David from Skokie wonders if Donald Trump could be charged as an accomplice in the January 6 killings at the U.S. Capitol.
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Apropos of our recent episode on ALPRs, Holly from Idaho asks: what can we, as citizens, do about these surveillance systems that seem to be popping up in the digital world?
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As discussed recently on Criminal Injustice, California may soon revisit the "reasonable objective officer" standard for use of force by police. The story caught the attention of NPR's Martin Kaste, who called Dave up to ask how that would work. Their conversation turned into a March 12 story on All Things Considered. Hear their full, unedited interview here.
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From Chad in Hawaii, a followup to our Nov. 6 episode on full legalization of marijuana in Canada: if the Canadian government has better data on drug-related crimes than the U.S., do they track other things that we don't? We put the question back to our friends up north.
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Apropos of nothing in particular, Bruce from Norwich, CT wants to know about the legal risks of knowingly giving false information to federal investigators.
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Anybody who's ever seen a cop show knows police are supposed to inform arrested suspects of their right to an attorney. But how far does the requirement extend?
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Bree from Los Angeles asks about the difference between a "guilty" plea and a "no contest" plea: why would a defendant choose one over the other, and how might it affect the outcome of their case?
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Law enforcement officers making an arrest have to identify themselves as cops... right?
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Bill from Illinois has a question about just how much latitude juries have to disregard the law or the facts in a case when making their decisions.
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Kelly from St Paul asks: if you dump toxic materials into a lake, knowing it will cause deaths, can you be charged with murder?
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John from Dayton calls in with another question: how does the discovery process work in civil law, and how does it apply in criminal cases?
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The Trump administration has claimed its policy of separating children from their parents at the U.S. border is required under existing laws. That's true -- if you choose to carry out blanket criminal prosecution of all illegal border crossings, including those made by legitimate asylum-seekers. Why has every previous administration opted to enforce the law through civil proceedings only? And what does today's executive order actually do?
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Technological change is disrupting seemingly every field. How will it impact criminal justice systems around the world in the future?
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Why would a defense attorney decide not to put up a defense at all? Dave answers a question from Liddy in Long Island.
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John from Dayton is a government teacher whose students have questions about the impeachment process. We break it down in another "Ask Dave" bonus episode.
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What can courts do to mitigate the influence of abusive personalities on jury proceedings?
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What are pattern-or-practice consent decrees? Trisha wants to know more about how they're being applied in her home city of Baltimore and other cities.
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A county sheriff in Alabama helped himself hundreds of thousands of dollars from a fund intended to feed jail inmates — and it’s all perfectly legal. How is that possible? And why do sheriffs have so much power over the conditions in which people are incarcerated in the first place?
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Our February 10 bonus episode on the mechanics of the seemingly inevitable Mueller-Trump interview prompted a question from Eric in New York: is it true that some witnesses get immunity from prosecution when they testify in grand jury proceedings?
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