Lawyer in Wisconsin focusing on traffic law and criminal defense, with an interest in employment discrimination and mediation/alternative dispute resolution.

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2023

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  • They probably didn’t have you as a prosecutor there, unfortunately.

    I’m a public defender. Was about to talk about how even though I’m as leftist as they come and find this guy reprehensible, that I’d have had no problems arguing what he argued in court… But I missed that it was charged as “attempted.” That’s an excellent point. I agree that he almost certainly attempted to commit voter fraud.

    That said, I can still see how the jury could find a not guilty though, even if, were I on it, I would have said guilty. Attempted crimes still have a mens rea (usually, and I’ll note here that I’m not barred in PA so this is all a best guess, consult a local attorney to know anything for sure). So the state would still have to prove his intent beyond a reasonable doubt.

    I’m guessing the jury said they couldn’t prove the intent beyond a reasonable doubt. Your argument convinced me, but, I can see how a jury might go the other way, for sure. Especially since juries are always unpredictable. I’ve won cases I should’ve lost and lost cases I should’ve won, you just never know what’s gonna happen in the jury room.





  • "Correctional officers from the jail responded to a medical emergency in one of the cell pods.

    There, inmates explained that they believed [Jessica] Barry was experiencing a drug overdose.

    Within 3 minutes of being notified of the emergency, officers gave Barry a dose of Narcan.

    A total of six doses of Narcan, chest compressions, and an AED were given to Barry, but officers were not able to resuscitate her."

    Tragic stuff. I know we all like to blame the cops, and usually I’m 1000% on board, but it sounds like they did everything they could here. At most they could maybe be blamed for not catching and stopping the drugs from getting in. Maybe the ongoing investigation will turn something up as to how that happened, but I can’t say I’m surprised. I’ve been that courthouse and jail. It’s not the most well-funded, and addicts tend to find a way. Sad stuff.




  • Hmm. I’m annoyed at my lawyer brain, all I can think about is how this would actually be a very interesting case. At least, based on my understanding of U.S. Torts law, which is not my practice area (but which is bar tested and a required law scool course). Don’t take any of this as real legal advice.

    But, there’s a concept known as the eggshell plaintiff rule/doctrine. Basically, it states that if the person you injured is unusually fragile, you’re on the hook for their injuries regardless of whether they’re a typical result of the action you took. So, here, while the typical result of pulling a finger would be a fart, the puller may be on the hook for the entire damages of a lost arm.

    However, undercutting that is the defense of consent. The “victim” here clearly consented to the activity which led to the injury, and should have known that the action may likely result in the loss of an arm, based on the lack of tendons/muscles/skin/everything.

    I’m gonna have to save this to show at conventions and see how people think this would play out. I’ll totally be the coolest kid in school then. In your face, Mark.