Sentencing Victory
An 18 month sentence may not seem like a great outcome, but when your client is caught selling multiple fire arms and marijuana to an undercover officer, a year and a half in jail is a truly remarkable outcome. Our client was arrested years ago after police were following up on a string of home…
Not Guilty – DWI
A lot of people think that a lawyer should talk and talk in a trial. But what if you the officer testifying in your client’s DWI trial fails to actually say anything particularly damaging? The state rests. Now it’s time for the defense attorney to decide what to do. He’s got his client sitting next…
The Best Child Pornography Lawyers Know the Tech
Lawyers went to law school usually because they weren’t good at math or science. They often know little about the technology that undergirds the information technology system that dominates the way we find information, communicate with each other, and exchange files. Not me. I? got my first computer in 1981, an Apple ][ Plus with…
Fort Bragg DWI
While driving while impaired is normally a state crime, when the offense occurs on federal property, such as a military base like Fort Bragg, federal jurisdiction controls and the case will be prosecuted in Federal District Court. Fort Bragg is the largest piece of federal property in North Carolina (outside of the national parks), and…
DWI Blood Draw Turns Violent
In July police responded to a hospital after a patient was involved in a car accident earlier in the day. Suspecting that the patient had consumed an impairing substance, police wanted to draw the person’s blood for testing to turn up evidence of impairment. But police lacked a warrant, and lacked exigent circumstances. The case…
Sentencing Guidelines Meet the Modern Internet
Internet chat systems have been around as long as the internet itself. The first communication between computers on Arpanet, the precursor to the Internet, was basically an instant message. Robust internet chat systems that operated in real time were developed in the 1980s through BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) that were only sporadically connected to the…
SuperLawyer 2018: Rising Star
For the past four years, Damon Chetson has been named a Super Lawyer: Rising Star. The recognition is given to fewer than 3 lawyers out of 100. In addition, Damon was named a Board Certified Specialist in State and Federal Criminal Law in 2016 as a result of his experience and reputation. Fewer than 100…
James Fields of Maumee Accused of Killing in Charlottesville
Video of car hitting anti-racist protestors. Let there be no confusion: this was deliberate terrorism. My prayers with victims. Stay home. pic.twitter.com/MUOZs71Pf4 — Brennan Gilmore (@brennanmgilmore) August 12, 2017 Twenty-old James Alex Fields Jr. (born April 26, 1997) is a resident of Maumee, Ohio? and registered Republican is accused of driving his gray 2010 Dodge…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio found guilty of Criminal Contempt
Federal District Judge Susan Bolton found Joe Arpaio, who served as sheriff of Maricopa County (Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale, Glendale, Chandler), Arizona for nearly a quarter century. Arpaio had been a Drug Enforcement Agent before being elected the sheriff, and had marketed himself as the “toughest sheriff” in America. Arpaio operated as a thug in sheriff’s…
What is Civil Asset Forfeiture?
The Government uses Civil Asset Forfeiture to confiscate property in cases involving suspected wrong-doing through the civil, not criminal, process. The civil asset forfeiture process can be used before a criminal prosecution to strip the defendant of assets that the Government believes are the fruits of criminal activity. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced this month…
