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One the most frequent misunderstandings I encounter about protection orders (TPO and CPO) is who is actually restricted by the judicial order. In a common scenario a TPO is issued against a husband or boyfriend who has been charged with domestic violence. The order prohibits the defendant/husband from having any contact with the complaining witness/wife. It does not in anyway restrict or prohibit the wife from contacting the husband. The wife can call the husband's cell phone, leave messages and not be in violation of the TPO. However, as soon as the husband responds or returns the call he has violated the TPO and is subject to criminal charges. A TPO or CPO is an order by a judge against one person only, the named defendant or respondent.

For illustrative purposes, begin by picturing a cool fall day in October. Rather than rake the leaves piling up in my back yard, which seem to fall mostly from my neighbor's trees, I decide to take trip to the local police station. I calmly walk in, go to the nice lady behind the glass and tell her that I would like to report a crime. Asked the nature of the crime, I explain that my neighbor stole my chainsaw. The receptionist instructs me to fill out a complaint form. I dutifully comply and write down the following:

The short answer is "no." If your neighbor or the mailman knocked on your door and asked to look through every drawer and inmate area of your home, you would think he was crazy and slam the door shut. Likewise, if a BMV agent asked to search your car when you went to renew your license, you would refuse. Why then would you voluntarily let a police officer search your home or car just because he asked?

Before filing a Motion to Suppress, it is important that I get all of the facts. In particular, I focus on the interactions between the police and my client. Sometimes, the smallest details can make a difference between a stop being legal and illegal. Once the facts are gathered, I must make a decision about whether or not the police violated my client's rights. Usually, some legal research is needed to insure a proper legal foundation for the claim. I then combine the facts and law into a written motion which is filed with the court.

Just because you are pulled over does not automatically give police the right to search your vehicle. Law enforcement may only search a vehicle, home, person or thing if they have: (1) a search warrant, (2) consent, or (3) probable cause (a reasonable ground for belief of guilt).

Often in criminal cases Expert Witnesses are called to offer expert testimony at trial. A witness who is qualified as an expert may offer an opinion on a topic. For example, the expert may say that in his opinion the bullet recovered from the body was fired by this gun or the note handed to the bank teller was written by the Defendant. (Lay witnesses are not permitted to offer opinion testimony.) Yet, far too often the expert testifies without challenge from the defense. More troubling, sometimes the "expert" is not really a qualified expert or the method he used to reach his conclusion is faulty.

A common mistake often made in criminal cases is the blind acceptance of a witness as an expert. This is no more evident than in the case of Ray Krone. Ray was convicted and sentenced to die based upon the testimony of a dentist whose opinion was rooted in the faulty and inexact method of bite mark to teeth comparisons. Further, the dentist's findings were later shown to be incorrect by DNA. How could this happen, how could the dentist be allowed to testify at trial? Ray Krone, like many others, was not only a victim of poor police work and junk science, but also of timing.

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