Yanni Law Firm

12/23/2022

I’ve only had one really good closing argument in my 12 years of law practice. In this one I encouraged the jurors to ball up the verdict form and throw it away because the State’s case was “trash.” And I got my first jury-trial acquittal. Here is the sample verdict form:

04/05/2021

See our new blog entry on the Confrontation Clause in West Virginia:

You may be familiar with the Confrontation Clause contained within the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution (and Section 14 of Article III of the West Virginia Constitution). That clause provides as follows (in part): "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall . . . be confronted....

09/15/2020

New blog entry on the Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel and the legacy of former Justice Benjamin:

As a West Virginian, you have two documents to protect you from the power of the state: the federal and state constitutions. The federal constitution sets a minimum standard of rights that the state cannot take away, but the state is free to give its citizens more rights than given by the federal co...

07/10/2019

See our first blog entry dealing with recidivist enhancements for drug offenders:

Former defense attorney, and now prosecutor, Kevin Watson turned the world of recidivist enhancements on its head when he represented Marc Kilmer. Mr. Kilmer s

07/30/2015

Home of the Yanni Law Firm

06/01/2015

http://www.yannilaw.com/criminal-law-blog/one-term-speedy-trial-right-a-myth-in-west-virginia

On the fifteenth (15) day of May, 2015, the State of West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals denied the appeal of John Hedrick. Central to John Hedrick's appeal was that while he was incarcerated by...

12/03/2013

Today I filed a Motion to Dismiss Stale Warrant with Prejudice in a West Virginia Magistrate Court.  The rule in Magistrate Court is that the State of West Virginia has one year to bring someone to...

03/27/2012

Matthew T. Yanni focuses his practice on criminal law in the State of West Virginia.