Military’s Highest Court Denies Government Request on Convicted War Criminal

The military’s highest court has denied a government request to reconsider the overturned murder conviction of a Marine who has served more than half his 11-year sentence in one of the Iraq war’s biggest war crime cases.

Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, III, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, will be released from a brig at a California Marine base soon, and his military defense attorney is pleased with military appeals court’s decision.

In June 2013, the military appeals court found Hutchins’ rights were violated when he was held in solitary confinement and interrogated without access to an attorney for seven days.

To read more about the victory for Sgt. Hutchins and his attorney, click on the following link:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/18/military-appeals-court-wont-reconsider-overturned-conviction-ma…

If you need criminal defense in civilian or military court, call the Law Offices of John L. Calcagni, III, at 401-531-5100 for a free consultation to learn about your options.

A former prosecutor with the U.S. Army JAG Corps and a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, John Calcagni is experienced in the prosecution and defense of all types of criminal cases and provides defense for those accused of federal and or crimes.

As a Military Defense Attorney, John Calcagni, is admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and the U.S. Army Court of Criminal

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Please call (401) 351-5100 to arrange for a free consultation about your case or visit our website at www,CalcagniLaw.com

If you cannot make it to one of our offices, we will to come to your home or detention center.

Criminal Defense Attorney Client Testimonial

If you have been charged with a crime in RI, contact Criminal Defense Attorney John L. Calcagni at (401) 351-5100 for a free consultation.

“This testimony is to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. John Calcagni for his excellent work, his honesty and all the effort that he dedicated to my case.  From the beginning, he always sought out the most effective way to reunite me with my family as quickly as possible, something which he succeeded in doing. I always noticed that he would put himself in my situation and understood perfectly my pain and desperation; as a lawyer, he is excellent and as a person, I have not met many like him in my life.  After all the experiences which I had with him, and I know how painful it is to be incarcerated, I strongly recommended him and will continue doing so since he is someone who is totally honest, intelligent and someone who works diligently for the sake of his clients and their families. I am extremely grateful to him as a friend and as a client for all his effort, understanding and good will. From the bottom of my heart, many thanks.” - DM

Understanding A Manslaughter Charge

 

In most states, manslaughter is distinctly defined as the unlawful killing of another human being with no implied intention to do harm, and lacks premeditation malice or an intent to kill. Manslaughter is not considered a lesser degree of murder, however it does yield less severe legal consequences, and lacks intent, or the aforementioned malice. There are many ways in which manslaughter occurs such as drunk driving, texting while driving, and various other careless acts that result in a human fatality (Involuntary Manslaughter).

Voluntary Manslaughter

Voluntary Manslaughter is less common than manslaughter, and refers to the intentional killing of another human being based on what the United States government considers "reasonable circumstances", which mitigate, but do not excuse the crime. Most references to Voluntary Manslaughter include the term "self defense" which basically means killing another human being as a last resort in an attempt to prevent them from harming you. Most states are reasonably lenient in regard to those facing a voluntary manslaughter charge provided an individual can provide enough evidence to justify the act.

Involuntary Manslaughter

Involuntary Manslaughter is often behind the bulk of fatal auto accident statistics and usually includes DUI's, deaths as a result of illegal substances combined with heavy machinery, texting while driving, or careless and intoxicated use of firearms. Contrary to popular belief, the use of intoxicating substances are not required to be charged with Involuntary manslaughter, and instead emphasizes on a state of carelessness as the key factor.

Criminally Negligent Manslaughter

Although very similar to Involuntary Manslaughter, Criminally Negligent Manslaughter is essentially a homicide which has resulted from a failure to act in a situation where an individual had the ability to prevent it. This could be as simple as preventing a child abuse death when the abuse occurred before someone who failed to intervene, or report it. Another example might be a failure to perform ones duty, such as a police officer or a fire fighter intentionally failing to respond to a distress call.

Have you been charged with Manslaughter?

There are many other forms of manslaughter, and it is very possible that poor circumstances, genuine mistakes, and even wrongful accusations can cause anyone, anywhere to be faced with them. If you or a loved one has recently been arrested for manslaughter and are facing charges in the state of Rhode Island an experienced criminal defense attorney immediately.

Destruction of Property Case Results

If you have been charged with a criminal offense in Rhode Island or MA, contact Criminal Defense Attorney John L. Calcagni now at (401) 351-5100 for a free consultation or more information.

Destruction of Property Charges: Dismissed Twice.  Police charged an Auto Zone employee, who was attacked by a customer, for maliciously destroying store property that he accidentally damaged while defending himself during the attack.  The employee smartly retained the legal services of Attorney Calcagni who successfully had this case, which was filed against the man two times, completely dismissed on both occasions.

An Auto Zone employee on duty observed a female co-worker’s estranged husband enter the store while the co-worker was at the store register.  The estranged couple got into a heated verbal argument.  The Auto Zone employee intervened on his co-worker’s behalf in an attempt to quell the situation.  The estranged husband then became confrontational with the employee and pulled out a knife.  The Auto Zone employee, in an attempt to defend himself, grabbed a metal breaker bar from the store shelf in order to ward off the enraged husband.  The estranged husband then retreated from the store to his car in the parking lot.  Moments later, he then returned with a baseball bat.  The husband swung the bat at the Auto Zone employee who still had the breaker bar in his hand.  In an attempt to defend himself and his female co-worker, the employee responded by swinging the breaker bar toward to enraged husband.  In doing so, the employee accidentally broke and shattered the storefront window.  The estranged husband then swung the bat again violently, this time striking the employee several times.  These blows inflicted physical injuries upon the employee for which he later received medical treatment to include stitches.  Police were contacted and responded to the scene.  By the time of their arrival, the estranged husband had fled the store and the injured employee was at the hospital undergoing treatment.  After conducting a biased and lackluster investigation of what had transpired at the store that day, police ultimately charged both men with criminal offenses: the estranged husband with Assault and Battery and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon; and the injured Auto Zone employee with Defacing Property.

The Auto Zone employee hired the services of Attorney Calcagni.  After carefully reading the criminal complaint and supporting police report against the employee, Attorney Calcagni quickly realized that the police mischarged his client.  In response, he moved to dismiss the case.  The Court received Attorney Calcagni’s motion and granted it, thereby dismissing the case in its entirety.  Scorned with defeat, prosecutors quickly refiled charges against the employee, this time with the felony offense of Malicious Destruction of Property.  In preparation for his client’s defense, Attorney Calcagni interviewed management personnel from Auto Zone.  Managers set forth in an affidavit that their employee acted in self-defense when he broke the window.  Managers further attested that the employee had not been disciplined or sanctioned by the company for the shattered window and though the window had been repaired at the company’s expense, Auto Zone did not seek restitution or financial reimbursement from its employee who remained gainfully employed in good standing with the company.  Attorney Calcagni presented this information to prosecutors and successfully convinced them that the Auto Zone employee was the victim and not the assailant in this case.  He further convinced prosecutors that his client had been unjustly charged criminally, not once, but twice.  Attorney Calcagni then successfully negotiated for this case to be dismissed again permanently.

Arrest Warrant Client Testimonial

If you have been arrested or are facing criminal charges in RI or MA, contact John L. Calcagni at (401) 351-5100 now for a free consultation or more information.

“Attorney Calcagni honestly and truly made a difference in my life. He helped me vacate four different arrest warrants in a manner that prevented me from going to jail and closed out all of my cases with no additional punishment. I cannot explain with words the sincere gratitude that I have for the expert legal representation he provided to me. He is an awesome attorney. I will never hesitate to recommend him to anyone. It is my pleasure to pass along my great experience with him to others.” - MC

Assault and Disorderly Conduct Case Results

If you have been charged with the crime of Assault or Disorderly Conduct, contact Criminal Defense Attorney John L. Calcagni at (401) 351-5100 now for a free consultation or more information.

Simple Assault and Disorderly Conduct: Dismissed. 

Intoxicated college student was involved in a melee on campus with a group of other students.  Campus security or public safety officers arrived on scene and dispersed the crowd.  A campus security officer, attempting to investigate the assault, approached an intoxicated college student and requested the student’s identification card.  The student refused to produce his ID.  In response, the public safety officer snatched from the student’s hand his cellular phone.  The officer then offered to trade back the student’s phone for his ID. The student verbally agreed to the trade, but instead, tried to retrieve his phone without producing his ID.  A struggled ensued between the officer and student at which time the student struck the officer in the face with a closed fist and attempted to flee.  Several officers pursued the student and tackled him to the ground.  The student continued to physically struggle until he was ultimately subdued by both public safety officers and local police officers who were called to the scene.  For this series of events, the student was charged with both Simply Assault on the public safety officer and Disorderly Conduct for his fighting behavior.  The student and his family retained Attorney Calcagni to defend against these criminal charges.  Attorney Calcagni advocated on behalf of this first-time offender who was intoxicated at the time of the offense and had ambitions of enlisting into the military.  At a pretrial conference, Attorney Calcagni successfully negotiated for the dismissal of these charges.  Congratulations to this client.

Fugitive from Justice Criminal Defense Attorney Case Result

If you are charged with a criminal offense in RI or MA, contact Criminal Defense Attorney John L. Calcagni now at (401) 351-5100 for a free consultation and more information.

Fugitive from Justice for More Than Ten Years:  Surrendered and Cases Dismissed. 

A man had four separate warrants for his arrest.  The warrants each related to old cases for which the man had previously been criminally charged and released on bail, but subsequently failed to appear in Court. 

The cases dated back to 1996, 1997 (two cases) and 2002, respectively.  The man recently learned of the pending warrants and retained Attorney Calcagni to negotiate his surrender before the Court.  Attorney Calcagni notified the District Attorney’s Office and Probation Department (the man was also on probation from these old cases) of the man’s desire to self-surrender on the arrest warrants. 

The State took the position that when and if the man chose to voluntarily surrender, it would recommend to the Court that he be sentenced to six (6) months in jail as punishment for the old cases.  Attorney Calcagni advised his client of this unfavorable prospective sentencing recommendation by the State. 

Notwithstanding the possibility he could face jail time, the man still sought to surrender himself to the Court.  Upon doing so, Attorney Calcagni knew he would have to strongly and creatively advocate on the man’s behalf to resolve his cases through some disposition other than jail. 

Attorney Calcagni and his client appeared before the Court to surrender on the arrest warrants.  As a result, the warrants were vacated.  However, in order to dispose of the open cases, Attorney Calcagni successfully convinced the Court to allow his client to pay outstanding fines, assessments and restitutions on the old cases instead of going to jail. 

In support of this non-jail sentencing recommendation, Attorney Calcagni educated the Court that his client has tragically suffered a traumatic brain injury years prior, as well as a host internal injuries from a life threatening accident when he fell several stories from scaffolding while working on a construction job.  As a result, the man spent the vast majority of the past several years undergoing surgeries and other medical treatment, which caused him to forget about or otherwise lose track of his court obligations.  Attorney Calcagni also stressed his client’s integrity and commitment to justice by self-surrendering to the Court in face of the State’s representation that it would seek jail as a consequence for the client’s absence and prior charged misconduct. 

Overall, Attorney Calcagni successfully persuaded the Court, Probation Department and District Attorney’s Office to allow the man to pay his financial debts to the Court and for his cases to all be disclosed without any further punishment, to include jail.  Congratulations to this client who sought to clear his name and who hired the right attorney to steer him clear of jail or further criminal punishment.

How much does it cost to hire an attorney - Part 2

In part one of this series, I discuss the various ways that may be available to pay for legal services from an attorney. The first we discussed was contingency fee (link). Now I will move on into hourly rates.


Hourly rates are often charged by attorneys who represent large organizations such as corporations, non-profit organizations or other entities capable of affording legal services on an hourly basis. This fee structure is most commonly used in connection with corporate law, business litigation and insurance defense. Hourly rate billing is the most expensive type of fee arrangement for clients.

In this circumstance, you are billed on a monthly or quarterly basis for the time actually spent by your attorney or his agent performing work on your case during the billing period. Lawyers who charge on an hourly basis bill for everything to include, but not limited to, phone calls, copies, consultations, letters and email, research, court appearances, travel time, and any other time spent working on a case.

Before agreeing to an hourly fee structure, it is important to know what types of services are billed; how often; in what time-increments; and at what rate. Firms may charge varying rates depending upon who in the organization actually performs the billed service such as a secretary, investigator, paralegal, associate attorney or senior-level attorney. As stated above, hourly billing is most often employed by lawyers who represent corporations or wealthy clients. It is also used in connection with family law work; estate and tax planning; elder law; areas of civil law other than personal injury; and complex criminal defense cases.

Please read part three where I will discuss the final fee structure, the flat rate fee. (link)

If you are in need of quality and experienced legal representation, and you want a lawyer who is responsive to your needs; returns phone calls; is available to you anytime and anywhere; knows the law; and will fight for your rights, call Attorney John L. Calcagni III today for a free consultation. Contact us now at 401-351-5100 or jc@calcagnilaw.com.