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In: Chattanooga Criminal Defense Attorneys, Criminal Law, Off Beat

Burden of Proof- Should it be lower so Someone Like Casey Anthony Gets Convicted Bill O’Reilly of Fox News “The O’Reilly Factor” says ” Dumb, beyond a reasonable doubt.” Seriously?  What burden of proof should the State have to meet to deprive a person of life? Mr. O’Reilly asks “is the burden of proof too high? ” and claims that Casey Anthony’s attorney did not raise reasonable doubt as a defense, implying that the jury should not have followed that line of thinking.  Fortunately, whether or not a defense attorney “raises” reasonable doubt, the American system of justice requires criminal juries to convict if andRead More →

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In: Chattanooga Criminal Defense Attorneys, Criminal Law, Off Beat

Casey Anthony – Beyond a Reasonable Doubt? As the world watched, Casey Anthony, was tried and convicted by the court of public opinion.  For the entire time the trial was ongoing in the courtroom, the media with the multiple talking heads, and so called experts like Nancy Grace, and other lawyers and former prosecutors surmised and analyzed, ultimately concluding that Casey was guilty as charged.  After all this is a mother who partied and stayed silent as her child was supposedly missing, oh but wait a minute maybe Caylee accidentally drowned in the family pool.  Add to that the incredible and detailed lies that CaseyRead More →

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In: Chattanooga Criminal Defense Attorneys, Criminal Law, DUI, Featured Articles

Tennessee Pretrial Diversion Changes, No Diversion for DUI Offenses Effective July 1, 2011, Tennessee no longer has a “Pretrial Diversion” program but judicial diversion is still available to criminal defendants. Tennessee House Bill 64 repealed T.C.A. §40-15 in its entirety and amended T.C.A. §40-35-313 [important]T.C.A. §40-35-313 is entitled ” Probation — Conditions — Discharge and dismissal — Expunction from official records” and provides the criminal court with the authority to defer further criminal proceedings in certain instances [/important] This change from pretrial diversion to only judicial diversion ultimately may appear to be a distinction without much difference.  However, under the former pretrial diversion statute theRead More →

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In: Contracts, Corporations, Not Legal Advice

 Switching to Independent Contractors Draws Scrutiny from IRS and Department of Labor With the current state of the economy, shifting from full-time employees to independent contractors is a cost-cutting measure that some businesses have implemented.  This saves the business money by shifting the burden of payroll taxes to the worker, and lowering or eliminating unemployment insurance premiums and/or workers compensation premiums. Misclassified Workers Result in Additional Taxes and Penalties But according to a recent ABA article, for those who have misclassified their workforce, the glare of the IRS spotlight may soon be upon them. According to the article, over the next three years, the InternalRead More →

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In: General Legal Issues, Off Beat

Privacy Bill To Be Pushed by Obama Administration Corporations May Have to Obtain Permission to Use Information about Consumers Although corporations do not enjoy the right “personal privacy“, individuals do.  In fact the Obama Administration is ramping up to ensure more personal privacy to internet users.  Lawrence E. Strickling, an assistant secretary of commerce, is expected to call for the legislation at a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee, as reported by the Wall Street Journal Apparently the administration will back a law that follows the outlines of a report issued by the Commerce Department in December.  The administration wants any new rules to beRead More →