In my last post, I discussed in a general fashion, the background, history, and legal impact of the groundbreaking US Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona which established certain legal rights for all those who are detained by law enforcement authorities. I wrote in that post that Miranda affords each of us two specific rights: 1)the right to remain silent and 2)the right to legal counsel, even if you can't afford said counsel. That seems pretty straightforward. Even more so given the fact … [Read more...]
Miranda Rights in Criminal Proceedings
For those who were born after the 1970's it's probably hard to imagine that for 190 years our country existed without those suspected of criminal activity to be read their legal rights. Most of us have scene enough police dramas in the movies and on tv to know that a suspect in a criminal case has to be read his rights or any case against him or her can be thrown out by a judge. Yet, up until 1966, that was not the case in the United States. U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona made … [Read more...]
Saint Petersburg Police Lawsuit Filed This Week
I filed a civil lawsuit in Pinellas County this week on behalf of my client Carleen Tetreault against the St. Petersburg Police Department for an incident that occurred at her home on June 8, 2015. On the day in question, Carleen had returned to her home in St. Petersburg after a cancer treatment. That afternoon, St. Petersburg Police detectives knocked on her door. Her teenage daughter answered. The detectives asked Carleen to step outside. She refused and asked to see a warrant. At … [Read more...]
