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Murdaugh She Wrote
FEATURED
May 21, 2026
Murdaugh She Wrote
By: James Trusty
As the information regarding Alex Murdaugh’s conniving, murderous ways began to spread far beyond the Lowcountry of South Carolina and into the cable and social media airwaves, a curious and ominous thing took root. The temptation of star power and riches slumped stealthily behind the public face of the proceedings, causing a low-level bureaucrat to destroy the notion of an impartial jury in one of the country’s more conspicuous trials. High profile trials will always be a big part of American culture. Many of us follow each “trial of the century” with rapt attention. I feel antiquated mentioning the OJ Simpson trial—it now feels like a case that I have to pull out of a dusty World Book Encyclopedia to…
SPLC’s Informant Program – is Dangerously Unwise the Same as Unlawful?
May 11, 2026
SPLC’s Informant Program – is Dangerously Unwise the Same as Unlawful?
By: Lauren Scribner
THE INDICTMENT On April 21, 2026, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit civil rights organization that works to “create a multiracial democracy” by “fight[ing] white supremacy and various forms of injustice”[1] was charged in an 11-count indictment[2] in the Middle District of Alabama. The indictment alleges that the SPLC operated “a covert network of informants who were either associated with violent extremist groups…
Overrun and Overreach: the New Challenge to Grand Jury Subpoenas
March 26, 2026
Overrun and Overreach: the New Challenge to Grand Jury Subpoenas
By: James Trusty
Most criminal law practitioners are quite familiar with clients receiving grand jury subpoenas. There are rituals we go through to figure out whether it’s a “friendly” subpoena, i.e. just trying to get business records from the client to be used against some other target, or whether it’s the visible start of a potential criminal prosecution against the client. Because the legal standard to justify issuing…
More than a Mantra: Pitfalls of Excluding Time under Speedy Trial Analysis
July 1, 2022
More than a Mantra: Pitfalls of Excluding Time under Speedy Trial Analysis
By: James Trusty
This week the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stinging reminder about the need for precision in the case of U.S. v. Pikus, No. 20-3080 (2d Cir. 2022). Aleksander Pikus was one of four defendants charged with money laundering conspiracy and related offenses for bilking Medicare and Medicaid through false billings. The scheme featured unnecessary ambulance rides to a Brooklyn medical clinic apparently run…
Michigan’s High Profile Boomerang
April 21, 2022
Michigan’s High Profile Boomerang
By: James Trusty
About one month before the 2020 election, the Department of Justice proudly announced their disruption of a scheme to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Six men were arrested and referred to as “violent extremists.” Gov. Whitmer’s surrogates indicated that the blame was not fully on the gnarly bearded men whose pictures dominated newscasts around the country, but on Donald Trump, who had whipped up crowds…
Modern Day Ceasar Faces Brutal End
August 23, 2021
Modern Day Ceasar Faces Brutal End
By: James Trusty
Last week’s Second Circuit Court of Appeals opinion in U.S. v. Sinmayah Ceasar, 2021 WL 3640387 (2nd Cir. Aug. 18, 2021) provides some insight into the challenging area of defining a “reasonable” sentence and ascertaining the circumstances when appellate courts might overturn a judge’s sentencing decision for being “unreasonably” lenient. The case against Ceasar was not built in a day. The government obtained evidence that…
Time to Face the (Hidden) Music
August 2, 2021
Time to Face the (Hidden) Music
By: James Trusty
A Texas man named Guy Reffitt has found himself at the edge of the new legal frontier, a place where privacy rights and encrypted technology face aggressive prosecutors willing to push for their strongest criminal case. This Guy did not bring a lot of sympathy to the legal battle—he is alleged to have traveled from Wylie, Texas to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, with…
Of Permits, Preliminary Injunctions, and Pine Beetles
June 29, 2021
Of Permits, Preliminary Injunctions, and Pine Beetles
By: James Trusty
Last Independence Day, there was a big firework show at Mt. Rushmore, the first one since 2009. President Trump joined Governor Kristi Noem, and the show was well-attended by South Dakotans and tourists alike. Governor Noem liked it so much that she put in for a permit this year, only to be rejected by the National Park Service. That’s when the real fireworks began. The…
