This kid says he mistook a woman for a bear when she shot her as she was hiking. What a load of crap!

Want to bet what his excuse will be next time he shoots somebody?

Young hunter who killed hiker gets 30 days - Crime & courts- msnbc.com: "MOUNT VERNON, Washington - A teenage hunter who shot and killed a hiker he mistook for a bear has been sentenced to 30 days in juvenile detention and 120 hours of community service.

Tyler J. Kales, then 14, was hunting with his older brother in August when he shot 54-year-old Pamela Almli of Oso, who was trekking on the popular Sauk mountain hiking trail north of Seattle.

Kales, who has since turned 15, apologized to the victim's family at Friday's sentencing and said he hoped they could forgive him."

This case sends the wrong message, and that is coming from a criminal defense lawyer.

Welcome to criminallawyers.org. This blog is devoted to discussions about all kinds of issues in criminal law. Mostly we will follow criminal law news and comment on current events, trends and developments in criminal law, procedure and jurisprudence.

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The more the public is educated about criminal law and the justice system, the better able criminal defense lawyers and prosecutors will be to do their jobs. There is nothing worse in this system than a player, be it a judge, prosecutor, defense lawyer or juror, who does not understand his or her role.

We intend to do our small part in helping to lift the fog of ignorance that has enveloped much of the nation's population about important constitutional rights.

We intend to have "mini lessons" on criminal law and procedure. We are probably being overly ambitious when we say we will do them every day, but we hope to get at least two or three good tidbits out each week.

If you know of a good criminal law story, please let us know so that we can follow it.

It appears that there will be some serious prison time handed out defense corruption cases. Many believe we are only scratching the surface of what went on during the Bush years.

Military Officials Plead Guilty to Felony Charges Over Afghanistan Defense Contracts: "'Today’s announcement makes it perfectly clear that such activity by anyone affiliated with the U.S. Army, in or out of uniform, will not be tolerated. We will continue to investigate allegations of this nature and do everything in our power to see that persons responsible are held accountable and brought to justice,' said Brigadier General Rodney Johnson, the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command.

The individuals face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for the mail fraud conspiracy charge, and up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each of the bribery conspiracy counts. The maximum fine for these offenses may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum. The individuals also face up to 15 years in prison and fines up to three times the amount or value of the bribe for each of the bribery counts. Each corporate defendant faces a maximum fine of up to $500,000 on each charged offense.

This case is part of an ongoing investigation being prosecuted by the Antitrust Division’s National Criminal Enforcement Section (NCES), with assistance from the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs. The investigation of this case is being conducted by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (Army CID), and Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Additional assistance was provided by Customs and Border Protection, Field Operations in Chicago; and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division."

It will be interesting to see how far these criminal investigations go beyond the cases mentioned in the excerpt above.