Life in the Shadow of Death, With Cyndy Short

Cyndy Short has been representing those accused of the worst crimes imaginable for most of her career – and she has NEVER had a client sentenced to death on her watch.  She understands that sometimes what makes a lawyer great isn’t their legal abilities, but their human abilities.  In other words, it’s time for lawyers to…

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Diversion Perversion: Hunter Biden’s Super Sweet Plea Deal

Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in!  Not that Mark Allenbaugh isn’t a great guy to spend an hour with doing law-related chitty chat, but after a barrage of Allenbaugh episodes from Elmer to Donald to Walt, I thought I was gonna get to move on to a couple of other…

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Reality Check: Unpacking the Trump Indictment

When the FBI executed the search warrant at Mar-a-lago and discovered a trove of confidential and top secret government documents, we did a deep dive into the realm of possibilities (EP 12:  Mar-a-la-going To Prison??) should Trump ever be charged, tried and convicted. But, we didn’t know then what we know now.  So, here we follow…

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Stewart Rhodes Seditious Conspiracy Sentencing Post-Mortem

After being found guilty of crimes including Seditious Conspiracy, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, leader of the “OathKeepers” was given the longest sentencing to date for any 1/6 defendant. Here, we monday-morning quarterback every aspect of Rhodes’ sentencing.  There is much to learn from this one, about guideline issues, written advocacy, allocution, and post-sentencing conditions of confinement. …

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The Zero Point Offender Guideline Amendment: The ZIPPO IS ON FIRE!

Yes, we came up with a pithy name we are sure will catch on for the new and VERY consequential US sentencing guideline amendment which allows a 2-level reduction for those with zero criminal history points and who aren’t excluded based on several listed criterion.   This amendment is a BIG DEAL, and will be retroactive,…

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JSIN: Will “Judicial Sentencing Information” Mutilate the Stats or Slash Sentences?

The US Sentencing Commission created “JSIN” (sounds like “Jason”) as a resource for Judges who want to understand how defendants are really being sentenced under the guidelines.   And, currently thirty-one federal jurisdictions are now incorporating JSIN data into the pre-sentence report. But, are the stats accurate?  Could these numbers help or harm our clients? Therefore,…

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The Power of a State “Sentencing Study” (with Rich Robertson)

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve heard me talk, ad nauseum, about the use of sentencing statistics in Federal cases.   But did you know that sentencing statistics are also relevant in your STATE CASES?  But, state sentencing data is often harder to access, and may require a tenacious investigator to fight arduous public records request battles.…

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