Many people are accused of crimes they didn’t commit. The reasons people file false complaints or the police file charges they know they can’t support vary. What doesn’t vary is that if you are accused of committing a crime, whether you committed it or whether you are perfectly innocent, you need to ask to speak to your lawyer. You should not give a statement to the police, because that statement could be used against you. You [...]
Whether on television, in movies, or in real life, most people have heard the phrase “attorney/client privilege” at some point or another. But what does this term actually mean? Is everything a client says to their attorney protected? Can an attorney ever legally reveal something their client told them? Understanding what attorney/client privilege is and what you can tell your attorney without fear of it being shared with others – including law enforcement, the government, or [...]
Marijuana convictions in Tennessee can carry consequences that extend beyond the courtroom. While the legal penalties for marijuana offenses are significant, you may face a variety of consequences that can affect many aspects of your life. Today we want to talk about the collateral consequences of a marijuana conviction. Employment restrictions Employment opportunities can be severely limited for individuals with marijuana convictions in Knoxville. Many employers conduct background checks as part of their hiring process, and [...]
Criminal defendants often face a critical juncture in the criminal justice process – whether to accept a plea bargain or proceed to trial. In some cases, a plea bargain may be in your best interests. However, you should never accept a plea bargain without first speaking with an experienced Knoxville criminal defense attorney who can answer all of your questions. This decision carries a variety of implications, which can shape your case and determine its outcome. [...]
Almost everyone has seen their fair share of arrests on television shows. You watch a police officer handcuff a person, state their Miranda Rights, and then push them into the backseat of a police vehicle. While you may think that this is what happens in real arrests, it is important to remember that what you saw is based on television, and what happens on television shows does not typically play out the same way in real [...]
Many innocent people across the United States have been wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit. Even though some of them are later freed, this continues to be an issue in the city of Knoxville and the rest of the country. The reason for this is because the justice system often fails our citizens and finds innocent people guilty. When this happens, the individual and their families suffer devastating and traumatic consequences for many [...]
When fights break out, many people think that the legal system will automatically protect them if they claim they acted in self-defense. After all, it is a legal principle that allows individuals to use reasonable force to defend themselves against imminent threats or acts of violence. However, not only is self-defense pretty difficult to prove, it does not always apply to your situation. At its core, self-defense recognizes that individuals have the right to preserve their [...]
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego have developed a vaccine that can combat fentanyl, the synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin that’s contributed to our nation’s ongoing opioid epidemic. The vaccine, successful in rats, stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies that bind to fentanyl, preventing the drug from crossing the blood-brain barrier and causing its potent effects. While the vaccine is still in the early stages of development and has not [...]
On April 4, President Donald Trump was arraigned in a New York City courtroom on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. But what are indictments and arraignments? How do they work? Does everyone go through them? We (along with PBS) thought this interesting period in history might make a good opportunity to take on these topics. What’s an indictment? A criminal indictment is a formal accusation of a crime, brought against an individual by a [...]
The consequences for a DUI conviction in Tennessee can be quite severe. You may be imprisoned and fined. Your insurance rates will skyrocket. Your license will probably be suspended. At Banks and Jones, our skilled criminal defense lawyers assert every defense possible, including challenging the grounds for being stopped and the validity of any chemical tests such as breathalyzer tests. One possible defense is that you were not intoxicated. The signs of intoxication that an officer [...]
Defendants who are arrested in Knoxville for any crime have a right to a bail hearing. The purpose of the bail hearing is for a judge to determine if the defendant should be released from prison and the terms of the release. Defendants who cannot meet the bail release terms remain in prison until the time of their hearing. Generally, in addition to being free pending a trial, defendants want to be released because it is [...]
Being arrested can be humiliating and harm your reputation. It doesn’t even matter if you’re innocent or guilty of the crime of which you’re accused – if friends, family, neighbors, or co-workers find out about your arrest, the damage is already done. Even if authorities got the wrong person, it can take a lot of time and a lot of headaches to get your name, community standing, and job back. If this unfortunate and frustrating [...]
Prison is intended to be rehabilitative as well as punitive – especially for non-violent and first-time offenders. A prison sentence that is too long may only serve one of these goals. The United States has an overincarceration problem. We put a lot of people in prison – according to the World Prison Brief, the U.S. ranks among the top countries for total prison population, second only to China – and we keep them there too long. [...]
In today’s day and age, law enforcement have a wide variety of advanced technology to assist them in determining whether a person is under the influence of drugs or alcohol while driving. One might assume that with such tools at their fingertips, any guesswork would be out of the running in deciding the guilt of the accused. However, despite these advancements, law enforcement still uses the unscientific approach of drug recognition experts, or DREs. These [...]
As of 2019, Tennessee prisons housed over 25,000 prisoners spread across 11 different facilities. The offenders vary in degree, but almost all of them work different jobs within those facilities at some point during their sentences. While helping convicts prepare for working after their release is undoubtedly a positive, poor conditions and an overall lack of choice lends to a far less savory idea — specifically, the idea that offender labor is nothing more than a [...]
As the pandemic slowly winds down, people are starting to travel again. We’re seeing an increase in the number of tourists here at home, and it’s safe to assume that other states are experiencing an influx of visitors as well. Some of them – like Illinois and Virginia, perhaps – may see some of our residents popping over the border for a very specific purpose: to get their hands on some legal marijuana. “Weed tourism” as [...]
When you’re charged with any sort of crime, the prosecution and court as a whole work as hard as possible to prove your alleged guilt — even if none exists. Ideally, everyone is innocent until they are proven guilty, but guilty treatment often starts much sooner than conviction. This prejudice and unjust behavior against defendants can easily lead to a violation of their rights. The prosecution may spin stories, put too much faith in the [...]
There are several ways a person can be impaired behind the wheel, but today's focus is on alcohol specifically. The reason drunk driving accidents happen is that alcohol significantly reduces brain function. It causes a driver to have impaired reasoning and muscle coordination. Logic is also affected. Many drivers are under the impression that they can drive while intoxicated. The reality is they cannot, and there are innocent victims on the road who will suffer. According [...]
You know those wedding videos where you see the bridesmaids and groomsmen surprise the happy couple with a “spontaneous” choreographed dance? Or the social posts of, say, a groom with shoes that say “help me!” on the bottom, or some other trick? Wedding pranks – no matter how you feel about them – are popular with certain couples and their friends, and that’s all well and good as long as no one gets hurt. One bride [...]
Bonnaroo was put on hold in 2020 and 2021 because of the Coronavirus pandemic. The popular music festival makes a triumphant return to the schedule this June. With that being said, are you planning to make the pilgrimage to Bonnaroo? If so, it might be a good idea to keep your behavior in check to avoid arrest. No matter how diligent you might be in staying out of trouble, trouble might just find you. The experienced [...]
The world, and our society within it, is constantly changing. As we develop as a whole, our views, morals, knowledge, and entire cultures reflect these developments, and that’s great! That being said, not everything goes through these changes and progress at the same time or even in the same way — especially when it comes to the law. Seriously, it takes a LOT for laws to change, and even then it’s usually in incremental, tiny ways. [...]
It’s a general presumption that people should know what activities are considered crimes in Tennessee. You shouldn’t steal. If you hit someone, you’ll probably be arrested. If you drive over the speed limit, you’ll be ticketed. If you sell drugs, you’re breaking the law. It’s normally not an excuse to say, “But Your Honor, I thought what I was doing was legal.” Still, there are times that even a judge might be surprised that something is [...]
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we all live in many ways. One of those ways is when criminal defendants have their day in court. Due to the danger of contracting the disease, before vaccinations, many trials were postponed. The delay affected jury trials throughout the United States. While the delays are understandable because of public safety concerns, the delays are still preventing defendants from having their day in court. Worse, many defendants who can’t afford [...]
In February 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) heard oral arguments involving the need for the police to obtain warrants to enter the home of people suspected of having committed a misdemeanor or minor crime. The Court had previously ruled that the police can enter a home of felons who flee. The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution provides that people are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures – and that the police [...]
Every jury trial has risks. There are no guarantees that any juror will rule in your favor. However, there are often strong indicators that a member of the jury is inclined to find that there is a reasonable doubt as compared to other jury members. Every member of the jury has certain prejudices and biases whether it's the color of a defendant’s skin, the way a defendant looks, or automatically believing the testimony of a police [...]
