Welcome back to Come Back With A Warrant podcast. I'm Brandon Dinetz. And I'm Monica Ishak.
Before we kickstart this week's episode, this is your reminder that this podcast is not legal advice. It's real, unfiltered, and for entertainment purposes only. If you need to speak with a lawyer, call one. Or better yet, call us. Call us.
Welcome back to Come Back With A Warrant. I'm Brandon Dinetz. I'm Monica Ishak.
And today, we are gonna be talking about how internet clout can get you arrested. Yes.
And oftentimes, people post things not expecting it to be played in court as evidence against them. But oftentimes in 2025, that's what happens. Yeah.
And specifically, we're gonna look at a few different examples of some TikTokers. TikTokers, is that the— Yeah. Okay.
Uh, that have gotten themselves into some trouble, uh, that are charged currently, could be charged with more— Yeah. probably will get charged in the future.
Um, but ultimately, perfect examples of what not to be doing on TikTok because of the criminal implications. Yeah.
And, you know, there are so many— these, these are just, like, a handful that we found, but there are so many people that experience this that we've experienced.
We've had our own cases where, you know, s— we've talked about Snapchat was used, um, against our clients. So, even if you don't go viral, you know, it doesn't matter. Any sort of posting can ultimately be used against you.
So, Heston James is, uh, out of Arizona. Um, he has now been arrested for burglary, impersonation, disorderly conduct, and trespassing. Um, he's looking at some ungodly amount of time in prison for this. Yeah.
And if you're unfamiliar with this guy, he has a, uh, shtick where he goes to different stores. Um, for example, there's a video where he goes to a Target, and he shows up in a Target employee uniform, and he walks up to the manager and to the security there, and he starts telling them about how they're not doing their jobs right, and he's from corporate, and he's gonna bring in a whole group of workers to take over.
And they basically tell him to get out, or they're gonna call the police. And then he says, "Okay, guys, let's roll in." And then all of a sudden, like, 10 to 15 guys in Target T-shirts walk in the door, and he starts telling them to go to different pla— to registers and to do—
So, he has done this at, uh— and the videos are very funny. Like, he's— And they come in dressed. Yeah. Oh, these people are dressed in the full uniform-like, ready to go. It's very funny.
Um, he's done this at, uh, uh, car repair shops. He's done this, like I said— Chipotle. at a Target, at a Chipotle.
So, all of these incidents, he's put on TikTok. He's also, uh, known for going into stores, department stores, and screaming, uh, really loudly, and then when people from the store come over to him and tell him like, "Hey." "Shut up." Like, "Quiet. Get out."
Uh, he's always like, "Oh, that's not me," and then he has a buddy somewhere else in the store that's screaming and that's saying it.
So, this is not— this is very immature humor. Yeah. It's still funny and it's getting a lot of views, but it has now landed this guy in a position where he's facing decades in prison in Arizona.
To be fair— please be fair. L— y— th— I think the government, uh, has significantly, like, overcharged him, considering— You think? it's bullshit. Yeah. It's a prank. Yeah.
Um, and obviously, you know, there are, uh— Target, you can say, suffered the ability to conduct business during the time that he was doing this stuff. But to charge him with multiple felonies is ridiculous.
Well, like, the suffering, I think, would come into play more with, like, a civil case, where it's like damages and you have to prove that maybe they lost a certain amount of, like, sales due to his actions.
But when it comes to criminal, you have to show, like, a criminal intent. Right.
And specifically when you said impersonation, 'cause I haven't seen a charge like that in Florida. We looked it up for Arizona, and there needs to be an intent to defraud.
So, not only are you just dressing up as this Target worker, but you have to do it with the intent to defraud Target. Which, he wasn't trying to take their money. He was just fucking around. Right.
Like— and he— But FAFO, he's fucked around and he's now found out— Found out, yeah— that you can't do thi— do it. Yeah.
Uh, and he, I mean, he got away with it enough times, but the problem is, and that's what the whole point of this episode is: everything he did was recorded. Yeah. And then put online. Yeah.
So, he doesn't have a defense for the actual factual allegations, because they're all plain, clear. They've been seen by millions of people, um, which is good and bad.
The good side, he's got people that'll help him pay for his legal defense. Mm-hmm. And he's got people out there that can advocate for him and say, "You're being— It's being overcharged. It's ridiculous." Yeah.
Um, that's, that's good on, on the one side. Um, but on the negative, you know, you're leaving your defense attorney with not a lot in terms of factual arguments. Yeah.
Other than talking about how this is overcharged and it's bullshit for how much it's overcharged— Right. That's about the extent, because he's doing all of these things on camera and posting it. Yeah.
But years in prison, like— Ridiculous.
So, a burglary, just to break it down: a b— In order to be charged with a burglary, you need to— it's a trespass plus. So, you're not welcome into a specific area, or a business in this case, and you have the intent to commit a felony therein or a crime therein, depending on the jurisdiction you're in.
In this case— What was the intent? What, what was the intent to commit what crime in the, this situation? Like— And—and that's the question mark.
So, like— Right. yeah. Was he trespassing? Is it on video? Yeah. But the intent to commit further crimes? I don't know.
I think anybody that watches these videos would see that he's just an immature kid wanting to get famous online, or is continuing to promote his, I don't know, pranks online. Yeah. It's just, it's just silly. Like, it's just silly that the government would even waste its time on this.
But, at the same time, this also shows that oftentimes there's— this, and this is not completely related to the topic that we're discussing, but it's oftentimes in cases victims can be stores, you know?
And in this case it could be, like, Target, Chipotle or whatever. And they actually are treated as victims, you know? Like, if there is a loss and there's restitution that needs to be paid, they'll incorporate that into the plea agreement or whatever it is.
So, just because it's Chipotle or Target or, you know, a mechanic shop or whatever, they don't really care. They're still gonna treat it as a victim was injured or hurt or whatever. Yeah.
And I think, you know, the overcharging can come from thinking you have so much evidence that it's a slam dunk— Yeah— so no matter what you can charge whatever. Which I think is wrong because juries are gonna see at the end of the day— Yes— you still have to meet the elements of the crime if you're gonna convict these people of, of what they're doing.
I completely agree with you, though. I don't see the crime that he's committing therein to satisfy the burglary, which is the most serious charge that he's facing.
Um, they're gonna say the impersonation was the crime therein. I, I don't see— you know— And then you have to take that next step to, like you said, then he, you have to show that he was trying to defraud. I, I don't see it. No.
Um, I think that you have a prosecutor's office that knows this is high profile because there's a t— millions of views of these videos and has a victim, multiple businesses that they're, you know, alleging are the victims in this, in this crime.
Um, you take all of that together and you've got the overcharging. Yeah.
And I think oftentimes certain prosecuting agencies will overcharge to leverage whatever it is they need for media purposes plus, like, politics plus getting the best nego— like, to negotiate, make, you know, make the defense do their job and get the best deal for them.
But then it ultimately ends up being sometimes what they're actually should be charged with, you know? Where in— Right— you know, I don't know how this case is gonna result. It's still pending, but, you know—
This should result with probation. With a trespass. Well, yeah. But, uh, not pleading to a burglary or anything. Hell no. No, absolutely not. Mm-mm.
Uh, this, this guy should not be serving time in jail. No. He should be put on probation where his conditions are— At most. he's not allowed to go to these places. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That should be— That's it. the punishment.
Like— Like, you shouldn't be allowed to go there and that's it. I, I mean, you know—
Well, there's also— I think also Hesson James' can be compared to Put A Girl On, which is another— Okay. So that's another, that's another example of a— And that's— of a very immature prankster, but— He's actually— hilarious, again.
Uh, this is a individual that prank phone calls people and the whole point is after having a short conversation with these people, he asks them to put a girl on the phone. So stupid. That's it.
But it is repeated calls to, uh, KFC or the— Taco Bell. Church of Scientology— or Taco Bell or Jersey Mike's Subs. And what makes the videos funny is the reaction of the people on the phone. They are getting really, really annoyed.
Some of them flip out. Yeah. Some of them just lose it because this guy's been doing it a lot.
So, uh, Mr. Put A Girl On is another example of a guy who's gotten in trouble for prank phone calls and— and puts them— and puts them online. And puts them on TikTok.
So, he's another one that's giving— you know, putting himself at risk. Yes.
But I think that he's t— he can be compared to Heston James in the sense that if he were charged with, like, multiple counts of stalking, he would be found guilty of it. Like—
Okay. Why do you think so?
I don't think that would be an overcharge. Okay. Because it's incessant.
So, at least in Florida. 'Cause I know they're not in F— I don't know if he, this guy, is in Florida, actually. I don't think so.
But based off Florida law, it's 2 or more instances of, like, harassing conduct. So, there have been times where he's called like 5 times. No, there's been times when it's like 20 something times. Oh my gosh. Yeah. That's crazy. I didn't know that.
So, he definitely would have checked those boxes. Mm-hmm.
But it's interesting to hear you say you think that he would be— Yeah— found guilty if he was— Yeah.
Like what is his— what's his defense? It is harassing, and it is multiple c— instances. And now, he won't.
And on top of that, at least in Florida, you have to get consent to be recorded. So, is he getting consent to record these people and put it online? No way. Exactly. There's no way.
So, he's probably committing like so many felonies all at once, and like doesn't even know it.
Mr. Put A Girl On, if you're listening— Yeah. Stop. You need us. Yes. If you're in Florida.
Although, Monica thinks you're guilty, so maybe call her— and ask her to put a girl on. Oh my God, that's hilarious.
Well— but another— that is another example of somebody that is, um— He's recording his evidence and putting it online. Yeah. And giving it to the government on a silver platter.
There is one that I saw last year in November, where— and this was in Florida. Somewhere in Florida. I don't know where.
But this woman was— she went on a t— she's an influencer. Think her name is, Marleena Vallez. She is a influencer online.
She went on a Target spree, took a bunch of items, did not pay for them, recorded herself like in the process of like, you know, "Come with me to Target."
So, she grabs all her things, loads it in the car, records herself loading it in the car, and takes it home, shows everybody what she got.
And then, the next day, I think she gets arrested or something like that.
And it was like a high— that it could become a felony at that point— Mm-hmm— because it's a certain amount, um, the theft that's being alleged is over a certain amount.
She reports the whole time? The entire process. Oh, so she shows that stealing it? Yes. Oh, okay. And then, she puts it online. And then she's charged with theft.
So, that was another thing, where you like literally have no— what is your defense in that situation?
Like Heston James has a defense. I don't think Put A Girl On has a defense. Marleena Vallez, girl, I don't think you have a defense either. Like— No.
I don't know what happened with that case. But I remember seeing it online, and I was like, "That's so embarrassing." Like, please don't do that.
Yeah, I don't know why you would do the whole— The whole thing. From beginning to end.
Well, she's an influencer. She's making— W— she's making her money online. That's the thing.
People— anybody can be an influencer. Who is she influencing? Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Her fans.
Who are her fans— that are like, "Yeah." I don't think—
No, sh— Free her. she didn't put it that— in that video, she didn't say that she stole anything.
But she was like doing it, a video. She's like running out like, "Aah!" Like with her cart.
With the cart? Yeah, like just with her cart on video. Like just like, "Hey, look at me going to Target."
You know those videos that's like those, those girls that are like, "Come with me to Target and see what I get," and then they like grab their things, they actually pay for them, and then they go home and they do a haul?
Well, she didn't pay for them, and she didn't show that part where she was like paying.
But does it skip over that part? Yes. So like, somebody could think that she paid for it? Yes, exactly. But— Okay.
Let me just tell y'all. Target, Home Depot— trying to think of what other stores. Walmart — they have HD security cameras.
Oh, everywhere. Like, the Home Depot ones specifically, like the self-checkout ones, are like right here above the people.
And like oftentimes— and this is just because I've had so many of these cases, you know— Mm-hmm— when I was at the public defender's office.
But literally, right above your head, HD, you can see everything. And like the, the best quality camera I've ever seen in my life. Yeah.
Publix has some good ones too. They're always able to get people— These are the stores to not hit. Don't hit these stores. They have such high quality. Yes.
So— And they're all willing to prosecute. Yes. I know. 'Cause at the state, we would make the phone calls and say, "Are you looking to prosecute?" Absolutely. Yeah. All right.
They pay the loss prevention people like 6 figures, these places. So, they're not doing that for nothing. They're trying to get their restitution back from—
Those people are not preventing loss. Yeah, I don't know. I, I don't know how that's, that's— No offense to any of those— Yeah— who are listening. If you're a loss prevention officer. Yeah. If you're a big fan of the show, and you're an, a loss prevention officer, I apologize for offending you. Yeah.
Um, but, you know, that's on, that's on them.
One thing that we didn't talk about is one of the big problems with these videos is the risk of contaminating potential jurors. Mm-hmm.
You are letting them see the evidence ahead of time. And it does a few things.
1, it makes it more difficult to get a jury, because people are exposed to the case.
And 2, it makes it more difficult to have a fair trial, because people are gonna have biases against— uh, that, potentially that individual.
Whether they've seen their video or, uh, other videos like it, that could cause a, a bias in, in the jury. And again— Hm. make it harder to get a jury. Yeah.
I think in the past there was, like, this era where obviously there was less technology and things weren't as known and only the, the big cases became kind of, like, shown on the media, which was like O.J. and all those things.
But now because of social and everyone's, like, plastering everything online and if you have somewhat of a following, it becomes something that media wants to cover— Mm-hmm— because it's like, "Oh, you know, Heston James, who has—"
He's not anybody, you know— I don't wanna say he's a nobody, but he's not a celebrity, you know. He's known for those videos.
So— Correct. It's like people who are known for doing— putting out whatever content they're putting out online become— get some sort of attention with the media, which exposes potential jurors on your jury and then could affect the trajectory of your case.
So, people don't— obviously don't think this far ahead when they're posting. They're posting for clout, content, whatever. Mm-hmm.
Um, they're not thinking they could be— I don't know if they're thinking that they could be committing a crime and posting it online as evidence for the government.
I doubt they are, because if they did they probably w— would think twice, I'm assuming. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe. Maybe not Ms. Velez. Yeah. I can't believe that. It just, like, blows my mind.
But, um, I mean, some of these cases, just, like, why would you even go to trial? Why would you even have a jury?
Because you're putting it online, it's not like you're getting your opportunity to fight for your innocence.
No, and you're definitely— I think even being a, a TikToker that's on trial and that's what you're known as is probably not the best, uh— Yeah. best look. Yeah.
Especially 'cause a lot of the people who are on a jury are really just, like, regular working people, you know? Mm-hmm.
It would probably be hard to resonate with that type of career. You know, it is becoming more common, but it's not— it's still not a thing, you know, amongst society where it's, like, everybody or, you know, when you grab a group of people, there's gonna be somebody on there saying, "Yeah, I'm an influencer online." Like, I've yet to—
It'd be fun to— it would be really fun to ask the jury panel about TikTok though. And ask them— Yeah— all about—
You know, if you have— because if you have people that use it, you would have to ferret that out.
You would have to ferret out if anybody had seen this guy or videos like this, um, because you're gonna need to try to get any of those biases out early, um, so you can de-select those jurors. Yeah.
And, yeah. I mean, that's, that's huge for a case.
Yeah. And I think also, like, in terms of what— jury selection specifically, um, when people are talking about whether they've seen it, you know, that's— that in itself I think would get someone disqualified.
If they were like, "Oh yeah, I know who this person is," or "Maybe I follow them," you know? Right. I would think—
That's— that would get you disqualified. Yeah, yeah.
Like you were not— I think what— You don't even have to say that you would be biased. Like, I think that would be enough to get you off. Yeah.
As long as you hope that they don't just go, "Oh, I've seen that guy, he's an idiot." It's like, "Oh, okay, so what'd you think of my client?"
But what do you— You think he's an idiot, but do you think he's an idiot and it's not that serious— Yeah— and he's an idiot?
Or he's an idiot and he's guilty? What do you think? Do you think it's funny? Yeah.
He's an idiot in, like, a fun way? Or is he an idiot and w— he's guilty? Yeah. You want him to jail? Yeah.
No, I mean— I would probably take it the other way. I'd probably take it like, "Oh he likes my— He probably just thinks my client's just, like, fucking around."
You gotta be very careful though. Yeah. Yeah. That's the s— that's the dangerous—
Because these people in Target with Heston James are so mad. Like they are genuinely— they have 0 patience, like—
Oh, all of the— the people that are in these videos— They're so mad. are so mad.
They're not even like, "Ha ha." Like, no. No.
They're like, "You are an idiot, get out of my face." And it's not even— Yeah. "We hate you."
He is, I mean, he's rude to them in certain ty— uh, certain videos. Like, he'll be rude to the employees in the store.
But, like, I mean— I think, I think once they see he comes in there with a full crew, they just, like—
All these people just lose it. And don't they see the camera? Like—
That's the other thing is, I think they have to see the camera. Yeah, like— There's gotta be a guy following him with a camera.
Unless, yeah— Unless they're all wearing the glasses. Ray-Ban Metas. Yeah. Everybody's wearing the glasses with the camera on it.
I'm obsessed with those. I have a pair, and I'm like, "Me and my Metas against the world." This is not sponsored by Ray-Ban Meta, but I wish it was.
Do you just walk around recording everything? Sometimes. Yeah. No reasonable ex— And do you play it back? Sometimes. That's so strange.
What? "Remember that, remember that walk I took?" Yeah. "Um, let me go back and re— reminisce."
It's such a good, like, quality camera too. That's another way you can get caught on video. Yeah.
Stay vigilant. There are people that are posting videos on social media using those, and they are definitely not telling you that they're recording. Yeah.
Yeah. But if you don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy 'cause you're in public— Nope. then— We talked about that. Yeah. first Amendment.
And in terms of, you know, we were talking about influencers, but going to like, celebrities, this comes into play with like, rappers and singers and artists when their songs and stuff are being played in court.
Young Thug— Yeah. His music was played in court against him to show his intent or his criminal, um, yeah, his criminal intent.
Which, you know, that's also a fine line for s— It's like propensity evidence, it sounds like. Yeah. Yeah.
And for, for people who don't know, propensity is, is basically evidence to show that you are more likely to commit this crime because you did something in the past. Yeah. Right.
And that, to me, if you're ass— cert— saying that the lyrics of a song, um, are taken at face value, that are, that they're not being just said for entertainment purposes, you're taking them at face value, and you're saying, "Oh, because they are saying they did that type of crime in that song, they did do that type of crime, and then they are more likely to have done this type of crime."
Yeah. And that's, that's cheap. Yeah. That's a cheap, uh, attack at the, at the person.
If you, that, that to me signifies that you do not have enough evidence to get them on the actual charge you want. Yes. Yes.
It's bad character evidence. And that is something the government will do when they're, like, reaching for, to show intent. Yeah.
Because they might have stronger evidence to s— show like, maybe this person was nearby or whatever, but they don't have that, you know, smoking gun— Yeah— literally, to show that this person was the one who actually carried out the crime.
And sometimes they're reaching to get song lyrics, whatever, to, to show that.
So yeah. Young Thug was one.
Um, and then obviously, there's just so many different ways people can end up getting in trouble.
And we talked about this for Snapchat. So I had a case in the past. Um, my client was using Snapchat.
And on Snapchat you can communicate really with anybody if you just like, freely add people, or like— I think if you have your settings where it's like, open for people who are not your friends to message you, you can do that.
And so, I had a client who was doing that, and he was selling some weed. Nothing crazy. Okay.
Um, and he was messaging, um, an officer, and under the impression that he was not an officer, obviously.
And um, he was like, trying to, you know, negotiate pricing, talk about what he's got, send photos, all the things.
And what happened was, that was used against him in the case.
So, um— He was like a terrible weed dealer. Yeah. So they ended up meeting up, and then that's when they arrested him. There was like, 2 or 3 instances. You need a career change. Yeah. Yeah. Thankfully he stopped doing that. That's good. Yeah.
Um. Should just move out of, get out of sales all together. Yeah. Don't sell anything. Yeah. Don't even try selling your car. Terrible salesman. Yeah. Yeah.
So, Snapchat, that's also another way, you know? Mm-hmm.
Snapchat seems like one of the ways to get you in trouble. Mm-hmm.
I've, I remember seeing evidence of, from Snapchat, of people with guns, drugs, that, you know—
Because people think it's like, goes away because of the 24 hour thing. It's not a thing. I feel like that doesn't go away. No.
And one person can save it. If you're a party to the conversation, you can save it.
So like, and like, also do you read the terms and conditions before actually s— nobody reads that. Like— Yeah— you don't know. You don't know if they have that backed up, you know?
I don't, I barely use Snap. I have it but I don't use it, and it's just not— I don't know.
first of all, it's like so 2013 to me. Snapchat? Yes. Like, we are over a decade past when Snapchat was cool, in my— I think I had it. in my mind.
I don't think I ever really used it, but I had it. Yeah. It's just— Yeah.
But clearly people are using it. There were cert— a bunch of apps like that, that I, I— Yeah— was not the, at the right time for. Yeah.
You were like, "This isn't cool for me."
It just wasn't like— Like I wasn't a dating app person.
Well, lucky you. Oh, sorry. nothing wrong with dating apps. No.
There's a lot— This episode is brought to you by—
You guys, there's a lot wrong with dating apps. That's a whole, that could be a whole epis— Imagine— figure that out.
Mm-hmm. We can definitely talk about dating apps gone wrong on another episode.
People getting like, murdered or something like that? Yes. That'd be exciting. Yeah. I mean, not— I apologize for them but— Yeah. Sorry, I'm sorry. It'll be exciting for us to talk about. That's what he meant. That was— Yeah. Not for the murders.
You know, as a criminal defense attorney, all the time— Someone will talk about a case or a story in the news, and I will get excited about it.
And other people that don't do what I do for a living look at me and they're like, "What is wrong with this guy?" You're such a weirdo. Yeah. Right.
'Cause I'm usually like, they'll be like, "Oh, yeah, this was like," uh, "drug trafficking, and they caught him with blah, blah, blah." And I'll be like, "Nice." Yeah.
And then, and then people will be like, people will be like, "What are you saying nice for?"
And I'll be like, "Oh, no, I didn't, I don't mean it like that. I mean it like I have a professional interest in this. Like, I think it's interesting and I practice these types of cases."
So, you know— That's hilarious. I definitely relate to that.
Right. And like, people think you're a scumbag 'cause you think it's cool. But it's like, it's not, I don't know. It's just, just mind your business, okay?
Yeah. I'm not advocating to do these things.
But like, someone's like, "Oh, yeah, this was like, you know, uh, a certain type of homicide case."
And you know, and I'm just like, "Oh, all right," like, "Let's go." Like, "I wanna get, get involved." And other people would just be like, "Oh, God." Okay.
But speaking of current cases, did you see Cardi B's trial? Portions of it? I've seen parts, I've seen parts of it.
She is just— You can definitely talk about this. amazing.
Like, on the stand, when she's like, asked questions. And I don't know if you've seen, I, well, I talked to you about it before, where there, she was being questioned on the term altercation.
Yeah. And she responded, "Hmm, think it's a debate."
I just think it's so funny. Like, I think she's just, she is so funny on the stand.
And the woman that's trying to sue her is just, for $24 million over a scratch on her face and resulting in allegedly $20,000 ch— uh, what's it called? Plastic surgery? Because of the scratch. That's crazy.
She does not have a $24 million attorney. No.
Well, apparently her— Because his cross-examinations are shit. I know, but apparently his, he represented, um, Nicki Minaj in the past.
So I, I would expect more of a celebrity counsel. You know what I mean?
I, I just, I don't know why he seems so ill-prepared to deal with her. Yeah.
And turned her into the courtroom darling and had the entire jury eating out of the palm of Cardi B's hand.
That is gonna be a quick defense verdict. Yeah, this is true.
Um— This is so true.
And, and the way, yeah, he is— That's a, that's a magic trick to be, to do cross-examination in a way that you, uh, help the other case, the other side's case.
That is a, a, um, a magic trick, but like, a terrible magic trick. 'Cause you shouldn't be able to do that. That is so funny.
He is, he is help— Like, I realized that like, I was, at 1 point I was like, "Is it her counsel or him that was—"
And then I heard a question, I was like, "Oh, okay, it's definitely him 'cause he's being a little hostile." But he's making her look real good. Yeah.
And that's on— You know, I can't imagine y—
And speaking of juries, people on that jury I'm sure know Cardi B, but they probably had to be vetted on whether like, they listen to her music, do they like her? Because who doesn't know Cardi B? You know?
Yeah, I'm sure it took a long time to get that jury panel. Yeah, for a case that should be 2 days but it is being, is a 2 week trial for some reason. I have no idea why, but—
It's a lot of money being spent on nonsense. Yeah, yeah. But I don't wanna say nonsense 'cause we have entertainment now. Well, sure.
So thank you, Cardi B. Yeah. Carrying the team on your back.
So would you rather defend a case no one's seen or would you rather defend a case that the internet is obsessed with?
I would rather defend a case that nobody has seen. So that's like, every day. Yeah. He's like, "I'm not trying to be on TV."
I, I like having media involved in the case.
Um, when I was at the state attorney's office, I prosecuted Dennis Rodman and the media came to the court— Yeah, I forgot about that— uh, every day that that was going on.
Um, when I worked, uh, at a job before law sch— when I was in law school, um, my boss had a lot of high val— like, celebrity clients.
And, um, there was often times where I would be in, interacting with people that were, you know, high net worth or are celebrities. and, um, I had enjoyed doing it.
But there's— it's a lot easier to work on a case that, um, I don't have to include thinking about the media and thinking about public reaction while I'm working on the case.
Yeah. I think that stuff is noise ultimately. Yeah.
Um, and you have the signal of focusing on the law and focusing on the facts and focusing on the actual case.
The other stuff that brings in the noise, which is often media attention, is a distraction. It's a distraction and it c— like makes the case way more complex in different ways.
Mm-hmm.
For instance, if the jury has heard about it, then you know, they may need to be sequestered and if they, you know, you might— there might be issues with like busting the panel and actually getting a jury, media wanting your insight as counsel on the case.
Um, you know, and then obviously some lawyers do it because they want, you know, they do like their PR or whatever and they want to present as like this great lawyer, which is great for marketing or whatever, but we have a job to do, so we need to stay focused.
And I think that, like I agree with you, I think that maybe it's something that could potentially happen.
I wouldn't be like opposed to working on a case because of that. But it definitely would make the case a little bit more complicated because you have to think about different aspects of how that would play into the facts of the case or potentially how the trial could go.
So I, you know, speaking of like Cardi B and like cases online, all of those things can be, you know, goes right back to the jury.
Like can the jury be fair? Can the jury actually assess this case without anything they heard on the media or on the news prior to the facts of what's being presented in court?
So I don't know. I—
It's also a ton of pressure if you have a media case because the constant changes in the case and, uh, is constantly updated in the media and then there's constant takes from the media on everything that's happening with the case.
The more high profile, the more attention, the more opinions there are gonna be, the more social media following there's gonna be.
So you do have the problem getting the jury, you have a problem keeping the evidence, uh, private enough until it gets to a jury. Right.
Um, because the media will often, and I'm sure you've seen that, well, when— when you were— you were pros— prosecuting, uh, Rodman's case, you definitely had media in the courtroom for that.
But like all the time we're in court and there's media in the back of the courtroom recording. Right.
You know, they're— they're there prior to the trial date attending hearings, attending the pretrial hearings, hearing, you know, motion and limines which is like, "Judge, we want to exclude X, Y, and Z evidence and this is how it played into the case and it's prejudicial," or whatever argument defense counsel's making.
And then, you know, the media will go write about it and be like, "There's this knife that was found." You know, or whatever. Yeah.
It also blows everything up because if there are victims involved in the case and— Yeah— there's media involved, that usually means there's gonna be another lawyer involved, which is a civil lawyer that comes in and represents the victim, uh, in a criminal matter.
They could be representing that person to try to recover for them civilly, but they also can advocate to try to recover from them in criminal restitution.
So they can't get 2 bites of the apple of the same amount of money, but anything that they would be entitled to with criminal restitution, they can have some advocate for.
Now if you have that advocate, you have another person that's interacting with the media and is giving their opinion, and now you have the opinion of the victim that's getting out into the public that could be swaying the court, could be swaying the state, could be swaying the potential jurors.
Well, you know what happened in P. Diddy's case while the trial was going on. Cassie's lawyer I think read a letter that her husband wrote, Cassie's husband wrote, that was like this long-winded thing that I was just— I was— I was shook.
I was like, "I would have requested like a gag order for this." Like I can't believe that this was being done during the trial, and I don't know if the jury was sequestered. Do you know if the jury was se— sequestered in that case?
I don't think they were. Um— I don't think so. But I didn't hear anything about it if they were.
But, um, you know, they definitely could like poison the jury that way if they're talking about like their feelings and how they were affected.
None of that is admissible in court. Like in court when you're talking about a crime from the victim's perspective, you talk about the elements that you n— the facts that help you prove the elements of the case as the government attorney.
So like you are not to say like, you know, "I've been dealing with all this trauma for years," and all this, like no, that's not something that is allowed.
And saying that on the media and then you have— you risk having jurors hear that, that's like— Yeah. That's— that's me— I mean that's juror contamination.
And another attorney— Yeah, and then an attorney participating in that. Mm-hmm. Like that's crazy.
So, um, and you know, speaking of attorneys representing alleged victims or victims, I think it's always a good idea, especially as a— like, the more high profile the case is, I think if there is a victim involved, there should definitely be counsel for the victim. Because— Agreed.
it's, the media gets so crazy in your face. You could say anything, you know, just like you're saying, that could be heard by the wrong person and then, you know, it could, it could end up that the victim could be in trouble for saying something.
Um, or held in contempt for saying something that they shouldn't have said if they were ordered not to.
So, there is just a lot of different, like, ways things can go wrong because the media and like, the internet is so involved in so many different court cases.
And it just can really, like, poison the case and cause a, a, a mistrial or, you know, whatever.
And like, sometimes you have to move venues if it's like a local, big, you know, case going on, you sometimes have to request to, to, to do the trial elsewhere.
And I've never had that experience but— No, I have not either.
You know, at this point and at this rate, it's like there's no such thing as like local, local, like, there, like nothing's local anymore.
It's not like the local news. It's like the internet's the internet. If you go on the internet in, across the world, you're gonna see the s— you could see the same thing that I'm seeing here in Florida. Like, it doesn't matter.
So, I don't know how much longer that could be, you know, a remedy for people. But it's not going to solve all the problems because the internet is literally everywhere. I agree with you.
Um, but, and speaking of like, you know, the, the internet, the algorithm, whatever, um, a lot of things that could come into play here or like issues that could come into play here are, um, issues about like trying to delete evidence online.
Or like things that you have posted online and if you try to delete anything that you know could potentially get you in trouble after you've been notified that there's like a pending case or potentially a pending case against you, that's, you know, tampering with evidence.
So. It's also consciousness of guilt and it gives the state attorney's office a very strong argument against your, uh, against you and against your case.
Yeah. And also like, do we really even know if this is deleted forever? Like, that's the other question.
I don't know about that, so I just, I, I attended a training recently that was like talking about like cell phone extractions and like talking about like are things actually deleted and like, the answer was like sometimes basically.
And they described how but it's like, why would you even risk it? You know.
So, people just need to stop putting their lives and all these videos and giving the evidence to the government, um, online because just for the sake of clout.
Um, like Hustin James and Put a Girl On and Marlena Velez.
But, um, there's also ways to like protect yourself with like privacy settings and all the things which you can do.
But I think the best course of action when it comes to like social media posting content is to not record acts that be, can be argued are criminal.
Figure out a way to get attention other than doing criminal acts on video. There's so many ways. There has to be other ways. So many.
You can go on OnlyFans. Yeah. Can make a ton of money on OnlyFans. You don't have to go to law school to make a ton of money. Nope.
The people that do really well on OnlyFans make a lot more money than the best lawyers do, so. That is so true. go then.
Well, that's all the time I have now. Yeah. I have to go and start my OnlyFans career. Yeah. Because the law career's— Yeah. It's slowly declining.
AI is taking our jobs and um, we'll be signing up for FootFinder and— Yes, we will be, it'll be Come Back With A Warrant, uh, the OnlyFans edition.
Just kidding. Oh my God, that's so funny.
All right, so that wraps up today's episode all about the illustrious people on TikTok who are finding their ways to get in trouble by posting videos of themselves doing stupid and illegal shit.
Uh, but— so, if you liked listening to this episode, make sure you like, comment, subscribe.
We are on all platforms at comebackwithawarrant.pod, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
And if you didn't like listening to this episode— Come back with a warrant.