tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28005552219980844032012-02-29T07:44:20.944-08:00"Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity." -- Christopher HitchensMichael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.comBlogger641100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-52202155181072865652012-02-18T22:28:00.000-08:002012-02-18T22:33:39.983-08:00

The Electric Car I’ve never been too swayed by movements to save “the environment.”  After all, the only reason we enjoy the quality of life that we do is that our species has been able to keep nature in check, at least for the most part, most of the time.  But whether it’s a tsunami, a volcanic eruption, a deadly mutating virus, a near-miss asteroid, a dangerous solar flare, a flesh eating

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-80144292983276571002012-02-18T19:59:00.000-08:002012-02-18T20:01:49.998-08:00

In a recent post I wrote about a college student who was kicked out of school for engaging in "unlawful individual activity."  His crime?  In a free-writing exercise in a creative writing class at a public university, he wrote that his teacher was attractive.  A few days after The Dog's post, ABC News picked up the story, and you can now see a video of the student explaining his side of things.  

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-56046467299416528192012-02-18T19:25:00.000-08:002012-02-19T09:46:18.710-08:00

Dealing with prosecutors on a daily basis, I often get to hear some pretty outlandish spin on both facts and law.  But even the most motivated prosecutor would get dizzy from the spin put on these two former Duke University employees. First, there’s the case of a former Duke medical research doctor.  As 60 Minutes just reported in Deception at Duke, the doctor was involved in what might turn out

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-21206920377711928192012-02-11T14:15:00.000-08:002012-02-11T18:22:25.836-08:00

Poster available at Zazzle.com While wanting to believe may be necessary for the religious and Fox Mulder, I think society could benefit from a healthy attitude shift toward the don’t-rush-to-judgment end of the spectrum.  An objective, skeptical, cautious, and even indifferent approach to life has its rewards.  Unfortunately, however, the attitude on some college campuses these days seems to

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-18630182252359327292012-01-30T16:18:00.000-08:002012-01-30T16:18:46.584-08:00

One business executive makes a compelling case for B-School.  (Apparently, it's too cumbersome to say "business school.")  Click here to see the hilarious video.       

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-2840234266350361922012-01-29T21:42:00.000-08:002012-01-29T21:42:16.858-08:00

As far as employment went, I somewhat enjoyed financial analysis and accounting-related work.  But what drove me out of the business environment and into law school was the intellectually hollow corporate babble that seemed to invade most aspects of the job.  There was the constant talk of “driving the business,” the prodding to “think outside the box,” and even the brilliance of “management by

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-83273247329895560802012-01-21T18:21:00.000-08:002012-01-21T18:21:55.833-08:00

Choice Meat Criminal defendants are often shocked when they wind up in jail or even prison for minor transgressions.  In such cases, their crimes run the gamut from negligent and strict liability crimes (where there is no criminal intent and often no direct or indirect harm to anyone) to small-time property offenses (where the financial harm is very minimal).  The best example of harsh

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-4369071456634524652012-01-15T09:01:00.000-08:002012-01-15T09:01:58.802-08:00

If you're interested in criminal law but you're not yet following Michael O'Hear's Life Sentences Blog, well, tic toc.  Check out his latest post describing how a pro se defendant got caught up in a maze of state and federal law and narrowly missed a filing deadline with disastrous results.  The post -- titled Delay in Criminal Procedure: What's Good for the Goose Is . . . Well, Never Mind -- has

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-3358018677197632792012-01-14T15:08:00.000-08:002012-01-14T19:22:44.206-08:00

Joseph Mathew, B.S., M.D., with wife Tessy Bowl games aren’t just for the big corporations and not-for-profits anymore.  Area doctor Joseph Mathew has just announced the Joseph Mathew Don’t Overeat Bowl, which will be played next year after the PoppaJohns.com Bowl and before the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.  The Don’t Overeat Bowl will be held in Springfield Memorial Park Stadium, located in Dr.

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-30628043687274116922012-01-14T13:41:00.000-08:002012-01-14T14:45:57.222-08:00

College Football Two of my favorite subjects are legal education and college football.  And, as it turns out, the two might have an interesting commonality.  In legal education, membership in the American Bar Association (ABA) makes or breaks a school.  If a school is an ABA member, its graduates are qualified to take the bar exam of any state, and the school has a chance to be a national

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-55594749431713099452012-01-07T14:38:00.000-08:002012-01-07T18:37:19.144-08:00

By now, most people have heard of the Wisconsin prosecutor who threatened to criminally charge school teachers for teaching sex-ed classes, even though parents could opt their children out of the sex-ed program, and even though the sex-ed program itself had been approved by the state legislature.  But not all prosecutors take this anti-legislature approach; some will justify their acts, no matter

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-88022266603707276682012-01-06T20:00:00.000-08:002012-01-06T20:00:03.566-08:00

Ridiculous laws can be interesting and fun to read about.  But the fact is that they are not anomalous; rather, they engulf us all.  From people being detained for taking pictures of law enforcement officers or pictures with “no aesthetic value” (as determined by law enforcement officers), to people being imprisoned for failing to sod their lawn, to teenagers being forced to register as

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-88000400425948677942012-01-02T16:38:00.000-08:002012-01-02T17:54:05.127-08:00

Photo by Phillip Capper Happy arbitrary point in space-time—or, if you prefer, happy New Year.  While aimlessly surfing the web yesterday, I stumbled across a true gem: “The Law School Tuition Bubble: An Amateurly Illustrated Think Tank of One.”  This blog is published by fellow Marquette University Law School graduate Matt Leichter.  (I don’t know Matt, and he graduated several years after I

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-14610505693382695982011-12-28T14:18:00.000-08:002011-12-28T14:18:35.486-08:00

The experienced criminal defense lawyer’s worst nightmare is having a great case with great evidence of innocence, and then being shut down by the trial judge who won’t let you present that evidence to the jury.  (Inexperienced criminal defense lawyers, on the other hand, don’t yet have this fear; they still operate under the assumption that judges will know and follow the law.)  The single

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-38804393179716408222011-12-28T10:15:00.000-08:002011-12-28T10:15:27.416-08:00

The thing about wars is that you need enemies in order to have them.  But what if you don’t have any enemies?  No worries; you can just make them up.  That’s what New York police did so they could wage their war on drugs.  Their first tactic was nothing new: they simply stole drugs from real drug busts and then planted those drugs on innocent people.  This helped them make their arrest quotas

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-18983572118150940262011-12-26T09:04:00.000-08:002011-12-26T09:04:51.444-08:00

Knightly prepares for the Sugar Bowl The Legal Watchdog previously reviewed Death to the BCS, which highlighted some of the problems with college football.  In part, the book demonstrated how schools in lower- and mid-tier bowls were losing their shirts, while the bowl executives were raking in huge sums of money.  (Since reading that book I've been even more aware of the near-empty stadiums

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-25683490698885362692011-12-25T21:44:00.000-08:002011-12-25T21:53:39.805-08:00

Alchemy Air Symbol In two recent posts, here and here, I discussed a book and a couple of articles that challenged some basic principles of physics.  Little did I know that the posts would ruffle the feathers of physics professor Brian Blais of Bryant University.  In a scathing response titled “Faster than light . . . why the lawyer is wrong,” he employs a series of mathematical formulas so

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-23944801081933494302011-12-17T11:06:00.000-08:002011-12-17T11:06:19.066-08:00

Photo by Hugh Greentree Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) might well have been the most prolific journalist, essayist, contrarian, atheist, provocateur, critic, polemicist, and all-around intellectual bad ass the world has seen.  My favorite quote about Hitch is from Richard Dawkins: “If you are invited to debate . . . with Christopher Hitchens, decline.  [He] would threaten your arguments even

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-10594128962266053612011-12-16T23:03:00.000-08:002011-12-17T04:23:19.463-08:00

Yours truly with Justice David Prosser in 1999. Judicial shenanigans aren’t limited to circuit court judges; even our lofty Wisconsin supreme court justices have jumped into the act.  While The Dog was on hiatus, journalists reported that Justice David Prosser and Justice Ann Walsh Bradley engaged in a heated debate that, by all accounts, turned physical.  Some who witnessed the throw-down said

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-68252703754642214802011-12-14T19:37:00.000-08:002011-12-14T19:37:21.460-08:00

On the topic of misbehaving judges, I have to begin with circuit court judge Linda Van De Water.  But I must admit that I have a soft spot for this judge.  After all, it was her outrageous behavior on the bench that motivated me to start The Legal Watchdog about one year ago.  (You can read The Dog’s inaugural post, here.)  And after that, her honor turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving.

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-46659269867813763002011-12-14T19:15:00.000-08:002012-01-07T10:07:08.198-08:00

Photo by Amy Kushner My second book, Tried and Convicted: How Police, Prosecutors, and Judges Destroy Our Constitutional Rights, is now complete and in the hands of the editors at Rowman & Littlefield, with an expected publication date of September, 2012.  I am therefore freed up—at least temporarily—to return to work at The Legal Watchdog for some judge-bashing blog posts.  And it turns out

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-67686715354845415482011-10-11T18:30:00.000-07:002011-10-11T18:31:40.212-07:00

I am pleased to announce that my second book -- a nonfiction book on the criminal justice system titled Tried and Convicted -- will be published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., in 2012.  Special thanks to book agent Janet Rosen, at ShereeBykofsky Associates, Inc., for finding the publisher.  Unfortunately, though, with several months of rewrites and editing ahead of me, I’ll be taking

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-50343752111305713552011-09-24T16:15:00.000-07:002011-09-24T16:18:57.537-07:00

Photo by Amy Kushner I try to stick to law-related topics, but every once in a while I’ll delve into matters that are way over my head, like college sports and even physics.  In a post from the not-too-distant past—titled Time’s Up, Einstein—I wrote about how physicists created the concept of “dark matter” simply to keep Einstein’s theory of general relativity alive.  In other words, they made

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-12751786527545602242011-09-20T20:18:00.000-07:002011-09-20T20:28:13.143-07:00

Big East Conference commissioner Phillip Bray recently announced a planned Big East expansion, and a corresponding change in conference name.  The league will be dropping the word “East,” and will now simply be known as “Big” or "Big Conference."  Bray attributed the name change to recent conference realignment.  “With the Big East likely to pickup the Big Twelve Conference leftovers of Kansas, 

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-65241729659291700502011-08-21T10:29:00.000-07:002011-08-21T15:29:16.892-07:00

Photo by Carl Rollmann Due to other commitments, The Legal Watchdog will be taking a couple of weeks off, but will be back in action in September.  (Meanwhile, Knightly contemplates future blog posts.)  Until then, read my essay Dead Again, soon to be published in the Fordham Law Review and currently available for free on the Social Science Research Network.

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-72963693344964244862011-08-13T11:45:00.000-07:002011-08-13T11:48:25.688-07:00

The law states that a criminal defendant cannot be penalized merely for exercising a constitutional right, such as a jury trial.  But as defense lawyers know, penalties can sometimes be harsher if a defendant passes on a plea deal and instead proceeds to trial, and loses.  This isn’t always the case; in fact, because criminal statutes today cover such a broad range of innocuous behavior, it’s

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-6500823550547252762011-08-01T14:20:00.000-07:002011-08-01T14:32:38.948-07:00

I recently suggested, here, that the problem in college sports isn’t the schools, players and coaches that break NCAA rules, but rather the bureaucrats that make the rules in the first place.  One of The Legal Watchdog’s readers is Norm Cloutier, Professor of Economics and Faculty Athletics Representative for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, my alma mater and home of the NCAA Division-II

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-70937094144818257792011-07-30T21:31:00.000-07:002011-07-31T07:18:13.762-07:00

Photo by David Reber I know, I know.  We’re not in March.  It’s the middle of summer.  But I’m not writing about March Madness.  I’m writing about NCAA rules madness.  For example, most college sports fans have heard of the NCAA rules violations at Ohio State University.  That debacle is just one in a long line of similar debacles bringing shame to college sports and destroying the illusion of

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-60911608415158375672011-07-19T20:19:00.000-07:002011-07-19T20:19:48.227-07:00

Our criminal justice system has two extremes.  On one end of the spectrum, we imprison people for decades for using marijuana or having consensual sex with their fellow teenagers.  On the other end of the spectrum, we turn the other way for the really harmful stuff.  For example, despite the blatant fraud and the trillions of dollars in public losses, those responsible for the recent financial

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-42813697649433701772011-07-14T18:23:00.000-07:002011-07-15T08:01:20.266-07:00

Criticism of the jury system is probably as old as the jury system itself.  But while criticizing is one thing, coming up with a better alternative is another.  And for years, I had thought that the jury system was pretty darn good as it is.  But then I got an idea: Why don’t we just let Nancy Grace decide? My idea came to me after the Casey Anthony trial.  As everyone knows by now, the

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-36718855241689812722011-07-05T08:22:00.000-07:002011-07-05T08:22:38.000-07:00

I am very pleased to announce that my essay, Dead Again: The Latest Demise of the Confrontation Clause, has been accepted for publication in the Fordham Law Review, which is the sixth most cited law review in the country.  The expected publication date for the essay is December, 2011, and I’ll post a link to the full text at that time.  My previous law review articles on the Confrontation Clause

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-79126662160754416172011-06-18T13:13:00.000-07:002011-06-21T08:00:08.652-07:00

The recent Supreme Court case of J.D.B. v. North Carolina has generated all sorts of hoopla.  The Wall Street Journal Law Blog, for example, even claims that the ruling “expands juveniles’ Miranda rights”—an outcome that would be celebrated by some and condemned by others, no doubt.  A closer inspection, however, reveals that the case will have zero impact on juvenile rights, and, more

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-49163258714965873542011-06-16T20:42:00.000-07:002011-06-16T20:44:17.433-07:00

On a few occasions I’ve been asked: “How can you defend someone that you know is guilty?”  Sometimes the questioner is thoughtful and genuinely inquisitive, in which case I’m more than happy to give a serious and thorough explanation.  (For starters, I’m not arrogant enough to believe that I can know what really happened or who is really guilty.)  Other times the person is simply condemning me

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-43951511413426474022011-06-14T23:09:00.000-07:002011-06-14T23:09:28.838-07:00

The law on plea bargaining can vary wildly from state to state.  But in some states, judges are not allowed to participate in the plea bargaining process; instead, the prosecutor and the defendant (usually through defense counsel) are left to negotiate a deal.  If a deal is reached, it is presented to the judge; if no deal is reached, the case can be set for a jury trial instead.  But not all

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-89191656872504967922011-06-04T13:05:00.000-07:002011-06-04T13:21:48.700-07:00

In State v. Hansbrough, the prosecutor charged the defendant with first-degree murder.  When the case went to the jury for deliberation, they were given the option of convicting on that charge, as well as the “lesser included” charge of “felony murder.”  The jury eventually convicted the defendant of felony murder, but there was one problem: the judge never gave the jury a verdict form for the

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-23930368887506202512011-05-30T18:16:00.000-07:002011-05-30T18:29:11.526-07:00

I recently represented Mary Hein, a therapist who was accused of drugging, hypnotizing, and brainwashing a male patient in order to have sex with him and to convince him to murder her husband.  As you might expect, the Milwaukee news force was all over it: FOX6, TMJ4, WISN12, and CBS58 were all here in Kenosha with video camera in hand, running salacious stories on the “bizarre murder-for-hire

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-87550970890992981972011-05-20T19:09:00.000-07:002011-05-20T19:09:17.900-07:00

Before the days of The Legal Watchdog, I was typing away furiously for the Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog.  One of my first posts there was titled The New Miranda Warning.  I figured that with all the new cases interpreting—or more accurately, limiting—our Miranda rights, we should have a new Miranda warning to go with them.  (As the law changes, shouldn’t the warning change too?) 

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-83838961347144025182011-05-09T08:18:00.000-07:002011-05-09T09:02:43.646-07:00

I represent Mary Hein, a local therapist who was recently accused of hypnotizing, drugging and brainwashing a patient in order to have sex with him, and then soliciting him to murder her husband.  The case was covered by the Associated Press, Milwaukee’s NBC and Fox affiliates, and other news organizations.  After several months of litigation, including motions in limine and other pretrial

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-75853066465442265822011-05-07T00:18:00.000-07:002011-05-08T19:28:33.998-07:00

In jury trials, judges often give prosecutors an incredibly wide berth in proving their cases.  Not only can they introduce direct evidence of the defendant’s guilt and motive, but they can also dredge-up the ancient past in the form of “other acts” evidence.  This places a dual burden on defendants: defend the charged crime and answer for decades-old allegations that often were never even

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-15376057770263215822011-05-06T17:50:00.000-07:002011-05-06T19:38:00.692-07:00

Dr. Larry White, a psychology professor at Beloit College and also a coauthor of mine on false confessions, recently alerted me to some interesting law and psychology articles for criminal defense lawyers.  When reviewing the studies, two in particular caught my attention. In Forensic Interviewing Aids: Do Props Help Children Answer Questions About Touching?, the authors state that, despite the

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-22935989751759951102011-05-03T20:30:00.000-07:002011-05-04T07:22:45.535-07:00

KenoWi.com recently reported that Kenosha County has created a new victim-witness room in the courthouse.  The room was created because “crime victims and witnesses felt intimidated by friends and family members of the defendants as they waited in hallways or in the courtroom” before testifying.  The new digs come complete with a flat-screen television, a DVD player, movies, toys, games, wall art

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-39965502284645195362011-05-03T18:17:00.000-07:002011-05-03T21:46:30.644-07:00

Attorney Anthony Cotton recently published an excellent essay, “On the defensive: Wisconsin needs to address over-criminalization,” in the Wisconsin Law Journal.  Tony argues that we have criminalized way too much behavior, including a lot of behavior that doesn't even involve a bad intent, or mens rea, and yet other behavior that would be more effectively dealt with through treatment rather than

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-17218687186436308442011-05-02T13:50:00.000-07:002011-05-03T21:47:15.984-07:00

If anyone is wondering why I'm delving into physics, it's because I was to be in trial all week, but the case settled last Friday.  Therefore, I decided to dedicate a few days to solving the mysteries of the universe.  True, I've only begun exploring the relevant issues, but the week is young.  Have you ever heard of dark matter and wondered what it was?  It turns out that we can't verify its

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-1970957391085280092011-04-23T19:58:00.000-07:002011-04-24T15:02:27.292-07:00

Our constitutional rights are easily and routinely manipulated both in and out of the courtroom.  But among the few fundamental rights that seemed unassailable, I thought that the right to an open and public trial was high on the list.  As a practical matter, attempts to close the courtroom during a trial are rare; in fact, I’ve only argued this issue in one trial, and the judge agreed with me

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-73101892777259410692011-04-19T15:57:00.000-07:002011-04-19T15:57:42.715-07:00

Listen to my coauthor Amy Kusher and her interview with Judge Penny Wolfgang on the New York radio show On Target.  Just press the play button, below, and enjoy the show.

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-3313259854233822432011-04-19T07:55:00.000-07:002011-04-19T08:06:45.680-07:00

Attorney Dennis Melowski recently defended a female driver on a group of traffic cases, including a charge of operating while intoxicated, commonly known as drunk driving.  The cases went to a bench trial, and the evidence showed that the arresting deputy had been “amorous” with the female defendant during the traffic stop.  Also, it turned out that the deputy’s squad camera worked fine for every

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-66716514203834327682011-04-09T14:37:00.000-07:002011-04-10T01:11:51.989-07:00

In November, 2010 I launched The Legal Watchdog specifically to criticize State v. DeVera, an unpublished case where a trial judge “created facts out of thin air (and contrary to the evidence) to justify sending an autistic defendant to prison.”  I wrote about this case, here, because while I’ve seen and read about bizarre sentences before, this one was beyond the pale.  And, as it turns out, The

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-14831260346536926292011-04-02T21:45:00.000-07:002011-04-03T15:13:00.544-07:00

When I was in college, I thought the liberal-conservative dichotomy meant something.  Back then, it was George H. W. Bush v. Michael Dukakis, and you pretty much knew where they stood—on everything.  But, eventually, along came Bill Clinton—a democrat and supposed liberal—who took us through eight years of shrinking government, annual budget surpluses, and a declining national debt.  To me, as a

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-80787144544860461072011-03-21T22:47:00.000-07:002011-04-23T20:19:54.276-07:00

By now, most people have seen, or at least heard of, Australian internet sensation Casey Heynes.  But in case you haven't, Casey is a young, well-spoken Aussie lad that was bullied by other school children for years.  In interviews, Casey described the bullying as both verbal and physical, and he said that it was the rare day that he wasn't struck by other kids.  But watch the following clip and

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-80028675559928826942011-03-16T16:27:00.000-07:002011-03-16T16:59:16.812-07:00

Read the recent Q&A about my book, But They Didn’t Read Me My Rights!, on The Super Lawyers Blog.  In the interview, Adrienne Schofhauser and I discuss some interesting issues, including religion’s influence on the law.  When she asked me about that topic, I couldn’t help but think of the Wisconsin prosecutor who threatened to criminally charge school teachers for teaching state-approved sex

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-78397065690989038852011-03-13T21:08:00.000-07:002011-03-14T19:18:06.460-07:00

The Legal Watchdog is taking time off to cheer for Marquette in the Big Dance and to celebrate March Madness, which is by far the most wonderful time of the year.  March Madness is “Individuals rising to fulfill unknown potential.  Teams proving their sum greater than their parts.  . . . It’s the ability to compete no matter where you come from, no matter how few believe in you.”  So good luck

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-73746594502220750242011-03-05T18:38:00.000-08:002011-03-06T08:07:41.405-08:00

In The Legal Watchdog’s first post, I wrote about a judge that made up facts out of thin air to justify sending a developmentally disabled, twenty-one-year-old defendant to prison for having a “non-coercive” sexual relationship with his minor girlfriend.  Even the prosecutor had asked for probation, but the judge justified her draconian sentence by citing DeVera’s poor performance while released

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-8603435642898547422011-02-21T11:39:00.000-08:002011-02-22T08:12:29.523-08:00

Listen to my interview with host Karen Stollznow on Point of Inquiry.  “Launched in 2005, Point of Inquiry is the premier podcast of the Center for Inquiry, drawing on CFI's relationship with the leading minds of the day including Nobel Prize-winning scientists, public intellectuals, social critics and thinkers, and renowned entertainers.  Each episode combines incisive interviews, features and

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-63570246141495616902011-02-10T15:39:00.000-08:002011-02-10T15:58:22.029-08:00

I recently wrote a blog post, titled Guilt by association, where I discussed two defendants in two different cases who were convicted not for what they did, but for what their roommates did.  One of those defendants was Cham Omot, who was convicted of a felony drug crime because his roommate had marijuana in his (the roommate’s) dresser drawer.  Then, on appeal, the rarest of events occurred: The

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-45096466456649992052011-02-08T12:24:00.000-08:002011-02-08T15:52:08.332-08:00

My coauthor Amy Kushner and I just got a great review of our book, But They Didn’t Read Me My Rights! Myths, Oddities and Lies about Our Legal System.  I was pleased to learn that the reviewer was not only entertained, but also picked up on the book’s underlying theme, which he described as disturbing.  Here’s an excerpt of the review: “Regardless of political persuasion or current interest in

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-65760395697462393402011-01-22T00:13:00.000-08:002011-01-22T00:13:40.734-08:00

These days, more than ever, you have to be leery of the company you keep.  Two defendants found this out the hard way when they were convicted of felony crimes not for what they did, but rather for what their roommates allegedly did. In State v. Omot, Mr. Omot’s roommate was charged with drug crimes for having marijuana in his dresser drawer.  The evidence showed that the drawer did not belong to

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-58828247566021695802011-01-16T22:24:00.000-08:002011-01-16T22:52:42.483-08:00

Unfairness and stupidity aren’t the exclusive property of the criminal justice system.  In fact, they also infect the multi-million dollar business of college football.  In their recent book, Death to the BCS, authors Dan Wetzel, Josh Peter and Jeff Passan expose the BCS as a class system that would put Downton Abbey to shame.  In eighteen short chapters—and with a succinct, pull-no-punches

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-16088948253234311222011-01-07T23:50:00.000-08:002011-01-08T14:57:43.442-08:00

Criminal law is an incredibly malleable beast.  It is designed (or perhaps has evolved) to allow a judge to distort any given fact, or set of facts, to reach a predetermined outcome.  I recently exposed these judicial gymnastics in the Sixth Amendment context, here, and in the Fourth Amendment context, here.  However, nowhere is this judicial slight-of-hand more evident than at sentencing

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-19160927728657763432011-01-01T00:43:00.000-08:002011-01-01T01:10:50.349-08:00

A recent opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal argued that it’s dangerous to own or manage a business these days.  Our government’s ever expanding maze of laws, including many strict and vicarious liability crimes, puts businesses and their managers at high risk for criminal prosecution.  More pointedly, prosecutors are able to “exploit vague laws to criminalize behavior that no one thought

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-61753565695452448572010-12-22T20:02:00.000-08:002010-12-22T20:31:17.724-08:00

If asked to describe the typical Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) enthusiast, most of us would probably think of a harmless, glasses-wearing, socially awkward math genius who attends school and possibly lives in his parents’ basement.  (Think Napoleon Dynamite.)  But despite this docile stereotype, prison bureaucrats in Wisconsin don’t take any chances.  In fact, in Singer v. Raemisch, the state just

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-63138589464963486842010-12-18T23:23:00.000-08:002010-12-19T09:57:43.999-08:00

Injustice never rests, but The Legal Watchdog does.  Please check back soon for a new post.  In the meantime, check out my prior posts, below, or my recent posts on the MU Law School Faculty Blog.  Also check out the newly added link, on the right, to Robert Teuber’s Tax Law Forum—an interesting and timely blog, especially given that tax season is nearly upon us. 

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-79101492162328106072010-12-11T10:16:00.000-08:002010-12-11T11:18:57.650-08:00

In last week’s post we saw how easy it is to fall into the gravitational pull of the sex offender registry.  This week we’ll see how tough it can be to comply with its requirements.  In the case of State v. Dinkins, the 56-year-old defendant was looking forward to being released after serving ten years in prison.  Unfortunately for him, however, he had been ordered to register as a sex offender

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-22073227729338844362010-12-04T17:35:00.000-08:002010-12-05T11:56:00.481-08:00

Our nation’s preoccupation with tracking sex offenders comes at a high cost.  Between the fifty states and the federal government, we’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars on sex offender registries each year, in addition to the billions spent on incarceration and community supervision.  However, these registries aren’t all they’re cracked-up to be, in part because they’re flooded with

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800555221998084403.post-47530732402627124572010-11-28T11:20:00.000-08:002010-11-28T12:23:45.066-08:00

A basic sense of fairness dictates that a criminal defendant should be sentenced only for his crime of conviction.  Given this, most people would be surprised to learn that, when dispensing punishment, judges may also consider “uncharged and unproven offenses,” and increase their sentences accordingly.  But this incredibly lax standard still wasn’t enough for one judge, who went even further and

Michael D. Cicchini, BS, MBA, CPA, JD, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13734180053800866578noreply@blogger.com3