can a lawyer make to my case?
My answer, is always, I am a trial lawyer. I win cases in trial and because of that, the prosecutors know that if they are not fair, we will end up in trial and there is a good chance they will lose the entire case.
Only trial lawyers, try cases to juries. A criminal lawyer that is not trying cases is only pretending to be a criminal lawyer.
Make sure you know the difference! Because if you don't, the prosecutor sure does!

Happy Thanksgiving.

The past two weeks have been very long with some bright spots mixed into all of the deadlines.

Client charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, range of punishment 5 - life, reduced to Assault Causing Bodily Injury with 60 days to do in county jail, credit for 20 already served.

Client with misdemeanor theft by check - dismissed.

Client charged with Assault Causing Bodily Injury - dismissed, after previous lawyer set case for trial without taking the time to point out weaknesses and provide evidence of the lack of guilt on client's part.

These three clients are going to be celebrating Thanksgiving this year with new meaning!

I hope that we all can enjoy the holidays and remember to be safe!

The State was stunned to lose a case that was a "certain" win for them. Last week my client's case was dismissed after a hearing on the Motion to Suppress that was filed. The prosecutors for the State were too focused on the outcome of the blood lab results to figure out that they could never prove their case. After trying to explain that my client was not driving WHILE intoxicated for the past year, we finally proved it in trial.

Through the skilled use of cross examination and thanks to our up to the second research, we were able to show the court that the government could not prove WHEN our client was driving, if at all. The arresting officer, Trooper Phipps, pulled up on the client and immediately assumed he was intoxicated, without any probable cause to believe that our client was operating a motor vehicle. Our client was actually almost finished changing his tire when Phipps pulled up.

By bringing out the lack of evidence and the mistakes made during the arrest by Trooper Phipps, our client had all of the evidence suppressed since there was no probable cause for the stop, detention and arrest of our client.

Once again, Trooper Phipps was wrongfully accusing another citizen of breaking the law and had no proof. Unfortunately our client still had to go to jail, post bail and spend time and money appearing in court for over a year before finally being vindicated.

There are some good police officers out there that do their job and are constantly striving to improve themselves and get better at their job. Those officers are to be commended.

For the others, call us and we will fight for your rights . . . others say it . . . we do it!