Excited mature businessman wearing a VR headset and experiencing virtual reality in his office

Virtual Reality Creating Jury Reality

Virtual Reality Creating Jury Reality

January 7, 2025

Virtual Reality Creating Jury Reality

By: James Trusty

A Florida Judge may have unwittingly ushered in a new age of criminal justice, where slickly made virtual reality (“VR”) presentations turn judges and jurors into witnesses, and VR headsets provide subjective “testimony” in a powerful and difficult to challenge manner. Broward County Judge Andrew Siegel agreed to don a virtual reality headset in a preliminary proceeding[1] where the defendant was accused of aggravated assault. Miguel Albisu, the defendant, was accused of waving a gun at wedding guests and he claims self-defense. The defense hired an artist to create a “defendant’s perspective,” and the result is a historical first—the judge took in a defense expert’s testimony about self-defense that included a guided tour of the reality contained on a VR…

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How Thick is the Blanket? – Preemptive Pardons as a Presidential Power

December 6, 2024

How Thick is the Blanket? – Preemptive Pardons as a Presidential Power

By: James Trusty

As the presiding judge scolded Hunter Biden’s attorneys this week, “The Constitution provides the President with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 1, but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history.”[1]  But what exactly is that history he claims is being re-written? Judge Scarsi was challenging…

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Supremely Improbable

July 30, 2024

Supremely Improbable

By: James Trusty

President Biden’s pronounced objectives for Supreme Court “reform” are improbable, politically lifeless under a particularly lame duck presidency, and motivated by transparently November-driven calculations. But even if the proposed changes are doomed from the start, they push public discourse on a couple of issues that are red meat for the democrats. The stated reforms are superficially simple ones: 1) to “clarify” that “there is no…

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Good-Faith Rule Applies to Document Destruction

June 20, 2011

Good-Faith Rule Applies to Document Destruction

By: Ifrah Law

Big cases can turn on a little rule of evidence called spoliation. The rule recognizes that a trial court has the inherent authority to sanction a party for destroying, altering, or failing to preserve property that the opponent could have used as evidence. A recent decision in the Eastern District of Virginia serves as a reminder that a judge’s decision to award sanctions — and…

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Disqualification of AUSA in Scruggs Case Is Message to Prosecutors

June 13, 2011

Disqualification of AUSA in Scruggs Case Is Message to Prosecutors

By: Ifrah Law

The botched prosecution of Senator Ted Stevens was a wake-up call of sorts for the U.S. Department of Justice that there would be severe consequences for prosecutors who did not comply with obligations under Brady and related cases. The Department took another hit recently when a federal judge removed an Assistant United States Attorney from the case against the son of disgraced anti-tobacco attorney Richard…

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Perjury, Obstruction, and Barry Bonds’ Conviction

June 6, 2011

Perjury, Obstruction, and Barry Bonds’ Conviction

By: Ifrah Law

Last month, an article in the National Law Journal asked a question that has been on the minds of many: “Did Barry Bonds really obstruct justice?” In April a jury convicted baseball legend Barry Bonds on one count of obstruction of justice based on the testimony he provided before a federal grand jury investigating the use of illegal steroids in professional sports. The jury, however,…

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Black Friday Chills Legislative Momentum in Nevada and Elsewhere

May 25, 2011

Black Friday Chills Legislative Momentum in Nevada and Elsewhere

By: Ifrah Law

Just a couple of months ago, there was considerable optimism after the introduction of an interactive-gaming bill in the Nevada legislature that that state could be the first to legalize online poker. However, in the wake of last month’s “Black Friday” indictments, it now appears that the optimism was premature. The state legislature is clearly waiting for the issue of online gaming to be resolved…

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Federal Indictment in Maryland Reflects Continuing Crackdown on Gaming

May 24, 2011

Federal Indictment in Maryland Reflects Continuing Crackdown on Gaming

By: Ifrah Law

The U.S. Department of Justice is continuing its crackdown on the online gaming industry. On May 23, 2011, the U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland unsealed an indictment that charged several poker and gambling sites with illegal gambling and money laundering. Those indicted were ThrillX Systems, Ltd., d/b/a BetEd; Darren Wright; and David Parchomchuk, both of British Columbia, Canada, as well as K23 Group Financial…

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Articles and Presentations by Our Firm Attorneys

Virtual Reality Creating Jury Reality

Virtual Reality Creating Jury Reality
By: James Trusty

How Thick is the Blanket? – Preemptive Pardons as a Presidential Power

How Thick is the Blanket? – Preemptive Pardons as a Presidential Power
By: James Trusty

Supremely Improbable

Supremely Improbable
By: James Trusty

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