Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Refusing A Search At A Traffic Stop Does Not Mean That You Are Guilty
Many drug-related arrests arise from traffic stops, but how do police know which cars contain drugs? It isn’t as if cars full of illegally obtained cannabis leave a trail of green leaves, or like cars full of cocaine leave a trail of white powder, like you might expect in a video game. Most of… Read More »
Scopolamine Is Not A Controlled Substance, But It Can Still Cause You Plenty Of Legal Problems
Except for the Schedule I drugs, every controlled substance is a prescription drug, but not every prescription drug is a controlled substance. Plenty of medications are not available over-the-counter, but the law does not consider them dangerous enough to impose the penalties for illicit drug possession if you possess them without a prescription. You… Read More »
Can The Scientific Method Make Or Break Your Criminal Case?
When you are a child, science experiments seem like just another game. The experiments in elementary school where you mix substances together and observe the appearance and physical properties of the results are the most fun parts of science class, certainly more fun than the classroom activities where the only materials are pencil and… Read More »
Contractor Faces Home Improvement Fraud Charges After Abandoning Unfinished Project
Some corporate jobs come with a windfall of perks, from free food leftover from catered events to use of an employer-provided car or furnished apartment. When you operate a very small business, the line between business and personal expenses is less than clear. At tax time, you open the calculator app on your phone… Read More »
A Life Sentence For Non-Fatal Domestic Violence Is Possible, But It Does Not Happen Overnight
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects against cruel and unusual punishment. Thus, the courts do not routinely hand down life sentences except in cases of murder, but life imprisonment for repeated convictions for non-lethal crimes is an option, and some so-called “three strikes laws” have required it. Thus, a California man is… Read More »
An Arrest Warrant For Your Housemate Can Mean Legal Trouble For You
Many of us would love to have our own space, an apartment or house where we can keep the kitchen as neat or as messy as we choose and watch movies late at night on the big TV in the living room instead of on our tiny phone screen with the sound turned low… Read More »
Tampering With Consumer Products
Legal protections for consumers include laws against dangerous consumer products. When a product causes harm because of a flaw in its design or a mistake at the factory that produced it, customers have the right to seek damages through product liability lawsuits. Each year, product manufacturers issue recalls for many products when they become… Read More »
If You Go To Mental Health Court, Be Careful What You Wish For
Being found not guilty by reason of insanity has always been cold comfort, in the rare instances in which courts have issued this verdict. Undergoing inpatient treatment for mental illness is not a pleasant experience, even if the event that precipitates your admission to the psychiatric hospital is only a doctor’s appointment where your… Read More »
Pittsburgh Nurse Accused Of Stealing Prescription Pills From Nursing Homes
In elementary school, teachers would warn you that, if you buy drugs on the street, you never know what you are getting; it could be cocaine, or it could be something even worse, like rat poison. That warning rings even truer now, when fentanyl is a deadly but inexpensive substitute for almost every recreational… Read More »
The Police Must Reveal Information That Could Help Your Defense
The Bill of Rights guarantees your right to a fair trial, and Supreme Court decisions over the years have interpreted what that means. A famous example is Miranda v. Arizona, in which the court ruled that police officers making an arrest must notify the defendant of his or her Constitutional rights, including the right… Read More »
