Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Does Wealth Determine The Outcome Of Your Criminal Case?
From your perspective, it seems like wealthy people have an easy time in every aspect of life. Their jobs are not physically demanding and offer them enough free time to exercise and to shop for and cook a variety of foods. Because they have health insurance, they do not fear visiting the doctor, whereas… Read More »
Classical Rhetoric Is The Secret Ingredient In A Successful Defense At Trial
Which academic subject can help you avoid criminal penalties? Is it a STEM subject where you can land a tech career that makes you enough money that you are above the law? Probably not. Still, studying math can help you avoid accounting errors that might lead investigators to suspect you of financial crimes, and… Read More »
When Can The Police Require You To Show ID?
The Fourth Amendment protection against illegal search and seizure of property means that, if you are just minding your own business, the police should just leave you alone. The Fifth Amendment protection against coercing into incriminating oneself means that, if police initiate an interaction with you, whether or not they do it for a… Read More »
Does Drug Distribution Become Homicide When Someone Suffers A Fatal Overdose?
One of the most disturbing phone calls someone can get is from a family member announcing that he or she is in police custody and is being accused of drug crimes. Sometimes the family launches into “eye of the hurricane” clarity in the midst of a cyclone of fears and worst-case scenarios. They raise… Read More »
Financial Crime Investigations In The Workplace
Succeeding in business almost always involves stepping on people and taking a lenient approach toward the truth; no one ever said that capitalism was pretty. Despite this, there are times when lying in a business context is against the law. Most of the time, taking the sleaze of sleazy businessmen a little bit too… Read More »
You Are Innocent Until Proven Guilty, Even If The Charges Are For Sex Crimes
If you get accused of a crime in the United States, you have the right to the presumption of innocence and to due process of law. This is true regardless of your immigration status, the crime for which you are facing accusations, and the apparent strength of the prosecution’s evidence against you. Some criminal… Read More »
Medetomidine And Your Florida Drug Case
One of the most fun things you can do while high on weed is sit around and reminisce with your friends about all the things the teachers of your drug education course got wrong about drugs and how self-assured they sounded about it all. If you graduated from high school before the COVID-19 pandemic… Read More »
Giving Advice Can Be Part Of A Drug Trafficking Conspiracy
Most of the legal drugs mentioned at indictments, arraignments, and criminal trials are legal in some circumstances. Schedule I drugs, such as heroin and MDMA, are always illegal, but the other four schedules of controlled substances include pharmaceutical drugs that are medically useful enough to have legally approved medical applications but dangerous enough that… Read More »
Is Fentanyl Finally Loosening Its Grip On Florida?
If you need evidence that times change, think about the things that people feared a generation ago, or even more. In the 1980s, schools received a windfall of funding to ensure that children were terrified of crack cocaine; in those days, HIV was the deadliest disease one could imagine, even though the stereotypes about… Read More »
Second Chances Shouldn’t Just Be For Rich Kids
At Thanksgiving dinner, when enough alcohol flows, the grandparents start spilling secrets about the foolish and sometimes dangerous things their children did as young adults, and the grandchildren begin to see their parents in a whole new light. 19-year-old you bears little resemblance to 40-year-old you, and 40-year-old you is probably thankful for this. … Read More »