Here in a small town in Minnesota, Byron Smith was found guilty of murder for killing two young people who broke into his home on Thanksgiving day last year. He claimed self defense because he has a right to defend himself in his home and use deadly force—even killing someone to protect himself. It’s sometimes called the Castle …
In Minnesota today, a man named Byron Smith is on trial for first degree murder of two young people that he shot and killed in his home. Will he be found Not Guilty because of Self Defense?http://www.startribune.com/local/256712781.html
I don’t think so.
Here are the basic facts: Byron Smith is an elderly man who lives alone in …
Okay, right from the start, I’d much rather have been in a room with Eric Clapton or Anthony Bourdain, Kristin Scott Thomas or even Julia Child! (Think of the great food, although maybe I should update to Rachel Ray.) Instead, in my job as a Public Defender, I get to sit in rooms with criminals and serial killers.…
For those of you who have been hooked on the TV series, Castle, you may have caught an episode this month involving a serial arsonist who becomes a murderer also. The main character, Richard Castle, is a successful writer who probably got bored and decided to investigate real crimes. I’m glad the writers of the show chose …
In Minneapolis about a week ago, a young boy without a ticket was able to board a plane to Las Vegas—ALONE!
His parents thought he’d spent the night at a friend’s house and didn’t discover he was gone until the next morning when the boy showed-up in Las Vegas. When the father was interviewed, he put …
I”m happy to tell everyone that my new book Flashover will be published on Sept 1, 2013! It’s my third book and will tell the newest story of many of the same characters from my first two books. 
I don’t have a book cover yet but can tell you what it’s about: Zehra Hassan, a young prosecutor in …
What? Yet another way for a criminal to “get off” because of some mental problem??
In past posts, I’ve written about the recent effort on the part of defense lawyers in various cases around the country to have their clients be found not guilty by reason of insanity. I’ve discussed the standard that is used in almost all …
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