Author Archives: Jay Butchko
You Can Establish Reasonable Doubt Even With Imperfect Research Methodology
If you ask people who have burned out of careers in academia what made them leave the career that was once their passion, the ones whose job duties consistently mostly of teaching will say that it was because, as time went on, their students devoted more and more time to cheating and complaining and… Read More »
Is Medical Molly The New Medical Marijuana? Not Yet!
A certain type of entrepreneurial mind thrives on the cultivation of brand identity; there is a reason that marketing is such a popular college major. For such people, designing logos, store décor, and product names for medical cannabis dispensaries must be an endless source of inspiration, even if they have never smoked a joint… Read More »
Florida Law Does Not Consider Product Tampering A Harmless Prank
On April Fools Day, it’s fun to fill the sugar container with salt and wait until your parents figure out why their coffee tastes weird, but in the eyes of the law, product tampering is no joke. If you intentionally tamper with a consumer product, you can be charged with a second-degree felony, and… Read More »
Yes, You Can Get Pretrial Diversion For A Nonviolent Felony
If you get charged with drug possession, and you do not have a prior criminal record, you might be able to resolve your case through drug court, a pretrial diversion program where you can complete probation and drug counseling, and if you do so successfully, the court will drop your charges. What if you… Read More »
Insider Trading
Most financial crimes are some variation on theft, even though the property being stolen is less tangible than cash or physical items. For example, identity theft is when you steal confidential information, such as bank account numbers, that enables you to make transactions in someone else’s name without the person’s consent. Wire fraud is… Read More »
Directed Verdicts Are An Eleventh Hour Victory For The Defendant
If your case goes to trial, your greatest hope is that the jury will deliver a verdict of not guilty. Once the jury goes to the jury chambers to deliberate, it is anyone’s guess what the verdict will be, but at least you will know how your case ends. Until the moment the trial… Read More »
Scopolamine Can Cause Plenty Of Legal Trouble Without Officially Being A Controlled Substance
Of the many drugs available only by prescription, only the ones considered to have substantial potential for abuse are on the controlled substances list. Even though you can’t just buy boring prescription drugs like Metformin off of the drugstore shelf, the law does not consider it tempting enough to list it as a controlled… Read More »
How The Humble Smartphone Camera Is Changing The Criminal Justice System
Young people are already tired of hearing their elders talk about how different life was before the Internet, so for a change, tell your kids about how different life was before smartphone cameras. Even millennials can participate with this game, because while you used websites in the bibliographies of papers you wrote in high… Read More »
Florida Enacts Changes To Police Response To Domestic Violence Calls
Most domestic violence calls do not lead to an arrest; the police simply de-escalate a fight between family members, perhaps telling one of the parties to stay away from the house for a few hours until everyone has had a chance to cool down. Things often continue to escalate after the police leave, though. … Read More »
How Jury Instructions Can Affect The Outcome Of Your Case
The best thing about jurors is how little they know; this is what makes them unbiased. The jury would not be able to return a fair verdict if all of the jurors were your former classmates who were still bearing a grudge about what a jerk you were when you were a teenager. How… Read More »