Criminal Defense Blog
Posted on May 15, 2013
The Wallin Law Firm is proud to announce that our Phoenix criminal defense attorney, D. Stephen Wallin, is now accepting cases in North Carolina. Although we are thoroughly committed to defending the ...
Continue reading "The Wallin Law Firm is Now Accepting Cases in North Carolina" »
Posted on Feb 5, 2013
If you have recently been pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence (DUI), it is important to understand what legal penalties you may be up against. Law enforcement in Arizona takes ...
Continue reading "Examining the Penalties of a First DUI Conviction in Arizona" »
Posted on Nov 6, 2012
Whether you are charged with state or federal crimes, the scariest thing about your case is often the mandatory minimum sentence. And often, the applicability of the mandatory minimum sentence depends ...
Continue reading "Extending the Sentencing Revolution" »
Posted on Nov 4, 2012
The prosecution of drug crimes often begins with a drug dog sniff. This week, the Supreme Court heard oral argument on 2 cases out of Florida involving drug sniffs. One had to do with bringing a drug ...
Continue reading "Gone to the Dogs" »
Posted on Oct 25, 2012
Child pornography cases are often prosecuted as federal crimes. Whether prosecuted in federal or state court, the cases often hinge on search and seizure issues, i.e. can the evidence be suppressed ...
Continue reading "Child Pornography and Computer Searches" »
Posted on Oct 18, 2012
The Wallin Law Firm recently represented a 50-year-old man who had been charged with aggravated assault against a minor. Our client had pointed a gun at his teenage nephew, and he had no real defense ...
Continue reading "Man Facing 2.5 Years in Prison for Pointing Gun at Nephew Gets Probation" »
Posted on Feb 2, 2012
In U.S. v. Jones, the Supreme Court unanimously agreed with a lower court decision; the lower court had said that the Constitution was violated when the police put a GPS tracking device on a vehicle, ...
Continue reading "The Jones GPS Case: Digging a Little Deeper" »
Posted on Feb 1, 2012
I've posted before about the issue of GPS tracking and tracking devices. Well, the Supreme Court has now handed down its long awaiting decision in U.S. v. Jones. But a divided Court left the law ...
Continue reading "GPS: The Supreme Court's Decision in Jones" »
Posted on Jan 30, 2012
If you are a driver involved in an accident where there is damage to a vehicle, injury or death, you are required by law to stop your vehicle at the scene of the accident, or as close as possible and ...
Continue reading "Hit and Run" »
Posted on Jan 29, 2012
When is it OK for a prosecutor to intentionally deceive and mislead a jury, and then lie to the judge about it. Never, you would think. Think again. In prosecutions for federal crimes in the 9th ...
Continue reading "Liar, Liar" »
Posted on Jan 21, 2012
Some judges think they can require the defendant to pay some or all of the jury fees (the money the county has to pay jurors to compensate them for their service), particularly as a condition of ...
Continue reading "Assessing Jury Fees" »
Posted on Dec 15, 2011
People lie. That is an unfortunate fact about the human race. Not all people, not all the time. But it happens often enough that you have to be vigilant constantly. Typically, for both state crimes ...
Continue reading ""Testilying" Before the Grand Jury" »
Posted on Dec 14, 2011
What is the remedy if officers failed to obtain or preserve potentially exculpatory evidence during their investigation, and now there is no way for Defendant to obtain? For instance, the cops ...
Continue reading "Missing Evidence" »
Posted on Dec 12, 2011
Attorney D. Stephen Wallin comments on "Occupy Phoenix" protestors being arrested for trespassing. To watch the full video, as soon on My Fox Phoenix, please click on the link below: Charges ...
Continue reading "Attorney Wallin Featured in "Occupy Phoenix" News Clip" »
Posted on Nov 20, 2011
The familiar Miranda warning advises a suspect in custody that he or she has a right to remain silent. Courts have made a few exceptions--your name, for example, or officer safety ("Do you have ...
Continue reading "Does the Fifth Amendment Protect Your Password?" »
Posted on Nov 19, 2011
When Gov. Jerry Brown of Calfornia earlier this month vetoed Senate Bill 914 -- which would have overturned a California Supreme Court decision giving police the power to search arrestees' ...
Continue reading "Calif. Cellphone Search Case Highlights Courts' Tech Problems" »
Posted on Nov 18, 2011
More than 250 million photos are uploaded per day on Facebook, and in all, billions of links, blog posts and other content are shared among users each month. With the staggering amount of electronic ...
Continue reading "Social Media Evidence" »
Posted on Nov 17, 2011
If you have been charged with a crime, one of the first questions you want to know and need to know is, "How much time am I facing?" If you are charged with a federal crime, that means ...
Continue reading "The Final Departure of Guidelines Departures" »
Posted on Nov 16, 2011
Honesty and a vigorous application of Fourth Amendment principles are particularly important in child pornography cases. Because of the great stigma of these charges, illegal arrests and searches of ...
Continue reading "The Chism Chasm: Child Pornography and the Fourth Amendment" »
Posted on Nov 15, 2011
Let's reach back a bit to discuss an interesting, albeit disappointing, decision by the Ninth Circuit federal appeals court on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act ("CFAA."). United States ...
Continue reading "Computer Crimes--Don't Read This At Work!" »
Posted on Nov 14, 2011
Child pornography can be prosecuted either as a state law crime or as a federal crime. Today's post concerns the latter. In a recent case, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals made it easier to ...
Continue reading "Child Pornography: Advertising vs. Distributing" »
Posted on Nov 13, 2011
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down an important decision regarding duress and prosecutorial misconduct in the recent case of United States v. Sanchez. The case involved a federal crime and ...
Continue reading "Memo on Duress and Prosecutorial Misconduct" »
Posted on Oct 12, 2011
In Arizona, it is not illegal for police and other law enforcement officers to attach a hidden GPS device on your vehicle in order to track your whereabouts. The issue has now been brought to the ...
Continue reading "Supreme Court to Decide if GPS Tracking is Ethical" »
Posted on Sep 20, 2011
Whether we're talking about state or federal crimes, expert witnesses are often important to the prosecution's case. There are many reasons to hate government experts in criminal trials. Close ...
Continue reading "Attacking the Government's "Experts"" »
Posted on Sep 14, 2011
Under Arizona's medical marijuana program, a "qualifying patient" (that would be you, if you are issued a card) may possess up to 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana; "usable ...
Continue reading "Medical Marijuana In Arizona: What Can I Do?" »