Legally Unfiltered

GUNS, GUNS, GUNS! The United States certainly has a love/hate relationship with firearms. In the wake of recent mass shootings, many states are enacting laws intended to protect their populations, but some of these laws could potentially violate constitutional protected rights beyond the Second Amendment. Meanwhile, another state is actually considering a law that would require certain people to o...

Jussie, Jussie, Jussie... Will your problems ever go away? Now that the State has dropped the charges against Mr. Smollett, the city of Chicago wants him to pay over $130,000 as restitution for their investigation costs, the feds may be interested in investigating him for other charges, and some of his Hollywood counterparts seem to be on the fence about whether they support him or not. Attorneys...

It's 3:00 am. You wake to the sound of your front door being kicked open by an intruder. What can you do to defend yourself and your family? What does the term "Stand Your Ground" really mean, from the legal sense? Your attorney hosts, Franz N. Borghardt and Richard Sprinkle examine "Stand Your Ground" laws, also known as the "Castle Doctrine" in this week's episode of Legally Unfiltered.

What do Paul Manafort, Jussie Smollett and R. Kelly all have in common? They made it onto Legally Unfiltered! We all know that celebrities supposedly die in threes, but sometimes they get in trouble in threes too! On this star-studded episode of Legally Unfiltered we look at the first round of the Paul Manafort sentencing, then we discuss the charges faced by Jussee Smollett, and finally we round...

We all have free will, so can one person be guilty of killing another through mere suggestion? Can one person be said to be culpable for the death of another who committed suicide? The courts have weighed in on this and now our hosts will give their take on two different stories of people who encouraged other parties to take their own lives in this all new episode of Legally Unfiltered.

You Can't Lie To Cops, But They CAN Lie to You! by Sprinkle Law Firm & Borghardt Law Firm

The courtroom is intended to be a fair battlefield. Both sides are supposed to have an equal chance at proving their claims. Both sides get to present their case, call and question witnesses, and make their arguments. But what if one side is cheating? What if one side is spying on the other? We don't have to ask what if, all we have to do is look at what happened in one courtroom where the Sheriff...

With more and more blackface scandals surfacing every day, how should we react when we find out our own police department has used blackface in the line of duty? What if it happened as recently as the 1990's? Attorneys Franz Borghardt and Richard Sprinkle discuss the recent Baton Rouge Police Department blackface scandal in this all new episode of Legally Unfiltered.

When the big national push for a crackdown on drinking and driving began, most states adopted a .10 blood alcohol limit as the standard. If you were stopped and your blood read a higher number, you could likely be charged and convicted with DUI. Later, many states tried to further curb alcohol related accidents by lowering the standard to .08 BAC in hopes that drivers who do drink would consume le...

Picture this: You're arrested and you can't afford an attorney. The Judge appoints a lawyer for you. There is a catch though; your appointed lawyer has never handled a criminal case. Sound crazy? Believe it or not this is actually happening in one Louisiana jurisdiction, and it could happen anywhere. Check out this episode of Legally Unfiltered to hear our host attorneys Franz and Richard discuss...

Everyone has heard at least one Lawyer joke in their lifetime. Most of us have seen a movie or television show centered some legal issue. Guess what? Lawyers like these movies too... The American Bar Association likes them so much they compiled a list of their favorites? Today, Franz and Rich talk about their most and least favorite legal films. What do they love? What do they hate? What movies sh...

"Get a Good Job with Full Pay and You're OK." When Roger Waters penned that line from the classic Pink Floyd song "Money," I'm pretty sure he would have never envisioned a United States Government shutdown that has lasted as long as the one happening right now in 2019. Our federal spending system is currently on hold because of the two parties being entrenched in their arguments. Regardless of whe...

Lawsuits; can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Tort Reform is back on the table in many areas around the country, as the insurance and business lobbyists try to curb large judgments in tort suits. Many claim that most lawsuits are just frivolous and waste the court's time. But what really is a "frivolous" law suit? How can we tell if a claimant is going too far? Do we as a country need tor...

Many people wonder how a criminal defense lawyer can represent a defendant when he or she knows that person is guilty. Most attorneys in the field get asked that question a lot, and our hosts are no exceptions. Listen in to this week's episode of Legally Unfiltered to find out how Franz & Richard feel about defending guilty parties and what that means for the rest of us. Follow, like, share and co...

Franz and Rich are back with special guest Charles Watson for the second half of our special episode devoted to the scientific side of criminal justice. In this episode, firearms identification expert Charles Watson takes on common misconceptions related to firearms and firearms identification. What can an analyst tell from spent casings? What can they tell from an actual weapon found at a crime s...

We've all seen CSI type shows where scientists rebuild everything about a crime and a defendant from a single footprint, but does art really imitate life? Do actual crime labs really have the ability to do the things we see on television night after night? Franz and Rich were curious so they brought in Forensic Scientist and Firearms Expert Charles Watson Jr (yeah, he really is the guy from that T...

Imagine sitting down, opening up your laptop to jump on wifi, and seeing a network with a very offensive name. What would you do? Did the owner of this network violate the law, or are they protected by it? Attorneys Franz Borghardt and Richard Sprinkle tackle this tough question in this episode of Legally Unfiltered.

Artificial Intelligence is used in many industries and whether you realize it or not, A.I. controls many aspects of the word we all live in. This technology is already being used in legal research and in civil trials, but what happens when computers make decisions in criminal cases? How much influence can AI have in a criminal trial without infringing on a defendant's constitutional rights? Attorn...

Defendants often face the possibility of stiffer penalties at trial than they would if they were to plead guilty. The Sixth Amendment grants everyone the right to a trial but if exercising that right becomes so risky that defendants don't want to try their cases, are they being denied this right all together? Or are they just being coerced into an agreement with "good" plea offers? In this episode...

Think before you send that text... A lawyer quits on his client and texts a nasty jab that lands the attorney in some hot water with his State's Supreme Court. Naturally there is another side to this story, but you'll have to check out this episode of Legally Unfiltered to hear it. Attorneys Franz N. Borghardt and Richard Sprinkle take a look at client communications gone horribly wrong.

Many people believe that police should use body cameras at all times. Is there a downside to their use? Body cameras can be great tools, but what happens when the footage is stored in databases that can be accessed from the cloud? What happens when those cameras are never turned off? Exactly what are they recording? Were you filmed while your were out in public? Who has access to this footage? Att...

President Trump has his sights set on eliminating the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program implemented by President George W. Bush in 2007. This program was put in place to encourage people to work in government agencies, as first responders, in the Military, and in other public service roles. What happens to those who chose to go to college or graduate school while relying on this program as a...

Did you know that it is possible to be convicted of a felony and spend the rest of your life in prison at hard labor even if the State has not proven its case beyond reasonable doubt? Two States in the Union currently allow felony convictions without a unanimous jury decision. Do you live in one of them? Franz Borghardt and Richard Sprinkle discuss this little known topic in this week's episode of...

With all of the publicity over removal of Confederate monuments, does their presence at local courthouses create a bar to equal justice? Attorneys Franz Borghardt and Richard Sprinkle discuss a case where a statue depicting a Civil War combatant in front of the court could create issues for both sides. Check it out in this episode of Legally Unfiltered.

As a rule, jails and prisons monitor inmate telephone conversations. But what if an inmate needs to speak to his attorney over the phone? What happens to attorney client privilege? Will the jail (the state)share privileged information with the prosecution (also, the state)? Can an accused be assured of effective assistance of counsel if their lawyer cannot assure the client that their discussions...