In 2014, Missouri voters amended the Bill of Rights of in the Missouri State Constitution, specifically Article I, Section 23, to read as follows (amended language in bold): That the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms, ammunition, and accessories typical to the normal function of such arms, in defense of his home,…

Three decisions handed down August 18, 2015, by the Missouri Supreme Court clarified the status of red light camera ordinances in the state. While the Court did not rule on the legality of the red light cameras themselves, it found fault with the municipal ordinances that were an issue. It may be that cities can…

Police officers sometimes make traffic stops outside of their jurisdiction. In that situation, clients ask if the officer can still give them a traffic ticket outside their jurisdiction or be charged with some other criminal offense like DWI? The short answer is, yes, under certain circumstances. Like any legal situation, the answer depends on several…

We all know the feeling. You look in your rear view mirror and see flashing lights. You look down and realize that you are going faster than the posted speed limit. You pull over to the side of the road and get ready to hand over your drivers license and proof of insurance to the…

Poplar Bluff police officers began wearing body cameras January 1, 2015, in the wake of public outrage over the police killings of Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The hope is that requiring police body cameras may prevent or provide proof of the behavior of bad officers while protecting those…

We routinely receive phone calls from potential clients wanting to have their criminal records expunged. Missouri’s criminal expungement laws are fairly limited. Section 610.140 RSMo., allows for the expungement of very few felony and misdemeanor criminal records. The felonies must be over twenty years old and misdemeanors ten years old with no other criminal offenses…

Most of the new laws passed by the Missouri legislature and approved by Governor Nixon, will go into effect on August 28, 2014. As personal injury and criminal defense lawyers, new laws are not something that we normally get excited about. New laws in these areas often make it harder for an individual to have…

The United States Supreme Court unanimously decided that digital privacy is important and that police generally cannot search your cell phone without a warrant. The majority opinion in Riley vs. California, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, noted that cell phones “are now such a pervasive and insistent part of daily life that the proverbial…