SOMETIMES THE JURY REALLY HONORS THE DEFENDANT’S RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT AND THE PROSECUTION’S BURDEN OF PROOF BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT

I just concluded a month-long homicide jury trial and the jury acquitted the defendant of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and shooting into an inhabited dwelling. (For more information click on the attached link: http://www.dailyrepublic.com/?p=124187) This blog is about an instance where the jury actually followed the laws of the presumption of innocence, the prosecution’s burden to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and most importantly, the defendant’s right to remain silent and to not testify on his own behalf.

What most people don’t actually realize is that the defendant’s defense case begins the minute the defense attorney gets up and cross-examines the witness. In fact, cross-examination has been said to be the “greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth.” A skilled defense attorney can actually destroy the prosecution’s case merely by careful cross-examination. In fact, some legal scholars contend that if you strongly believe that the prosecution has failed to prove its case, you lose credibility with the jury by putting on a weak defense, or for that matter any defense at all.

In the above-noted murder case, the jury had heard over a month of testimony and I selectively cross-examined the witnesses that pertained to my client’s defense -- including the uncharged accomplice who lied to the jury when she falsely identified my client as the second gunman. This witness was the only witness who placed my client at the scene of the crime. She received a free pass from the cops even though she drove the two gunmen to the crime scene with the knowledge they had guns and were gonna shoot the place up when she dropped them off. In addition to not being charged with any crime, they let her designate herself a victim. After that, they gave her $16,000.00 in cash and valuable prizes for her “cooperation.”

During cross-examination, I played several dozen excerpts of her audio recorded statement to the police which flatly contradicted her trial testimony. In addition, I played excerpts of her best friend’s statement to the police that the driver/snitch told him minutes before the shooting that the person the driver/snitch really dropped off with guns blazing was someone other than my client.

Because I believed that the testimony of the uncharged accomplice, and by extension, the prosecution’s case was discredited, my client elected to exercise his right to remain silent, and we put on no defense testimony. The jury acquitted.

Sometimes less is more.

Big Brother is Watching, So Text Me if You Can

Back in the day, and I mean way back, when I was I pot smoking, bud swillin’ moron who couldn’t be trusted around a coffee pot, there were no cell phones, internet, social networking cites, or any other media in which I could mindlessly cast my stupid ideas into cyberspace like I can today. Thank goodness. Today’s topic is very simple: do not text, blog, e-mail, chirp, twitter, or do anything, and I mean anything you wouldn’t want your mother or the police department to read or listen to and you will probably save yourself from a lifetime of regret and grief. It’s not just the cops. Spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends, parents, and even prospective employers all know how to Google your name and telephone number and you would be surprised what they come up with. I once Googled a prosecution witness’s phone number and it took me to a face book photo of the guy holding an assault weapon tryin’ to look like Dillinger. Boy was he surprised when I showed him that photo while he was on the witness stand.

When the cops suspect you, the first thing they do is Google you and search on face book my space, twitter, and they start looking at your stupid photographs of you doin’ dope, flashing gang signs, or bragging about your relationship with your underage girlfriend. . . the list goes on and on.

The cops have these computers they can hook up your cell phone to and they can download photos of you standing in your marijuana garden grinning like a jack ass; they can also down load your text messages, your phone contacts, and of course a complete record of all of the phone calls you have sent and received for as long as the memory in your phone will permit. The cops can even get cell phone tower information so they can figure out where you were when you made the call from so they can more easily place you at the scene of your dumb crime. The technology that cell phone providers have is so sophisticated that you can get placed near a cell site location if your phone rings but you don’t even answer it.

You would be surprised how many of my clients get nailed for sending text messages that contain their plans to commit crimes or they are boasting about crimes they have just committed to their knuckle head friends. Every major crime I work on contains cell phone information.

Cell phone records can also provide very powerful alibi evidence because, if by some miracle you are truly not at the scene of the crime like the police claim, you can get your cell phone tower data and it will show you were actually somewhere else-- probably talking on the phone while driving. Be sure to request cell site location information immediately because most providers only keep this information for a couple of weeks. By the way, the American Medical Association has done a study in which they have concluded that driving with a cell phone in your face is just as dangerous as driving drunk, so don’t do it.

WHY YOUR CALIFORNIA MARIJUANA CARD IS NOT A LICENSE TO ACT STUPIDLY

I know from my own personal experience, as an adolescent, and as a young adult that pot can make you stupid. I tried to smoke pot and refrain from doing stupid things, really I did, but I always ended up on the wrong end of the stupid stick every time I smoked marijuana. Imagine that many of my client’s are simply astounded when they come into my office after having been arrested for transporting, growing, or possessing more marijuana that they can smoke in six months. They usually get pulled over for some dumb thing like running a stop sign while driving a car with a broken tail light during a long cell phone conversation. The cop walks up, the motorist rolls down the window and a huge cloud of marijuana smoke wafts out of the car into his face and the motorist says: “Hey I have a marijuana card for that 10 pounds of weed.” The cop says: Tell it to the judge.” I say you need to hire me to defend you. Visit my San Francisco criminal defense attorney web site to find out how.

Although most people do not know this, a medical marijuana card is only a defense to California state charges like transportation, cultivation, possession, and possession for sales. A defense does not prevent the cops from arresting you; it only gives you the right to explain to a judge or jury why the marijuana in your possession is related to your medical condition which has been diagnosed by a licensed California doctor. Your doctor must give you a recommendation that is based upon that diagnosis. Most importantly, the marijuana you are growing, possessing, or transporting must be reasonably related to your medical needs. You are required to renew your recommendation every year if the recommendation in fact contains an expiration date.

If you are selling dime bags, and you are in possession of sales ledgers or pay/owe sheets and/or you have 30 messages in your cell phone requesting that you sell your customers a bag, a marijuana card is not a valid defense. If you wish to follow the law in California, by the way, this law does not apply to the federal laws, so don’t bring weed to federal land, here are some tips:

1. Never grow, transport, or possess more than you can say with a straight face is reasonably related to your medical needs.

2. Never let you doctor’s recommendation expire.

3. Never sell, offer to sell, or even give away marijuana because these are all felonies even if you have a recommendation. (This article does not apply to care-givers which requires much more discussion than this limited article can permit)

4. If you plan to grow your own, do not steal electricity from the power company. Please get a licensed electrician to wire your grow operation. I have seen too many clients get busted after some butt head tweaked electrician causes an electrical fire and burns down his or someone else's house with his grow.

Best of health to ya’

Suddenly They Find My Client's Stolen Wrist Watch

As you can see from the link below, after almost three and one half  years when my client  reported that someone from the Contra Costa County Crime task force stole her watch, the watch appears.  Now remember that when she reported the theft, they denied the theft even occurred.  Now that the watch has emerged, the defendant police officers are claiming that not all of the cops present stole the watch.  This of course vindicates my client's account and proves that she was and still is telling the truth. See the link below and see for yourself.  As they say on television, STAY TUNED.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/category/watch-listen/video-on-demand/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6013501

Of course, you will again see posts from anonymous sources defending the integrity of the defendants to this lawsuit.  I did not take down their posts as I believe in their right to criticize me even if they don't have the guts to say who they are.

Officers Acting Like Mobsters and Gangsters

Click the photo to download the video.

      




PRESS RELEASE

Yesterday, the Law Offices of Tim A. Pori filed a lawsuit against Defendant Norman Wielsch, who formally led CNET and also led Officers, Joshua Vincelet, James Wisecarver, Jr., Steven Aiello, and Michael McGary on a crusade against honest citizens of Contra Costa County to conduct illegal searches and seizures, conspiracies to violate civil rights and RICO violations resulting in injury to persons, business, and personal property. Also named in the complaint are the City of Antioch, and Antioch Police Chief James Hyde.
At a time of greatly reduced budgets and cynicism about police officers, when the last thing needed is more lawsuits against municipalities, the Antioch Police Department and a few bad apples have embarked on a reign of terror, unlawfully, illegally and with malice invading the homes and businesses of local residents and seizing property for their own use in a way that would embarrass the Viking Raiders of the Middle Ages. No appropriation too small or too large for them to pass up. Their collective conduct brings shame to both the City of Antioch and every hard-working law enforcement officer and agency in the State.

The lawsuit alleges concerted activities with the intent to take property for their own interests. Rather than criminals, the named plaintiffs have suffered not only financial loss, but humiliation and loss of faith in the justice system. These citizens are seeking redress for the criminal conspiracy entered into by a group of rogue law enforcement officers who do not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as officers who risk their lives daily to keep us all safe.

Hopefully, these brave citizens’ actions in bringing the conduct of Officers Wielsch, Vincelet, Wisecarver, Aiello, McGary, and other officers who be named later to light will result in a quick end to this abuse of power for personal gain.

Why I Love The Police

Even though I have a deep respect for law enforcement, the feeling is not always mutual. Just ask the police officer against whom I obtained a temporary restraining order.

He actually threatened to kick my ass, and he said this in a public court house in front of a colleague and a District Attorney.

I guess he was not charmed by my insinuations in the courtroom that he was, well, a liar. The enraged police officer’s threat got me some free newspaper publicity, which is pretty cool and always a good thing.

Even though I always do my best to discredit the police in court, some of them like me anyway because they know that I am just doing my job, like they are just doing theirs. So here are a few reasons why I love the police:

1. Cops have a great sense of humor. I was talking to a detective one day and he told me that when he was on patrol a few years ago, he rolled up on a car stopped in the middle of the street with the lights on and the engine running. When he approached the motorist, he noticed that she was slumped over the steering wheel, like she was dead drunk. Then he realized she had a bullet hole in her head and she was merely dead. He told me he tried to figure out a way to arrest her for “driving while dead, but I couldn’t find a statute to arrest her for, so I called the coroner.”

After the incident with the restraining order I sought on one of his fellow officers, I said to this same officer: “Don’t tase me bro’,” and he said: “I can’t make any promises.”

2. Bad cops are good for business. They bring me business when they disregard the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution because they just think it is an impediment to the enforcement of the Penal Code. Most cops have even been trained how to avoid reading the Miranda warnings they are supposed to give defendants, and also how to get them to talk even after they give the warnings. They know if they violate the Miranda rule, the defendant’s statement can be used against him/her if she testifies in trial in her own defense. Most people don’t know it, but if the police invite you to the police station and you voluntarily come down, the cops don’t have to even read you your rights. They tell you, “you know Billy, you can leave anytime you want, you’re not under arrest.” Billy spills out his guts and sometimes they arrest Billy on the spot, and sometimes they wait a week or so and then arrest him and use his confession against him. Never accept an invitation to the police station for a chat. ALWAYS ASK FOR A LAWYER.

3. Police are the only people in the criminal justice system who can legally lie to you. I can’t tell you how many dope dealers and hookers think that if they ask the undercover cop if he is a cop, he or she has to tell the truth. Cops can lie about who they are and then arrest you anyway. They can also lie during police interrogations: “You know Johnny, Billy just confessed and told us everything you did, so now is your turn to tell your side of the story.” They also like to tell you that they have video, DNA, fingerprints, or some other type of incriminating evidence that they do not actually have, just to get you to talk. Remember ALWAYS ASK FOR A LAWYER!

4. Cops have super-human powers. They are the only people in the criminal justice system who judges and juries will almost always believe, no matter what they say. Juries will even convict my clients even if they do not believe the officer, just to get the bad guy. Jurors always tell me on the issue of credibility, that if it came down to the believability of a citizen witness or of a police officer, they would believe the police officer because they are “trained observers.” Cops also tell judges and juries that they have superhuman perception - they can see in the dark better than we can, and they have a superhuman sense of smell. I have heard several police officers testify in court that after they stopped the car, they stood outside the car in the wind and could smell less than an ounce of unburned marijuana in individual sealed baggies sealed within a larger bag which was inside the glove compartment of a 20-year-old stinky car.

If it was not for the police officer’s sharp wit, the ability to trick and lie to unsuspecting defendants, and their super human perception, my job would be much less interesting.

Jailhouse Etiquette 101 The Movie

This video is a fun advertisement.