The law does its best to be fair – we assume this to be true.

Pop Quiz, Hotshot: You’re madly in love with your significant other, purchase an engagement ring(1), pop the question and your significant other answers “yes” and then, for whatever reason(2), your engagement is later broken. Who gets the ring?

It’s fall, the leaves are changing colors. The legal world is constantly changing, as well. About 15 years ago, I made two predictions that were immediately disregarded but soon became reality: 1) Same-sex marriage would be legalized, and 2) Marijuana would be legalized. These issues were outlandish then, but commonly accepted now.

As a criminal defense attorney, cross-examining a witness in trial is a major portion of my job. The ability for me to do so is rooted in the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This means that a criminal defendant is entitled to test the credibility of a witness, and must receive a full and fair opportunity to probe and expose the witness’ infirmities through cross-examination.

Here’s a hypothetical: You’re reading this “Home & Garden” issue of My City ¹ and are inspired to run to your local nursery to grab some broccoli, kale and arugula ² plants and get an early start on your garden. While enjoying this magazine in the early afternoon, you decide to have one too many glasses of Chardonnay. You then get into your car, head off on your errand and are subsequently stopped on the road by law enforcement ³. Suspecting that you might be driving under the influence, the officer asks you to step out of your vehicle and blow into a breath-testing device. What do you do?

My guess is that one billion percent of My City readers are miles from ever facing criminal charges. If you skip this article though, chances probably increase by a factor of ten that you will have police interaction … With that in mind, let’s start discussing procedures in the criminal justice process.

I have two kids, ages eight and nine. Let’s say that they are tiny little desperados (¹⁾ who, no matter how many times they get sent to their room as punishment for a particular “crime”, never learn their lesson.

I’m violating a cardinal rule of mine here. I have a firm policy that if anyone wants me to do something for free or make a donation, I need a phone call rather than an email. HOWEVER, when the editor at MyCity Magazine reached out and asked if I would like to contribute a quarterly article about legal matters, my immediate response was, “Yes. Like this idea. A lot.”