Recurring Issues - Installment 1:

Lawyers often ask me, "What issues do you see trial attorneys missing the most during their trials?"  It seems that lately, I am evaluating several cases which contain many of the same issues repeatedly overlooked by defense counsel.  In the next few installments, I will identify some of these:

"Hearsay" - These are statements uttered outside of the courtroom by someone who is not on the witness stand.  They are offered into evidence to prove something critical to the ongoing trial, i.e., "the statement is being offered for the truth of the matter asserted."  An example would be in a car accident trial, when a police officer testifies that a bystander on the sidewalk remarked that the defendant was the one who ran the red light, causing the collision.  The bystander's remark, as relayed to the jury by the officer, is "hearsay" because the bystander is not the one testifying, and the statement wasn't made in court when it was uttered.  (The rules pertaining to hearsay are much more complicated and varied.  My only point here is that hearsay statements seem rampant in trial transcripts I'm evaluating in appellate and post-conviction litigation, and lawyers are not objecting to them properly.)

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Jonathan Laurans wants you to be educated as to what you may be facing.  If you or a loved one has been convicted of a crime in Missouri, Kansas or Texas, or in any federal court, contact him immediately.  Visit his website at www.kansascitymoattorney.com and then call him at (816) 421-5200 for a FREE initial legal consultation.