Robbery in the First Degree
A person commits the crime of robbery in the first degree if he commits the crime of Robbery in the Third Degree (Section 13A-8-43 ) and he: (1) Is armed with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument; or (2) Causes serious physical injury to another. (b) Possession then and...
Why I Became a Criminal Defense Lawyer
I've always hated bullies. As a child, my grandfather told me, “When you get hit, even when you're hurt, hit back. Hard. Don't give up. Don't surrender. Keep fighting. I started my career as a prosecutor in the Atty. Gen.'s office than in the District Attorney's Office. As a prosecutor, I foug...
Understanding Improper Searches in Alabama Criminal Cases
What is an Improper Search in Huntsville or Madison County? An improper search in Alabama is an illegal search that violates an individual's constitutional right to privacy. The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which states:The right of the people to be secure in their perso...
How lawyers charge in criminal cases
See if you can figure out who is, or isn’t guilty of burglary first under Alabama law.
I Q. On Monday Bill decides to break into his neighbor's home to steal a coin collection. He uses a crowbar to jimmy the lock and puts the crowbar back in his jacket when he goes into the house. Would Bill be guilty of burglary, first? A. Yes. Under Alabama law burglary, first is committed when...
How to Think Like a Lawyer in 3 Easy Steps
The time a federal judge literally "thru the book" at my client
Alabama's Church Police
Alabama's governor has signed a law allowing an Alabama church to have its own police force.
Alabama's Church Police
Alabama's Governor Signs Law Allowing for "Church Police".
What you need to know about the statute of limitations in Alabama criminal cases
What you need to know about the statute of limitations in Alabama criminal cases
Everything you ever wanted to know about Alabama’s chemical castration law but were afraid to ask.
Alabama has a new chemical castration law or the “Hasta Libido law” or the “we're going to juice your oranges” law. This law is new to Alabama but castration as punishment has been around for millennia. It's part of a long legal history of “punishing” a body part that causes offense. ...
What you need to know you’re charged with theft of property in the theft second-degree in Madison County, Alabama.
Under Alabama law, are different ways this crime can be committed. Let me teach this with four stories. First: Mr. Gill T. Azell decides steals the Huntsville Rocket Queens crown jewels, worth $2000. If he steals the jewels off the shelf at the Space and Rocket Center, he is guilty of t...
Is honestly believing that you have a right to property a defense to a charge of theft in Alabama?
I like to teach by way of stories, so here it is: Our friend, Muddy Waters, has pulled up in his pickup truck by Lake Guntersville to enjoy the sights. While he is there, he meets two attractive women, Patty Larceny and her friend Missy or “Miss” Demeanor. The women are standing next to a ...
What happens in Alabama if my ticket is not signed?
In Alabama, the police officer is supposed to take your ticket, within 48 hours, to a magistrate so as to acknowledge under oath to the facts contained in the ticket. The idea behind this is to allow a neutral and detached party an opportunity to make sure there were legally reasonable grounds fo...
In Alabama, Is it legal for police to lie to me?
Is it legal for police to lie to me? In Alabama, under many circumstances, it is completely legal for the police to lie to you. The general rule in Alabama is that an officer acting in good faith can use deception trickery or artifice to detect crime. The police will commonly use lies and dece...
How will an arrest affect a college student?
If you're a college student and you been arrested for a crime, you are probably concerned about how your school will react to the arrest. The answer depends upon a variety of factors. One issue is whether or not you are arrested on campus or off campus. It was an on-campus arrest, It is mo...
The secret to asking questions like a lawyer.
A good lawyer can question someone until they're beaten like an egg. The secret is that we are really not asking questions at all. What we are doing, is telling our story but using a person who may not agree with us to do so. We do this by making a series of statements that the person needs to...
Can I be guilty of a crime if I did not have any intent to commit the crime?
Our legal system has two basic classes of crimes, those that require a mental state and those that do not. Most crimes require some sort of evil intent to commit the crime coupled with some sort of action. As the Supreme Court explained most crimes require an evil-meaning mind with an evil...
My creepiest case involved a circular saw, a serial killer, and a ghost.
A young woman was in a country bar. Two men invited her to go out to their truck to smoke some weed. She left with them. Her family was concerned because she was missing. But the police delayed investigating it because people kept reporting having seen her at the bar after she been ...
Can I be guilty of theft if I thought I was allowed to have the property or never intended to steal it ?
To be guilty of the crime of theft in Alabama, a person must have the intent to have stolen property. So if I go to Walmart and I put a bag of dog food under my cart and then leave the store having paid for everything but the bag of dog food because I forgot it was there and I committed a ...
Does the odor of marijuana give the police the right to enter your home without a search warrant?
If the police smell marijuana coming from your home that gives them what is known as probable cause to believe there is criminal activity going on in your house. Probable cause means that based upon the facts and circumstances known to the officer at that time, he would have information that...
WHAT THEY DON'T TELL YOU ABOUT ALABAMA SELF-DEFENSE LAWS.
There are a lot of questions and confusion about when a person is justifiably acting in self-defense under Alabama laws. If I was, to sum up, the law in one word, it would be reasonableness. Alabama self-defense law looks to whether the person acted reasonably to defend themselves. So,...
How to think like a lawyer in three easy steps
Law schools spend three years teaching law students how to think like a lawyer. Heres how to do it in three steps: I First, understand what a true fact is and know how to dispute its meaning. To a lawyer, a fact is something that is not in dispute. When something is accepted as a fact, l...