David Clark Attorney at Law

Yes. Lawyers are bound by professional rule of conduct, one of the most important is attorney-client confidentiality. This means that you can consult your attorney about all the nitty, gritty, but true details, in order for your case to get the best treatment and preparation. Much like a doctor preparing for a surgery, your attorney will want to know every aspect of the case so they can prepare accordingly and advise accordingly.

As a general rule for a search of a citizen’s private possessions or for an arrest to be made an officer must have “probable cause” prior to conducting the search or making the arrest. One supreme court case describes it as “where the facts and circumstances within the officers' knowledge, and of which they have reasonably trustworthy information, are sufficient in themselves to warrant a belief by a man of reasonable caution that a crime is being committed.” Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160 (1949). Over time this definition and the warrant requirement, that the police first go to a Judge and swear out an oath for a warrant based on what they observed, have both been heavily eroded with a variety of exceptions. Consult today about the facts of your case and whether a search was legal and how that might affect your case if it was not.

Malice or “malice aforethought” is a level of premeditation and intent that is used to distinguish charges. It is most often found in the murder context differentiating murder from manslaughter, a lesser crime. Malice and can also play a role when distinguishing between someone’s negligent action versus actual intent to cause harm. These types of distinctions have a large case law built up around them and are proven by direct or circumstantial evidence often left for a judge or jury to decide in a trial setting.