The lawsuit brought by the victims and survivors of the explosion and fire at Tamarack Resort in 2017 has been settled. The settlement amount is confidential. With Dan Fleck and Gabe Phillips from the Spence Law Firm in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, we represented James Harper, whose son and grandson tragically died as a result of a gas leak, that led to an explosion and fire in a rental cabin at Tamarack Resort. This was a…

Tonight Fox News begins its three part series on Ruby Ridge. Shameless self-promotion on this one. They filmed part of it here in Boise last May, so no idea where this goes!  …

This summer the Idaho Supreme Court considered the circumstances in which a law enforcement officer may make an arrest for a misdemeanor not committed in his or her presence. State v. Clarke involved an arrest for misdemeanor battery reported by a woman in a park. She claimed Clarke had harassed her and grabbed her rear-end. Clarke admitted he had touched her but claimed it was consensual. Under Idaho law, a misdemeanor usually requires the act to…

Deadly force. The subject is frequently in the news and often becomes the subject of even local conversation. When a law enforcement officer uses deadly force against someone it amounts to a seizure of that person, and the Constitution prohibits unreasonable seizures. So the simple question posed in such a case is whether deadly force was reasonable under the circumstances of the case. The Supreme Court in its 1989 Graham v. Conner decision said that whether…

A while back (what’s a couple months between friends) I wrote a post about inherent bias and prejudice, the premise of which was that it is difficult for the defendant to win any criminal case because jurors – the decision makers – start with a bias in favor of the prosecution. They prejudge the defendant because he is charged with a crime and often because he (or she) “looks guilty,” whatever that means! They tend…

Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers gave and gave and gave so that kiddos in Nampa could have Christmas! Here’s the video proof! Thanks for your incredible generosity and thanks to the administrators, staff and crazy great teachers at Endeavor! Merry Christmas!…

Impartiality is a myth. So the idea that you will start with an impartial jury or fact finder (maybe a Judge) misses the mark. We all have inherent bias and prejudice that colors our decision making. All of us. Let’s start with a simple example involving cars. I have a bias (or preference) in favor of Westfalia vans and Porsche 911s. The two are polar opposites – sexy German sports car and utilitarian German fun…