Posted on February 18, 2018 in Criminal Defense

When police accuse suspects of theft crimes, the accused faces serious offenses that could come with stiff penalties in the event of a conviction. However, a theft crime is nothing compared to the crime of murder in terms of potential consequences.

As such, if prosecutors have included a murder charge with your theft charges, you will want to take your criminal defense process very seriously. There are numerous legal strategies that might be available to a murder defendant.

Consider the potential of an insanity defense. If an individual kills another person, and he or she was insane at the time, or if he or she was not cognitively able to understand what he or she was doing or that it was wrong, then the defense of insanity could be suitable. The insanity defense is often supported by psychological expert witnesses who render their opinion as to the psychological state of the accused individual.

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 Posted on February 10, 2018 in OWI/DUI

The law in Wisconsin is exceedingly clear. Individuals who have a blood alcohol content beyond .08 percent cannot legally operate an automobile on the road. In fact, they can't even sit in the driver's seat while drunk with the vehicle pulled over on the side of the road without running the risk of getting arrested for a DUI. All that said, many drivers are surprised to hear that there are certain exceedingly rare circumstances in which it is actually legal to driver while intoxicated.

Before we discuss some examples of these circumstances -- when it's legal to drive drunk -- readers should be warned: This is not something to do on purpose, and it only applies to rare and emergency situations.

Here are two situations in which a driver could theoretically drive drunk and get away with it:

The driver is being threatened: Imagine someone was threatening a driver's life and forcing him or her to drive drunk. Maybe it's a husband, boyfriend, wife, girlfriend or lover. Maybe it's an abusive boss. Whatever the situation, the driver is fearful of his or her life or safety because someone is threatening and coercing the driver to operate a vehicle while intoxicated.

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 Posted on January 29, 2018 in Gun & Weapons Crimes

Under the Second Amendment, the United States Constitution states that American men and women have the right to bear arms. More specifically, the constitution states that "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." The Second Amendment cites the need for a militia in order to secure the freedom of the state as the reason for this amendment.

By virtue of the second amendment, gun owners in Wisconsin and other states cannot have their firearms forcibly taken away from them in most cases. Furthermore, gun owners will often cite their Second Amendment rights when they speak up about gun restrictions, which many gun owners feel are unfair and unlawful. That said, the Second Amendment does not prevent Americans from getting into trouble with gun laws. For example, gun collectors, gun dealers and gun owners all need to adhere to federal and estate laws when possessing and handling their weapons.

With specific regard to federal gun laws, let's take a look at the most relevant restrictions against owning or possessing a gun under federal laws:

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 Posted on January 28, 2018 in OWI/DUI

Police use a variety of methodologies to spot potentially drunk drivers. Learning what police look for might help you avoid an inappropriate DUI. In fact, many drivers in Wisconsin have been arrested and charged with DUI because they made some simple and relatively harmless mistake on the road. If you're sober, and you know what to avoid, it should be fairly easy to prevent making the following errors by mistake:

• Driving in an unpredictable and or erratic way: Drivers who are intoxicated tend to operate their vehicles erratically. They might cross the centerline suddenly without warning. They might speed up and slow down for no reason at all. They could be piloting their vehicles in other strange ways that call attention to the vehicle and driver. As long as you're driving close to the speed limit, and you're maintaining your speed and your lane in a steady way, you should be able to avoid the risk of getting falsely accused of a DUI.
• Being overly nervous during a field sobriety test: Stay calm and respectful during your field sobriety test, and remember to breathe. It's easy to get nervous when police are administering a field sobriety test. However, that nervousness -- if it's extreme enough -- could cause police to think you're intoxicated, so be sure to stay as calm as you can.

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 Posted on January 24, 2018 in Theft

Not all theft accusations are appropriate. Sometimes, people are in the wrong place at the wrong time, or it just appears as if they stole something when they really did not. Regardless of how your theft charges came about, one of the following four theft defense strategies might apply to your circumstances.

Claim that the property belonged to you

Imagine you and a friend have a disagreement about who owns a specific piece of property. You decide to take the property home with you even though there's a disagreement, and your friend calls the police. If you can offer evidence that the property was yours -- perhaps by showing a receipt of purchase -- you will have an excellent criminal defense.

Explain that you were drunk

Imagine you are at a bar and on your way out, you grab someone's cellphone and put it in your pocket because the cellphone looked just like yours. The next thing you know, the police are knocking on your door. If you can explain that you were so drunk that you grabbed the phone by mistake, you might be able to get your charges dropped.

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 Posted on January 23, 2018 in Drug Charges

The police in Wisconsin use a lot of clever tactics to track down, gather evidence and charge individuals with drug crimes. Sometimes, police and prosecutors build very strong cases against the people they accuse. Other times, the cases aren't that strong. In fact, it's not uncommon for police to arrest and charge a completely innocent person with a drug crime that he or she never committed.

Here are the three most common drug crimes that a Wisconsin resident might face in this regard:

Possession: This involves actually having real drugs on your person or in a location that's under your control, like a storage unit, apartment, vehicle or simply stuffed in your clothing. Small quantities of controlled substances could lead to simple possession charges, while larger quantities could lead to the more serious drug offenses that follow.

Manufacturing: If police barge into a home or backyard to find a drug production operation -- be it a farm, chemistry lab or some other kind of processing facility -- they will likely charge the person in control of the operation with drug manufacturing.

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 Posted on January 17, 2018 in Criminal Defense

For people who are facing their first encounter with the criminal justice system, there are some aspects that might be a mystifying. This can cause them to feel stress and uncertainty. As you can imagine, having these feelings for months while the case moves through the system is difficult and frustrating.

While there isn't really a way to take all of the unpleasantness out of the process, it is possible to learn a little about it so that you can feel prepared as you fight the charges you are facing. Here are some points to think about to get you started on your quest for knowledge about the criminal justice system:

Grand jury vs. trial jury

There are two types of juries involved in the criminal justice process -- the grand jury and the trial jury. The grand jury is the larger of the two and is comprised of 16 to 23 jurors. These men and women look at the evidence in a case to determine if there is enough to believe that a person committed the crime. If they find probable cause, they are likely to recommend that the person face criminal charges, which is known as an indictment. The meeting isn't open to the public and defendants don't have a right to attend.

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 Posted on December 28, 2017 in OWI/DUI

If you recently received DUI charges, it can feel as though you have no way to fight them. The truth is that there is usually something a very creative person can find to build some sort of defense. While there is no guarantee that the defense succeeds in preventing a conviction, it is always better to build some sort of defense against any kind of criminal charge.

Without a legal defense of some kind, the prosecutor handling your case has nothing to prevent them from throwing the book at you and using you as an example to other alleged offenders. Even if the officer who arrested you administered a breathalyzer test and it indicated that you were over the limit, you may still have more options than you think you do.

In most cases, it is most effective to enlist the help of an experienced DUI defense attorney. Such an attorney fully understands the laws that govern DUI stops and arrests, as well as the local justice system and the major players in it. With proper legal counsel from an experienced, established defense attorney, you can confidently fight for fair treatment while protecting your rights.

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 Posted on December 22, 2017 in Gun & Weapons Crimes

Wisconsin is home to numerous weapons laws that every resident and visitor of the state must adhere to. For example, did you know that those who have been convicted of a felony may not possess a firearm? These and other restrictions could apply to you and your use of a firearm -- and you might not even know it. Therefore, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the various weapons crimes in Wisconsin so you can be sure to follow the law and avoid getting into legal trouble unnecessarily.

Here are some of the most common gun crimes the criminal court sees on a regular basis:

Carrying a gun or shotgun without having a permit

Wisconsin residents who carry a weapon openly, and those who carry a concealed weapon, will need to have the proper permitting to do so. Failure to have a permit could result in gun crimes charges.

Having a gun while you're intoxicated

Getting drunk on alcohol or other drugs can happen much sooner than you think it will. One minute you're perfectly sober, and the next minute you're drunk. If you happen to have a gun on your person at the time you become intoxicated, you could get in serious trouble with your local law enforcement officer.

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 Posted on December 13, 2017 in Drug Charges

A conglomerate of University of Michigan surgeons want you to take fewer opioids after your surgery. The surgeons believe that any opportunity to prevent someone from coming to contact with an opioid is an opportunity to prevent a potential addiction.

Approximately 64,000 people died from opioid abuse in 2016, prompting the White House to classify the widespread opioid problem as a "public health emergency." As a potential remedy to this emergency, surgeons believe they can improve the problem by not giving patients as many opioid pills after their surgeries -- as this is when most people get introduced to the drug as a painkiller that leads to numerous addictions.

Surgeons believe that this is the best course of action to make a small dent in the problem. They say that doctors often don't prescribe opioids with a high degree of exactitude after surgery, meaning that some patients are receiving much more than they actually need. They say that patients also need better education regarding the appropriate use of opioids so they can stay safe.

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