Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “Can I be arrested without evidence against me?”
When the Utah jury acquitted a man named Roberto Román of first-degree murder of an officer of the peace, Román and his attorney breathed sighs of relief.
Charlotte DWI Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “If I simply intend to plead guilty, why do I need a lawyer?”
If you’ve already been convicted of a crime but are sitting in jail awaiting sentencing, criminal defense lawyers will normally advise you to stay on your best behavior. The lag time between conviction and sentencing leaves any jailhouse behavior subject to the sentencing judge’s scrutiny.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “What are the long term effects of being convicted of a crime?”
Manson Family member Leslie Van Houten was finally recommended for parole by a parole board panel this April after having been denied 19 times.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “Should I clean up my social media profile after being charged?”
Lawmakers frequently look for new ways to appear tough on crime. In Tennessee, one popular approach was to target gang members with enhanced criminal sentencing guidelines. Though the law was a popular one among prosecutors, a state court recently struck it down as being unconstitutional, forcing legislators and prosecutors to go back to the drawing board to find legally acceptable ways of cracking down on gang crime.
Charlotte DWI Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “If I simply intend to plead guilty, why do I need a lawyer?”
A North Carolina state appellate court released a ruling this [week] refusing to accept the defendant’s claims that he was provoked into killing his girlfriend because he was jealous of her relationships with other men. The Durham County Court of Appeals’ decision in State v. Chaves provides too good an example of the elements required for a voluntary manslaughter charge to resist discussion, but be warned: the facts of this case read somewhat like a television show or soap opera.
J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Should I ever plead guilty to a charge?”
It seems like a movie plot twist in a case that is already one of the most sensationalized of our time. Days after the sixth episode of FX’s new documentary about The People v. O.J. Simpson aired, the news story broke: a retired officer with the Los Angeles Police Department just turned over a knife he claims was found at the site of the murders for which O.J. Simpson was acquitted in 1994.
Charlotte DWI and Criminal Defense Attorney J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC responds to: “I was found not guilty of a charge, but my record still shows the charge.”
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling will have an important impact on dozens of people currently serving life sentences in North Carolina prisons. The ruling will require courts to reconsider their sentences as the inmates were all under 18 years old at the time of their crimes. Whether the life sentences without the possibility of parole are ultimately tossed out depends in part of the nature of the original crime and on the leniency of the judges presiding over the new hearings.
J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What is the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony?”
Joanna Madonna was found guilty of first-degree murder on Monday, September 28th, in what had been a highly publicized trial in the North Carolina capital. The former Wake County schoolteacher and 48-year-old mother was sentenced to life in prison for the Father’s Day murder of her husband Jose Perez. Madonna was convicted of first-degree murder, which means the jury found that Madonna acted maliciously and with premeditation. The jury found that Madonna took her husband, who was a recovering alcoholic with serious health issues, on a drive through northern Wake County, shot and stabbed him, and left him to die in a ditch.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What is an expungement?”
A very sad case out of Michigan recently made headlines involving a 13-year-old boy on trial for murder. The case is especially tragic because the 13-year-old stands accused of killing a 9-year-old, stabbing him to death at a neighborhood playground.
J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can I be arrested without evidence against me?”
Domestic violence advocates and the family of a young woman murdered in east Charlotte last month are asking that officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department be given the authority to check a database showing criminal convictions from other states of persons not suspected of criminal activity.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Blog