We were able to get the charges dismissed yesterday for one of my clients who was facing a DUI(2nd offense).  Was it because of my brilliant legal skills?  Sure.  Maybe.  Probably not . . . The officer didn’t show up It was a crowded docket, our case was called, and it turned out the officer was not present to testify in the State’s case.  Without any effort on my part whatsoever (I did have to say “Defense is ready, Your Honor”), the prosecutor unilaterally dismissed the charges.  In this case the arresting officer was no longer employed by the police department, and it would have been

Yes, because some courts in Mississippi are not “courts of record,” and there may not be a court reporter present that is transcribing everything that is said.  As you may imagine, it is almost always good to have a clear transcript of what is said in court, to resolve any confusion about what was said when it later becomes very important.  Mississippi law recognizes this, and Section 9-13-32 of the Mississippi Code Annotated provides that: Any attorney of record in any cause pending in a court which does not provide an official court reporter, may, in the discretion of such attorney, record or

I just finished a very complex criminal trial in the federal courthouse in Jackson this week.  The trial began last Monday, and was scheduled to last two weeks, but we were able to get it done by yesterday, in one week.  I suppose this has to do with the fact that this was a retrial, and the lawyers for both sides were able to move through the presentation of evidence more efficiently the second time through.  In most cases, however, the the length of a trial, or each segment of a trial, is difficult if not impossible to predict.   The length

I am in the middle of a jury trial in federal court this week, and I obviously can’t say anything about it, other than to say it is one of the biggest I’ve ever tried. I am writing this post as a “note to self” more than anything else, because every time I get to trial I realize how important the competing motivations of the prosecution, the court (i.e., the judge), and the defense are to the eventual outcome of the case.  In summary, the prosecution wants to present the evidence flawlessly, the defense wants to defend the client’s interests, and the court