Sometimes a defendant does not realize that they are officially being interrogated. If you are in an interview room in a police station, in the custody of the police (i.e. you've been placed under arrest) then it is crystal clear you are being interrogated. You will almost certainly have been read your Miranda rights before being interrogated in a police station. Since these interviews are almost always filmed, it is...

A recent case in California brought the subject of warrantless blood draws up again. The case involved a woman who had killed six people in a 2014 accident involving drunk driving. The woman had entered I-60 traveling in the wrong direction, which is what precipitated the crash. The suspected driver was found unconscious in the wreck and officers had her blood drawn at the hospital, without first getting a warrant....

You should, of course, never drive under the influence of anything, anywhere. However, there are some states in our country where, depending on circumstances, you will definitely receive far more than a "wrist slap" for your first DUI conviction.Massachusetts has a BAC level of .08. It also allows an arrest for "suspicion" of driving under the influence as well as the most potential jail time for a first offense. You...

In our justice system, a prior bad act is usually inadmissible in a trial about a current crime. This is done for a number of reasons. One reason might be that prior crimes are so old an individual may have changed very much since the time of a prior infraction. The main reason is that knowledge of a prior crime may "poison" the jury's mind into preconceiving guilt, unrelated to...

Most of the time, when an individual is convicted of a DUI, the state will present chemical (blood alcohol concentration) evidence to support its charge. This evidence is usually provided as the result of either a breathalyzer test or a blood test. However, a recent case in New Jersey saw an individual convicted of DUI without any chemical evidence, and that conviction was upheld upon appeal.The case centered around a...