Atlanta Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

In a huge decision impacting how criminal defense lawyers handle their cases, here in Atlanta and elsewhere, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in Carpenter v. United States.  For me, the case demonstrates two aspects of handling criminal defense matters here in the second decade of the 21st century, slow change in the legal field,…

Poor reader, you unfortunately know that as an Atlanta-based criminal defense lawyer, I also like to ponder various existential issues, such as what does it mean to “know” a fact in a criminal case, and similar musings.  Today, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling on the existential question of what it takes to…

Most readers know that I am an Atlanta-based lawyer who handles lots of federal sentencing hearings, along with just about all other aspects of representing people and companies who are investigated or prosecuted for federal crimes.  Because of my work,  I try to keep tabs on developments in the court system that can impact my…

When do we ever really “know” something is a question often asked in the many federal criminal cases I handle here in Atlanta, throughout Georgia and around the country.  Most criminal cases require that the prosecutor prove that the Defendant “knew” something.  The issue might be whether the Defendant “knew” that a package contained drugs,…

After a reorganizational delay, Paul Kish is back blogging about federal criminal defense issues, here in Atlanta and elsewhere (such as D.C. where the Mueller investigation is more like a Full-Employment Act for lawyers like me who specialize in white collar criminal defense).  To those unfortunately twisted folks out there who actually read my musings,…

Swear to God, same thing happened to me!  Go to a party on a Saturday night, cops bust in,  homeowner claims to “know nothing”, everybody gets busted and goes down to the police station.  Officers make arrests for trespassing, since the homeowner dummies up.  That is basically the fact pattern from District of Columbia v. Westby,…

I happen to like people like Rodney “Rod” Class, even if I often  disagree with them.  Some people call him a “gun nut.”  He refers to himself as a “constitutional bounty hunter.”  He likes his guns, and has a very healthy distrust of government.  Rod’s case will be argued late next week in the Supreme…

OK, those unfortunate souls who occasionally read this blog know that I like to go on about the intersection of the 18th Century language in our Bill of Rights (which includes such tremendous ideas like religious liberty, freedom of expression, the right to not incriminate oneself and the right to be free from unreasonable searches),…

Like the swallows returning each year to Capistrano, we are in the midst of the annual flight to Justice, when the U.S. Supreme Court decides which cases it will review at the beginning of its new year.  On the first day when they announced several cases for review, the Supreme Court demonstrated that this “Term”…

I got a notice recently that in a few weeks will be the 35th anniversary of the day I was sworn into the Bar as a lawyer.  Also, I decided to look back at the history of this little blog, and discovered that soon after my 35th Bar anniversary we will pass the 10th anniversary of…