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
Trials
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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Medicaid Fraud Trial Starts
By Chuck Peterson on
Thursday is not a day that one usually begins a felony Medicaid Fraud trial, but that is where I find myself today. Trying to beat the long weekend, we got it going today in hopes of getting to the jury by next Tuesday. I thought a lot today about Gerry Spence’s advice in his latest book that we “embrace” our…
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