What Every Professional Needs to Know About Criminal Law
1. Assume that everything is discoverable. In other words, every email, text message, website, phone call, and credit card swipe leaves a digital footprint. The government can and will get all of it. Yes, you have some wonderful Fourth Amendment protections that pertain to probable cause and warrants that may save your hide when it comes down to it, but it’s not like the old days. It’s all out there. 2. Assume that if you talk, you’re going to incriminate yourself. Remember: You have the right to remain silent. Use it. I know you want to be polite and cooperate. You should always, always be polite. You should never, ever cooperate. Everything you say to law enforcement is being recorded. You don’t win nice guy points for trying to be honest with them. You don’t need to be honest. You need to be silent. I know you want to explain yourself because it’s “not like that.” You’re probably right. But this isn’t the right time or place. There are no exceptions to this rule. 3. Assume the police want to help you but can’t. Who can help you? Your lawyer. And potentially your lawyer working with the prosecutor. Or occasionally, your lawyer working with the police. Police are generally good people, but remember that hammer and nail thing? They can’t help you, not because they don’t want to, but because their job is to investigate crime, not prosecute it.
Our guest writer this month is Nate Amendola, criminal law attorney in Norwell, MA. It can happen to you. I’ve represented doctors, lawyers, financiers, entrepreneurs, people who party, and those who don’t. And everything in between. All that’s required to be charged with a crime is probable cause, a standard that as my friend says, is “lower than whale $hit at the bottom of the ocean.” Abide by the obvious precautions: Don’t drink and drive, don’t abuse your spouse, don’t look at things on the internet you’re not supposed to, pay your taxes, and follow the rules. But, in life, it’s not always that clear. Or more to the point, things aren’t black and white. Life is gray. Can you consume any amount of alcohol or drugs and drive? Don’t I have a right to defend myself or my children? The act was consensual, so now it’s my word against hers? I have a brilliant accountant and she found this tax loophole; how am I being charged for this? That’s considered bribery?! Not everyone who’s charged with a crime is a criminal. It may seem that way on TV, but it doesn’t work like that out here in the jungle. Asking the police and authorities not to investigate and prosecute crime is like asking a hammer not to strike a nail. It’s not going to happen. It’s in their nature. You’re a professional and there are 10 things you must know and understand now that you’re playing in the majors.
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Chaotic Celebrity Probate Battles Hold Lessons for All BIGGER STARS, BIGGER MESSES
While living celebrities claim an outsized share of our attention, many keep grabbing headlines long after they die. Among crazy celebrity probate cases, few have made a bigger mess than celebrated entrepreneur Tony Hsieh.
In November 2020, after 20 years of leading the high-flying retailer Zappos, Hsieh died alone without a will at age 46 from injuries caused by a fire he set himself, leaving a $500 million estate. He had jotted many of his final wishes only on sticky notes, so his family and friends are still battling in court. After the artist formerly known as Prince died in 2016, no fewer than 700 people claimed to be his descendants. Without a will or named executor, the artist’s estate remained unsettled for years as lawyers, bankers, advisers, and heirs haggled over it. It took DNA testing to clear the fog, qualifying his sister and five half-siblings as his rightful heirs. Relatives of the beloved comedian Robin Williams mounted a long and bitter legal fight over his estate, estimated at more than $100 million. His widow, Susan Schneider Williams, claimed Williams intended to leave
her an allowance so she could remain in the couple’s home. However, his three children eventually inherited the home, and the widow agreed to a settlement in 2015. Even murkier is the case of Gary Coleman, star of the TV series “Diff’rent Strokes.” Coleman died at age 42 after a fall in his home left him in a coma with a brain hemorrhage. Coleman and his ex-wife, Shannon Price, divorced in 2008, and the actor left his estate to Anna Gray, his personal assistant and former girlfriend, in a 2005 will. Price claimed Coleman created a 2007 codicil that left his assets to her, so the battle dragged on for years. The lesson here? The bigger they are, the harder they fall? Perhaps. But there is also real wisdom to be gained: Don’t do as these celebrities did. Seek professional help with estate planning — long after you’re gone, your loved ones will thank you for it.
Photo: Eva Rinaldi
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