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Commentary on Current Legal News

Time for another commentary on legal news. It usually takes a couple of months for enough interesting legal headlines to pop up around the country for me to be able to do a column like this.

First, what was going through O.J. Simpson's head when he went into that hotel room in Las Vegas? His judgment aside, that looks pretty fishy. What was the accuser doing with a tape recorder ready at hand like that? From the recording that was played in news stories, it sounds like that individual may very well have had some of Mr. Simpson's property. It will be interesting to see just how well his accuser's credibility will hold up in court.

Another hot news topic has been the "Jena Six." What the case boils down to is that a witness reported seeing one of the assailants strike 17-year-old Justin Barker in the head, knocking him unconscious. The same witness went on to report that a group of assailants then proceeded to kick Mr. Barker. Mr. Barker ended up being treated at the hospital for a concussion and lost vision in one eye for three weeks, among other things. Usually injuries like these can lead to felonious assault charges in Ohio, which carries 2-8 years in prison.

Based on the injuries, I don't think there is a very high probability that Mr. Barker incurred them while the defendants were acting within the guidelines for self defense. I strongly doubt that while Mr. Barker was incurring his concussion that the defendants were in any danger of imminent physical harm or death. That's what the case should boil down to. Unless the defense attorneys can show that the facts of the incident fit within the law of self defense (which all first-year law students learn), an all-out acquittal or dismissal of the charges would not be appropriate.

On another topic, Phil Spector's case is going to trial again after the jury deadlocked at 10-2 for a finding of guilty. The only thing I will say here is that preparing to retry a case is one of the most tedious tasks that a criminal defense attorney can do. But the work can pay off, especially if a key witness is nice enough to contradict their prior testimony.

I'll end with a lighter note about Nicole Richie's short stay in jail for a DUI. A 4-day sentence like the one she received is very routine for DUI cases. The circumstances of her early release do seem a bit strange (after 82 minutes), but when jails need to clear space for more violent offenders, nonviolent offenders often end up being released early.

James Bogen is an attorney in solo practice in Cincinnati . Any questions or comments can be directed to Mr. Bogen at attorneybogen@yahoo.com.

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