In Summation - The Final Word

In any criminal justice system, there is bound to be abuse.  No system is perfect, not even close.  But the case discussed in this episode is one of the most egregious top-to-bottom failures of law enforcement in New York history.  Rights were violated, and at every turn where someone could have taken responsibility and ended the parade of injustice, they just doubled down. Listen as colleague and...

Hello Listeners and Friends, In this installment of In Summation, we discuss the Doomsday Mom, Lori Vallow Daybell, a woman who serves as proof that religious extremism is exceptionally dangerous.  These cases have it all, extramarital affairs, assassination attempts, mental disease, fanaticism, money, you name it.  And you get TWO cases this time, isn't that grand? Lori Daybell was married 5...

Welcome back!  The wait for a new episode is over. In a triumphant return, Paul breaks down the federal case against Sean "Diddy" Combs.  Combs was charged with RICO, sex trafficking, and interstate transportation for the purposes of prostitution. In this episode, we discuss what overcharging looks like, how fame affects criminal cases, and how to know when to put a case on as a defendan...

OJ Simpson's arrest and trial captivated the country.  Dubbed the "trial of the century," the 1995 spectacle grabbed eyeballs with gavel to gavel coverage for approximately 10 months.  The trial was packed with celebrity, DNA evidence, grusome crime scene photos, a massive fall from grace, racial tensions, devastating cross-examinations, jury field trips, and more. Since I couldn&ap...

Lawyers, like other professionals, tend to use a lot of industry terms which don't make sense to the average person.  Sometimes, those terms pop up in artcles and media describing a case, without explanation (often because the journalists themselves do not fully understand what they mean). Today, we discuss the term collateral estoppel, and what it means in a legal context.   Enjoy.

Welcome back.  In this brief episode, Paul digs into the difference between the terms decriminalization and legalization.  They are frequently used interchangeably by people who do not fully appreciate the difference. At the end of this In Summation Explains episode, you will come away with a deeper understanding of just what it means when the government decriminalizes, or legalizes, certain behav...

In the second installment of In Summation Explains, Paul explains what happens when someone undoes the wrong they caused before they get caught, and whether that is a defense to any potential liability after the fact. If you like this new format, write in and make your voice heard.  Paul hopes you enjoy it and write in with more questions to answer.

What does habeus corpus mean? how does it work? what does it actually do?  In this new segment of In Summation, Paul explains specific legal terms and areas of law which confuse people.  This is going be based mostly on listener feedback, so if you are curious about a legal latin phrase, or legal theory, write in and Paul may explain it for you. Please leave feedback if you like this particular ty...

In this episode, recurring guest Adam Uris and I discuss the recent New York prosecution of Daniel Penny, the 24 year old marine corps veteran who killed Jordan Neely on the subway after Neely was aggressive and threatening to other passengers.  Was this done in defense of subway riders?  Did Penny go too far?  Was the homicide justified or criminal?  Adam and Paul discuss the culteral and legal a...

Hello All, At the end of October there was a whirlwind of activity in the Young Thug trial down in Fulton County Georgia.  All of a sudden, in the span of one week, multiple defendants opted to take a plea after nearly two years at trial. Listen to the breakdown of how the circus put on by the Fulton County DA came to an end, the contours of the plea, and make the decision for yourself whether it...

The wait is over and In Summation - The Final Word is back. At the request of a listener (thanks Ben!), in this episode we tackle a case which has really become THE case that people bring up when discussing how litigious American people are.  We've all heard the story of the woman who spilled McDonald's hot coffee on herself and sued the company for millions. But as you'll see, the...

Hello Loyal Listeners, In Summation returns with a thorough explanation of one of the most truly absurd cases to take place in recent memory.  Rapper/Hip Hop artist Young Thug burst into the music industry around 2013 and quickly became one of the most fresh and innovate voices in the genre.  He did several collaborations with world famous talent and his star was rising.  After his first studio al...

At this point, it's become difficult to keep track of all the different places that former (and possibly future) President Donald Trump has been indicted.  To recap: he has been indicted in New York County by District Attorney Alvin Bragg.  That case has already gone to trial and he was convicted of nearly three dozen counts of falsifying business records in an attempt to cover up another cri...

Hello everyone, I've missed you. Due to a confluence of factors which I won't waste time or energy going into here, we had a slightly longer hiatus than I expected, but we are back and I expect the content to be a little more regular going forward. This episode is meaningful for a number of reasons.  First, I bring on my law partner, Bob Gottlieb of Robert C. Gottlieb and Associates, to...

Welcome Back Listeners! In this episode of In Summation, Paul discusses a horror movie turned real life.  Inspired by the 1996 horror classic, Scream, Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik donned ghostface masks, black robes, and hunting knives to murder their high school classmate and friend, Cassie Jo Stoddart.  Not only did they stab her 30 times while she was alone, house sitting for relatives, but t...

Remember Full House?  Remember how wholesome and family-friendly it was?  Remember Aunt Becky?  She was married to Uncle Jesse.  She was part of that wave of television which instilled good family values and strong moral character while still being funny and entertaining...life before the OC. But despite Lori Loughlin's fairly robust acting career, she found herself on the wrong side of the l...

The 1990's were filled with high profile criminal trials for some of the most famous entertainers in the world.  Michael Jackson and OJ Simpson headlined a list of extremely public trials, mostly centered in California. One case which seems to be getting lost amidst this glut of criminal prosecutions is the murder charge brought against a young up-and-coming gangster rap artist named Calvin B...

Hello again friends and family, Bucking a recent trend of recent cases, today we head back roughly 140 years to Chicago in the 1880s.  This is another case where a person or group's personal ideology was put on trial instead of the men and their individual actions themselves.  It's a cautionary tale on what our justice system could become if we aren't vigilant in preventing it.   Ch...

Greetings friends of In Summation - The Final Word. Today's episode explores the unusual trial of Jamell Demons, aka YNW Melly, who was charged with the double murder of his close friends in what prosecutors claimed was staged to look like a drive-by shooting. This case has it all: gang members, rap stars, lyrics about murder, unusual crime scene forensics, GPS location evidence, petty thin-s...

Welcome back one and all.  In this installment of In Summation - The Final Word, Paul breaks down one of the elements of the 6th Amendment confrontation clause.  Generally speaking, a criminal defendant has the right to confront an accuser, or someone producing evidence or testimony against them.  This is the basis for the rule against using hearsay at trials. In our case today, Mark Jensen was ac...

Greetings and welcome back to In Summation - The Final Word.  In this episode, Paul explores one of the select carve outs to the 1st Amendment's guarantee to free speech.  With several very high profile cases on this topic in the last few years, it felt worthwhile for Paul to go through what defamation is, how it works, and why this particular brand of speech can be regulated. To really explo...

The long hiatus is over.  Paul's trial in upstate New York is over and there are many cases to discuss on the horizon.  For the grand return after an exhausting and stressful fight over a murder case, Paul is back discussing the two seminal cases on one of American culture's biggest lightning rods.  We're going to discuss the arguments for and against a constitutional right to an ab...

Greetings one and all!  Thank you so much to the fans and supporters of this fine program as we hit the milestone 50th episode.  Paul cannot thank you enough for the comments, the engagement, and the interest.  It keeps him going. This episode is special to Paul.  He wanted to do something a little more robust for the occasion.  Here, we are going to be examining a truly remarkable trial.  It&apos...

This episode needs very little introduction.  The trial of Alex Murdaugh in the South Carolina Lowcountry was a national phenomenon.  All major news outlets covered the story and the trial.   Alex Murdaugh came from an incredibly prestigious legal family in South Carolina.  His father's family had held solicitor (prosecutor) positions in their judicial circuit court for 87 years.  He inherite...

What is "fraud?"  How does it work?  What are the recourses of someone who has been defrauded?  Is fraud always criminal? In today's episode, Paul dives into healthcare fraud.  Philip Esformes set up an elaborate scheme which triggered federal agencies like Medicare and Medicaid to pay his companies, and so, him, vast amounts of money.  But the money wasn't actually going to tr...