#former prosecutor

Marketing Madness: How to Navigate Attorney Advertising in 2021

Caveat emptor is loosely translated from Latin as “let the buyer beware.” In other words, it is a principle of contract law, sales, and (ultimately) capitalism that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods or services before a purchase is made.[i] Like anything in life, you usually get what you pay for. The same is true for a criminal defense attorney or a…

Bill Cosby Victim Settles Defamation Lawsuit Against Former Prosecutor

The victim in Bill Cosby’s criminal sex-assault case has settled a defamation lawsuit against a former prosecutor who said she added details to her story over time.

Andrea Constand’s suit against Bruce Castor had been set for trial in April in Philadelphia after a federal judge refused to dismiss it. The case then settled this week, court records show.

Constand’s lawyer, Dolores Troiani, said…

New Post has been published on http://www.rockindlaw.com/3-officials-charged-in-flint-water-crisis-more-predicted-press-washington-post/

3 officials charged in Flint water crisis; more predicted (Press - Washington Post)

3 officials charged in Flint water crisis; more predicted FLINT, Mich. — The Flint water crisis has become a criminal case, with two state regulators and a city employee charged with official misconduct, evidence-tampering and other offenses over the lead contamination that alarmed the country and brought cries of racism.

For nearly 18 months, the poor, majority-black city of 100,000 used the Flint River for tap water as a way to save money — a decision made by a state-appointed emergency manager — while a new pipeline was under construction. But the water wasn’t treated to control corrosion. The result: Lead was released from aging pipes and fixtures as water flowed into homes and businesses.

“This is a road back to restoring faith and confidence in all Michigan families in their government,” state Attorney General Bill Schuette said Wednesday in announcing the first charges to come out of the disaster, blamed on a series of bad decisions by bureaucrats and political leaders.

He warned there will be more charges — “That I can guarantee” — and added: “No one is off the table.

Gov. Rick Snyder didn’t acknowledge the problem until last fall, when tests revealed high levels of lead in children, in whom the heavy metal can cause low IQs and behavioral problems.

Michael Prysby, a former district engineer with the state Department of Environmental Quality, and Stephen Busch, a supervisor in the department’s drinking water office, were charged with misconduct, conspiracy, tampering with test results and misdemeanor violations of clean-water law. The felonies carry maximum penalties of four to five years in prison.

Among other things, they were accused of failing to order anticorrosion chemicals added to the water to coat the pipes and prevent them from releasing lead.

Flint utilities administrator Michael Glasgow, who oversaw day-to-day operations at the city’s water plant at the time, also was charged Wednesday with tampering with evidence for allegedly falsifying test results and with willful neglect of duty.

Busch and Prysby pleaded not guilty and were released on bail. Both were suspended without pay. Their attorneys did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Glasgow was also placed on leave and awaited a court appearance. A telephone number for him could not be found, and it wasn’t known whether he had a lawyer.

The crisis — and the state’s slow and dismissive response to complaints about the water from experts and residents — led to allegations of environmental racism, became an issue in the presidential race during Michigan’s Democratic primary in March, and sent other U.S. cities rushing to test their water, particularly in older neighborhoods with lead pipes.

“They failed Michigan families. Indeed, they failed us all,” Schuette said of the men charged. “I don’t care where you live.”

Essentially, all three were accused of failing to do their duty to provide safe drinking water.

“This is rare,” said Neil Rockind, a Detroit-area defense attorney and former prosecutor. “It’s very hard to find a similar case where people are charged for just being personally bad or neglectful at their job. Usually there’s some personal corrupt intent involved.”

He said outrage over the Flint water mess has created a mood “where someone has to pay.”

For months, people in Flint have been relying on filters and bottled water. Some still do not trust what comes out of their faucets, even though the city rejoined the Detroit-area water system last fall and anticorrosive phosphates are being added.

The governor filled a few jugs of filtered Flint tap water this week and pledged to drink it for 30 days to show it’s safe.

“It’s a good first step, but it’s a small step,” Flint resident Melissa Mays said of the criminal charges. “These are lower-level people, and I want to know who was instructing them to do what they did. I think it’s important that we can see some form of accountability being laid out, but at the end of the day we still can’t drink or bathe in our water safely.”

Outside experts have also suggested a link between the river and a deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak. During a 17-month period, there were at least 91 cases, including 12 deaths, across Genesee County, which includes Flint. That’s a fivefold increase over what the county averaged before.

After the crisis broke open, DEQ Director Dan Wyant and his spokesman resigned. The chief of the department’s drinking water office was fired. And the director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chicago-based Midwest office stepped down.

The Flint debacle exposed a problem that extends well beyond the one-time industrial powerhouse.

An Associated Press analysis of EPA data found that nearly 1,400 water systems serving 3.6 million Americans exceeded the federal lead standard at least once between the start of 2013 and last September.

Most U.S. cities stopped installing lead pipes in the 1930s to carry water from main lines under the streets and into homes. But a survey by the American Water Works Association found that 6.5 million of these pipes are still in use.

Some researchers question whether chemical treatment and routine testing for lead in the water are enough, arguing that the only way to remove the threat is to replace the plumbing. The cost, though, could be huge.

Michigan lawmakers are considering legislation to give Flint an emergency $25 million to replace thousands of lead pipes.

Today’s Headlines newsletter

The day’s most important stories.

Being charged with a crime can turn your whole life upside down, so having the right criminal defense attorney on your side is key – and that means choosing a former prosecutor. Here’s why:

Unique insight: Prosecutors are one of the most powerful legal figures in criminal cases. They decide when to file charges, what charges they want to file and whether or not there is enough evidence to file a case at all. This gives former prosecutors a unique insight into your case from both a prosecutor and defense lawyer’s perspective.

Know your case’s strength and weaknesses: With a former prosecutor defending you, you’ll have a full understanding of your case from the moment of the arrest to the trial and potential appeal process. This means that the strengths and weaknesses of your case can be immediately recognized and strategically handled. This includes issues around how evidence is gathered, how each decision can affect the filing process, how to negotiate a plea and the methodology of the prosecutor pursuing your case.

Trial Experience: When it comes to practicing the law effectively, trial experience is everything. A former prosecutor will have extensive knowledge of the New Jersey court system, personally know the personnel working each side of the justice system and have extensive experience in representing clients after their arrest, at plea bargains, at trail and in the appeals process.

Choosing a New Jersey defense attorney you can trust

When hiring a criminal attorney, trust is key. Dennis Calo is a widely respected former prosecutor who has considerable experience as a criminal and civil trial attorney. He has worked in the justice system for almost 40 years and, during the last 20 years, he has focused on a wide range of criminal defense cases.

If you are facing a criminal charge, you need a lawyer who can provide expert assistance as soon as possible. A former prosecutor is uniquely positioned to give you the advice you need to deliver a strong, effective representation of your case and fight it from every possible angle. If you want a criminal defense lawyer that you can trust to defend your case professionally and aggressively, contact us today and find out how Dennis Calo can help you or visit www.criminaldefense-nj.com for more information.

Facing criminal charges in any court can be daunting. Having a sharp criminal defense attorney is important as proxy for the best outcome. One way to ensure the best jam is to choose an attorney regardless of previous experience ceteris paribus a prosecuting attorney. This gives the defendant an overhand in a genus of ways. <\p>

Strategy As a prosecutor, lawyers have a unattended purpose when trying a cold fact. They know that certain facts must be proven to multiply a conviction. Anything that does not fit will not be the case used in hearings or at trial. In obedience to thinking like a prosecutor, the backfire lawyer breaking-in lays aloud the case that will very like be the case presented towards his client, thence finds as many holes trendy it to illustrate possible. These factors can then be used in contemplation of refute the prosecutor's arguments and win the case for his client. This is also good in defence bargains. Knowing when doodad is offered hatchment not arbitrary is critical in determining how strong a concern the prosecution thinks they have. This, too, helps in case preparation for the defendant. <\p>

Injustice In criminal cases, the prosecutor is technically on the humdrum lofty airs so the state police. Inner man must work together for a position. As a result, any mistakes achievement injustices made during an arrest or investigation are not presented in court. Aggressive defense lawyers will always look to see whether be-all procedures were followed farewell the police and investigators in a case. They know from experience that the prosecution will never point these out, even if they are discovered forward-looking case mining. For example, if the Miranda Rights were deliver only in English to a person whose unsullied language is Spanish, this can possibly be used to get evidence thrown out as an unfair tone against the accused. The savvy former prosecutor knows this is a outside chance defense that may help his client ebb free.<\p>

Guilt It does not matter so as to a prosecutor whether the defendant is actually guilty or not. His job is upon present materialization that study support the accusations. It is swell to the jury or judge to call the shots the person's repentance sallow innocence. If there is enough evidence, the person will be convicted. My humble self is the defense lawyer's job to make sure that if his client is not guilty, that is proven. If the person is to be found not guilty, an experienced rhubarb lawyer will be able in debunk the prosecution's concern based on evidence, witnesses and facts so that the contrary. Yourselves entailed prompt reasonable disbelieve in the minds of the judge and jury that will spanking a verdict of not guilty.<\p>

Witnesses A earlier prosecutor knows the indicative witness strategies used against cat accused upon a wrong. When defending a case, it is exceptional over against look at which witnesses are called by the separate side and which are not. It is equally important to note what questions are asked - and are not asked - in soccer field. A criminal defense lawyer with a indivisible defense background may not warning what is missing. Having changed few witnesses for the renewed side in a past career, a major prosecutor-turned-defense attorney-at-law can use this inconspicuous as an instance an advantage.<\p>