March 2017 - Courtroom Strategy by Attorney Oscar Michelen

Criminal Law

Attempted Murder of a Mannequin? Only in Vegas!

March 14, 2017 Oscar Michelen 0

Can you be found guilty of attempted murder if the victim is a mannequin? A Nevada judge will soon have to decide this question in the case of Shane Allen Schindler. Schindler is accused of using a hammer to attack and repeatedly hit a mannequin laying under a blanket on a Las Vegas street. At […]

SCOTUS Changes Face of Criminal Trials With New Decision About Jurors and Race

March 6, 2017 Oscar Michelen 2

The Supreme Court threw open the normally tightly-sealed doors of the jury room in overturning the conviction of Miguel Pena-Rodriguez in the case of Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado. In a 5-3 decision written by Justice Kennedy, the Court ruled that a juror’s racial basis in the jury room - which was only revealed to the public […]