Do police need to get a warrant before they draw blood in a DUI case? What if police ask for consent for a blood test and you say no? Can they hold you down and forcibly puncture your arm with a needle to take your blood? Over 50 years ago, the US Supreme Court said...
What is a lesser included offense? Sometimes, a person will plead guilty to a lesser included offense, or a jury will find a person guilty of a lesser included offense instead of the more serious offenses presented at trial. But what qualifies as a lesser included...
Do we have mandatory minimum sentences in SC? Although SC does not have formal sentencing guidelines like the federal courts or some other states, we do have mandatory minimum sentences in SC. A lot of them… To determine whether an offense has a mandatory minimum...
Is there a spousal privilege in SC? There is, although it is not always helpful. Spousal privilege in SC used to be a common-law rule that prohibited calling a person as a witness against their husband or wife. Now, spousal privilege in SC is statutory – the statute...
Is the smell of marijuana probable cause in SC? As a court in New York noted earlier this year, the smell of marijuana is always probable cause to search and police often take advantage of this – routinely lying about the “overwhelming odor of marijuana” any time...
Is “good character” evidence admissible in a criminal trial? Character evidence is admissible in a criminal trial, but the rules on character evidence are often misunderstood by prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges. Can the defense introduce evidence of a...
