It is with sadness and understanding that I must inform you that TCDLA’s beloved Michael Mowla has resigned his post as SDR contributor and editor after three years of contributions. I originally tapped him for the job knowing that he would raise the level of the Voice. We all know Michael has been and continues to be tireless in his efforts to help us all be a little smarter legally. He was happy to help, answer questions, and point us all in the right direction. He provided stellar (and comical) SDRs. We are grateful for his service.
Please join me in welcoming our new SDR contributor and editor, Kyle Therrian. Kyle has been extremely active – especially lately – in TCDLA. He has been a part of COVID-19 Response Task Force, Amicus, Memo Bank, Strike Force, and Nominations committees and TCDLEI Board. Like me, he must not sleep much. I was thrilled he agreed to step into this very formidable role. You will find the SDR remains very readable and very insightful. Kyle is more than capable of keeping us up to speed on significant decisions.
You will find this edition of the Voice dense with valuable insight and information as we begin to return to “normalish.” There are none better to have tested out the new frontier of Zoom trials than Jennifer Lapinski, Robert Hirschhorn, and Lisa Blue. They participated in the first two Zoom trials from jury selection through verdict. Should there be any tendency to proceed with a Zoom jury trial, this article should cause us all to put on the brakes, and to resist any effort to be put to trial via Zoom or any other electronic means. There is absolutely no benefit that will come to our client with a Zoom trial.
Ed McClees explains the difficult concept of “combinations” as related to engaging in organized criminal activity (EOCA) cases in his article “When it Takes More than Two to Tango.” We all know EOCA can be really tough, but Mr. McClees helps simplify the complexity of one of the main issues in these cases. He also reminds us to be sure to check that the predicate offense alleged in the indictment is one of the enumerated offenses listed in the statute since not every criminal offense is a qualifying predicate offense for EOCA.
Dr. John Fabian, in part one of a two-part article, provides a richly sourced article that suggests our military clients, precisely because of their traumatic experiences serving in the military, may be more predisposed to commit certain violent acts. While these experiences may not be exculpatory in most cases, it is most certainly mitigating in every single case, and now thanks to Dr. Fabian, there is supporting literature on the very topic. Let’s always be sure to fully explore the backgrounds of all of our clients, especially those who have given of themselves at one time in service to us.
Finally, my deepest appreciation and thanks to assistant editors Jeep Darnell and Clay Steadman – especially during this time – for all their work in helping edit the Voice and bring you the best product possible. As always, please let us know if you have any feedback – good, bad, or otherwise – to help improve the quality of the Voice for all our readers.
Be sure to vote, love your families, stay safe, and be well.
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
And let’s all be sure to vote and encourage others to, as well.
