The saying, “Anything you say can be used against in a court of law,” given when anyone is arrested (as part of the Miranda warnings) is also good advice for any texts you send. Any texts that you write, even if you try to delete them, before or after an arrest may also be used against you in a court of law. The government must have authority to obtain the texts, the texts must be [...]

With the exoneration of Adnan Syed making headlines, we are forced to contemplate how our judicial system could allow for an innocent man to be convicted of murder. We would like to think that everyone who is sentenced to years in prison is there because they deserve to be there for their wrongful and illegal actions. Unfortunately, this is not the first time something like this has happened, as there have been hundreds of similar [...]

Many of us are familiar with pardons because of Thanksgiving. It has been tradition for over half a century for the president to “pardon” a turkey from becoming someone’s Thanksgiving dinner. We all understand that to mean that the turkey is being granted reprieve from its fate. Many folks are less familiar with record expungements. Expungement is similar to a pardon in that it concerns an individual’s past crimes. With a pardon, you will no [...]

The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) is a federal law, passed in 1984, that increases the sentences for felons who commit crimes with firearms if they have three or more violent felony convictions or serious drug offenses. The Act provides that a defendant who meets the definitions under the Act receives a 15-year minimum prison sentence instead of the maximum 10-year prison sentence. Convicted defendants can also be sentenced to life imprisonment under the Armed [...]

In what’s being called a precedent-setting decision, Maryland’s highest court recently ruled that search warrants for cellphones and smartphones must be specific to the crime-related information being sought. What this means for individuals accused of crimes is that police and detectives can no longer search through the contents of an entire device, which often contains highly personal information – only content specifically listed in a search warrant that is relevant to the criminal activity at [...]

The Supreme Court of the United States’ 6-3 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen officially made at least one of Maryland’s gun laws unconstitutional. The ruling, which extended the rights granted under District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), allows law-abiding citizens to carry a handgun outside of the home for any reason. Mark W. Pennak, president of Maryland Shall Issue Inc., also told the Daily Record that he believes the [...]

Back in 2003, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, along with the advertising company R&R Partners, cooked up an ad campaign to rebrand Sin City. The campaign, called “What Happens Here, Stays Here,” is one of the most successful campaigns in advertising history. The commercials are funny, slick, and sexy, and rooted in one indelible fact: in Vegas, you are free to do things that you are not free to do at home. And [...]

Sex crimes, like sexual assault and rape, are complex charges with severe penalties upon conviction. Even accusations can cause damage to all aspects of a person’s life and reputation, whether the person is convicted of the charges or not. The most important thing to do when facing sex crime charges is to remain calm, understand your rights, and remember what to do to protect your case. Following are some of the most common mistakes people [...]

The term “deadly weapon” typically makes individuals think of a gun or knife, or an inanimate object that can be used to cause harm. However, recently two men allegedly used a dog as a way to attack and rob a man. According to CBS News, two men and a dog approached an unarmed man and unleashed their dog, and it attacked him, biting him in both legs and his left arm. The alleged robbers took [...]

Here in Maryland, conviction of certain crimes bars an individual from gun and weapon possession. Typically these state laws are in line with federal gun control laws targeting ex-felons. However, a recent case out of the Maryland Court of Appeals demonstrates that our state’s gun control laws are even stronger than the federal government’s, a decision that could affect many people in the future. Some background on the case Mashour Howling and Funiba Abongnelah were [...]