Civil Rights Legal Questions

Hello John: You have an absolute right under the United States and Louisiana Constitutions to receive any and all exculpatory evidence. In other words, if the prosecutor has evidence that speaks to your guilt or innocence, they MUST turn it over to you upon request. Not only do they have an obligation to give you all that they, the DA's office and prosecutor, have but they have an obligation under the Supreme Court precedents of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83; United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97; and Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419 to go to their offices and the police department and seek out that evidence to turn over to you. Now, in Louisiana, depending on the court, you can receive the evidence of the prosecution in one of two ways. 1) You may file a written discovery motion with the court, wherein the court will order the prosecution to provide that evidence to you in a timely manner to prepare for trial; or 2) If the DA's office practices what is called "Open Discovery", there is no necessity for a discovery motion and the prosecutor should provide that evidence to you upon request. Since they appear to be fighting against giving the video evidence to you upon request, they are likely not practicing open discovery and it will be necessary for you to file a discovery motion.  I also noted a couple of other issues that could be taken advantage of in the facts you provided. If the arresting officer has been terminated by another department, there could be a credibility issue with the officer which could affect the court's belief of the officer's report and testimony. Another issue is that, if you have been arraigned (i.e. formally charged), your charges should have already been billed. So any resisting charges should already be in place. The prosecutor trying to leverage a pay fine or they will amend the charges to resisting, is by far out of the ordinary.  If you have been charged with resisting arrest, it is very important that you obtain legal representation to protect your rights. Resisting arrest can come with a fine of up to five hundred dollars, imprisonment of up to six months, or both. Do not answer any more questions from law enforcement without an attorney present. It is uncommon that the maximum is given, but I've seen many judges give 10 days in the parish jail for resisting charges. If you would like to consult with me further regarding this issue please feel free to set up a free consultation at my office and we can discuss what can be done. I'd be more than happy to help with any discovery and/or negotiation with the prosecutor for a reduction of the charges.... Read More

You can appeal. But your attorney told you that.   There are time limitations to file an appeal. Without knowing the exact papers filed by your lawyer and the exact rulings of the judge, I cannot not venture whether there is time left.   But if more than 30 days passed since the last ruling I would believe that the time periods have expired... Read More

 By virtue of you even calling it "common areas" I think you know you have little to no expecatation of privacy which is neccesssaary if you want to have a case. However, Connecticut is a one party recording state so if you were to have an expectation, then the landlord would have to be part of the conversation.  That being said, without more information, a determination is impossible.... Read More

I am so sorry this is happening to you and I am interested in knowing more and helping you.  Please feel free to contact me to discuss a case further.  My offices are in Stratford, Connecticut.  You can reach us at 203.870.6700.  We look forward to your call.  Early this afternoon would be best. Thank you. ... Read More

It's a process which appears to be designed to encourage self-reporting and self-policing but it does not always work that way. Since it is very difficult to regulate some of these facilities [employers], the Justice Center relies on employees to be its eyes and ears. Anyone who works within any of these "vulnerable persons" organizations is best served by: 1) Truly understanding the rules and regulations which govern what they do 2) Studying their employer's policies and procedures 3) Having good communication with supervisors as well as human resources 4) Not be afraid to report incidents which truly appear to be potential abuse or dangerous to vulnerables. The problem, as with any system, is that sometimes employees try to use the system in their own defense which really messes it up for everyone. When an employee maybe has been reported, they realize that what they did or did not do may have been questionable, so the "subject" decides to report others and the whole process spirals out of control. Not that they are perfect but the Justice System invests a ton of time into a process to try to come up with the right result. They probably get it right the majority of the time but of course some people fall through the cracks. For example, an employee who does not want to raise flags, report others, etc... does not do very well in this type of process. Every employee who is a mandatory reporter needs to report everything that they reasonably believe is a violation. Not a personality conflict or another employee they don't like but truly harming vulnerables. If every employee just looked at this process as what's in the best interest of the residents or vulnerable persons and not in their own interests or their friends' interests the system would work a lot better. But until every employee sees that it's not about them or about their friends but it's truly about the residents and vulnerables there will be more employees who need to find other lines of work. The DA's offices do go after criminal activity with the Justice Center but the worst thing that happens when someone does not timely, regularly report, aside from potential criminal charges, is they have to find another way to earn a living. If you have to rank who is most important in this type of a system it goes something like: 1) Vulnerable citizens are top priority 2) Justice Center is next 3) Employer's interests 4) Employee's own career 5) Co-workers careers The employees who view these priorities backwards or from bottom up are the ones who get burned the worst. Some employers try to paint the Justice Center as the enemy and that really skews how their workforce follows or does not the law.          ... Read More