NEW ORLEANS – Laura K. Gasiorowski, Esq. of Robert G. Stahl Esq. Criminal Defense Lawyers is again teaching the Pre-Trial Motion Litigation Intersession Bootcamp at Tulane University’s School of Law January 6 – 13, 2020. The program provides second and third-year law students of the school with practical pre-trial motion litigation experience.
Continue reading Laura K. Gasiorowski to Teach at Tulane Law's Motion Bootcamp
Tags: Pre-Trial Procedures, Criminal Defense Law Firm News, Pretrial Motions
The world is now a much smaller and more surveilled place. Private companies that make our smart phones, home security systems, smart home systems, baby monitors, computers, E-Z Pass, real time traffic apps and many more internet-of-things devices track, record and store information about our personal lives. Law enforcement has access to much of this information, often without the need for a warrant. Furthermore, law enforcement has its own methods to track and record private citizens through wiretaps, license plate readers, surveillance cameras, mobile tracking devices, hidden recorders and many other devices and methods.
Continue reading Big Brother is Watching and Listening
Tags: cellphone, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Cell tower, Tracking, Cell Site Location Information
Investigating and prosecuting healthcare fraud remains one of the top priorities of the Department of Justice. Nationwide crackdowns and arrests have demonstrated that the government’s war on crime goes beyond drugs, guns, and gangs. While those are certainly a priority of DOJ and an easy way to boost prosecution numbers nationwide, they are by no means the only priority.
Continue reading Healthcare Fraud Still a Top Government Priority
Tags: Health Care Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Kickbacks, Anti-Kickback Act, Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act
Many police departments around the country use body worn cameras to capture officers’ interactions with citizens and suspects. When properly used, the footage from these encounters has proven helpful to prosecutors and defense attorneys, allowing both sides to examine one aspect of the encounter. When combined with eyewitness reports, police reports, footage from video cameras in the area and traditional evidence, a more complete understanding of the incident should be available. The growing popularity of body worn cameras has revealed, however, that the recordings can present a one-sided view, and are capable of being misused, misinterpreted, and tampered with.
Continue reading Body Worn Cameras: The Good and the Bad
Tags: Policing, Cameras, Federal Law Enforcement, Police, Body-worn cameras, Law Enforcement
As digital currencies have become more popular and commonplace, the government has stepped up its efforts to make sure that transactions and offerings do not run afoul of established regulations.
Continue reading Increased Government Scrutiny of Digital Currency Transactions
Tags: Bitcoin, Virtual Currency, Bank Secrecy Act, Financial Crimes, IRS, Internal Revenue Service, Anti-Money Laundering, Currency Financial Transactions, Cryptocurrency, Digital currency
With our societal addiction to the internet, smartphones, and computers, today’s teens face growing exposure to new forms of harassment and bullying. These can sometimes lead to criminal charges for those engaging in this conduct, and potentially anxiety, depression and, suicidal thoughts for the recipients.
Tags: Criminal Defense, Criminal Investigation, Cyber Crimes, Criminal Law
Robert Stahl was honored to instruct at the Criminal Trial Advocacy Institute, where he was part of a distinguished panel of attorneys, judges and experts on identifying, preparing and presenting expert witnesses.
Expert witnesses in criminal trials contribute their analysis and conclusions regarding autopsies, DNA evidence, fingerprints, forensic identification, as well as psychologists’ and criminologists’ reports. In addition, complex criminal cases now routinely require experts on a number of technologies, such as computer and cellphone analysis, GPS, cell site location, facial recognition and smart home devices.
I previously wrote[1] about the ever-declining number of federal criminal trials due to the trial penalty: the additional months or even years added to a sentence after a conviction at trial, as compared to resolving the case by a plea agreement. This article focuses on another factor contributing to the trial penalty: punishment based upon acquitted conduct.
Continue reading The Trial Penalty: How Federal Judges Can Increase Sentences Using Acquitted Conduct
Tags: Federal Crimes, Criminal Law, Sentencing, Fifth Amendment, Trial, Sixth Amendment, Federal Criminal Trial, Sentencing enhancement
Whether you are in federal or state court, well-crafted pretrial motions are essential to a successful defense. Pretrial motions are requests by way of formal motion, which may ask for the court to compel the prosecutor to turn over evidence, to dismiss the indictment or certain counts, to exclude or limit certain evidence, or to prevent the prosecutor from making certain arguments to the jury, among other things. These types of motions may also raise discovery violations; challenge the admission of evidence from searches, electronic surveillance, identifications, and custodial interrogation; and/or challenge the sufficiency of grand jury proceedings.
Continue reading The Importance of Pretrial Motions
Tags: Criminal Defense, Criminal Discovery, Criminal Defense Process, Prosecution, Pretrial Motions
While people may not mourn his death based upon the heinous allegations against him, Epstein’s suicide is a high-profile example of the American prison system’s systematic failure to protect both those accused and convicted of crimes. Jails and federal holding facilities incarcerate those accused of crimes pending trial, and at times, those convicted with shorter sentences. Federal and state prisons house those who have pled or have been convicted of crimes.
Tags: Prison
