Twenty-nine years ago my favorite prosecutor burst forth mightily. Noisy then and today, we named you Courtney because we knew then that someday you would do what you do. Happy birthday Porkchop! Hope this last twenty-something birthday is a great one! All our love. Next up – thirty-something!Continue Reading Happy Birthday Courtney Peterson!
Trials
Hard Time Coming For Real Estate And Mortgage Fraud In Idaho Federal Court
By Chuck Peterson on
Posted in Trials
In a real estate and mortgage fraud case, a former Boise mortgage loan processor for Zion’s Bank is headed to prison for 18 months following her entry of a guilty plea in federal court. Barbara Cobos pleaded guilty to defrauding lenders and borrowers both, by a scheme in which the true ownership of real property was disguised and construction advances…
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Top Three Rules If The Detectives Want To Talk To You – Especially In A Sex Crime!
By Chuck Peterson on
It is early on a Sunday morning and I am in my office working. Sometimes this happens – I wake up and after fifteen or twenty minutes I know that I am not going back to sleep, so off I go to do a little work. Today I am listening to a tape recorded "interview" by a detective. The suspect is charged…
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Results, Results and Results
By Chuck Peterson on
Posted in Trials
So it’s time to look back at the past year or so and consider how our clients did when they pushed their cases to trial. The names have been changed to protect … you know the drill. Simple pleas without reductions are not included.
State vs KA – Lewd Acts with minor under 15 dismissed, pled guilty to child endangerment.
Bank Can Be Sued For Identity Theft Prosecution
By Chuck Peterson on
A bank can be sued for failing to conduct a reasonable investigation before initiating a criminal complaint against an identity theft victim. In an unpublished opinion out of New Jersey, the appellate court reversed an order granting summary judgment to the bank, and held that the main issue – whether the bank had acted with malice in calling the cops…
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Preliminary Hearings Safe In Idaho
By Chuck Peterson on
Posted in Trials
I just returned from a meeting of the Idaho Criminal Rules Committee during which we considered a question posed by a Magistrate Judge: Why do we waste valuable court time with preliminary hearings? Couldn’t we just eliminate them and reduce the court’s work? Sure – and maybe we should just get rid of those nagging, time consuming jury trials! Seriously…
A New Week – Crime Victims Deserve Support
By Chuck Peterson on
Posted in Crime Victims, Trials
Another week starts with a new focus – crime victims. I am drafting a complaint in a case for a victim of a terrible crime. She is young, and hurt and humiliated, and she is deserving of the very best chance at a future she can possibly have. Our lawsuit may be that chance. Crime victims are so frequently scarred…
Back in the saddle – another ACQUITTAL
By Chuck Peterson on
Posted in Trial Lawyers College, Trials
OK – back from TLC and re-entry is a bit troubling, but a trial is just the thing to check out those skills. Like putting the witness back in the scene and having him or her take you through, in first person, what they see. So today I had to try a little misdemeanor case. Two 50 year old guys…
Off To Trial Lawyers College
By Chuck Peterson on
Posted in Trial Lawyers College, Trials
They say attending the Trial Lawyers College can change your life. I’m not sure I want my life changed, but I am looking forward to spending the next three weeks at Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College, in the remote mountains of Wyoming. I’ll be there with 48 other lawyers, chosen from across the US. The whole thing sounds daunting but…
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Medicaid Fraud Decision – Not Guilty
By Chuck Peterson on
Posted in Trials
So the third day came and the evidence against my client did not look nearly as grim as expected. Yes, she had received money from the state for caring for her mother; and yes, her mother had not been in Idaho (or the US for that matter) during some of that time. Still, the charges required proof of a specific…
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