Friday, March 27, 2015

Podcast: Episode 6: The Alibi Defense

Welcome to episode six of The Legal Watchdog Podcast.

In the first part of the podcast we briefly discuss State v. Hackel, a case about jury selection gone wrong.  In the second part, we dive into State v. Copeland, a case about the alibi defense.  What exactly is an alibi defense?  Who decides whether to use it, the defendant or the defense lawyer?  And can the defense lawyer withdraw the defense when he has reason to believe the entire thing will blow up in the defendant's face?

To meet your podcast hosts, click here.

Our funky, jazzy theme song ("Cold Hurt") and our cool intermission song ("Rational") were generously provided by David Pizarro.  To hear more of David's music you can listen to his philosophy-psychology podcast Very Bad Wizards, or go directly to his SoundCloud page.

Finally, here is the podcast:

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Monday, March 16, 2015

California Bar outdoes Wisconsin Bar with mandatory pro bono requirement

The Wisconsin Bar recently conducted a dues-funded study demonstrating the obvious: (1) many new lawyers were drowning in debt and couldn’t find law-related jobs; and (2) many of these new lawyers were afraid to hang their own shingle because they were never trained to practice law and feared committing malpractice.  I then mocked the Wisconsin Bar when, shortly after its study, it sent out an unrelated email suggesting that new lawyers reduce their anxieties by doing unpaid legal work for real clients.  But as clueless as the Wisconsin Bar was, the California Bar may have just topped it.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Podcast: Episode 5: The Right to Testify

Welcome to episode five of The Legal Watchdog Podcast.

In today's podcast we discuss a criminal defendant's right to testify at his own trial.  Surprisingly -- or, for regular listeners and readers of The Dog, perhaps not so surprisingly -- this right is as easily violated as many of our other constitutional rights.  

We spend the entire podcast discussing a single case: State v. Anthony.  (However, near the end of the podcast, Matt does recite some very impressive and important language from another case, Wright v. Estelle.)

To meet your podcast hosts, click here.

This podcast is not legal advice.  Please read our full disclaimer on the right-hand side of the blog, or on the "About the Podcast" page, above.    

Our funky, jazzy theme song ("Cold Hurt") and our cool intermission song ("Murgatroyd") were generously provided by David Pizarro.  To hear more of David's music you can listen to his philosophy-psychology podcast Very Bad Wizards, or go directly to his SoundCloud page.

Finally, here is the podcast: