SHREVEPORT – As Sarah Giglio looked out in a crowd of about 50 LSUS students Monday, her wish was that this is the last time she sees them.
That’s because Giglio is a criminal defense attorney, and she visited the campus to share legal tips in a presentation titled “Common Legal Issues Facing Young Adults Today” in the LSUS Theater.
Giglio’s tips leaned heavily on students’ electronic, digital and social media presence.
“Internet posts live forever, whether you take them down or not,” said Giglio, a co-founder of Gilmer and Giglio. “These posts can be used in cases against you, whether it’s civil or criminal law.
“My advice is to lock down your (social media) pages and think very carefully about what you post and about what you text as well.”
The event was organized by the LSUS Student Activities Board.
Giglio, who holds law licenses in Louisiana and Texas, recounted a story of a New Jersey man who took to Tiktok to repeatedly comment about his feud with his neighbors.
That man ended up shooting his neighbor in a case that ultimately was determined to be self-defense.
“But all of this guy’s social media posts brought into question whether the shooter pre-meditated the act, and it took more than two years to be found not guilty of a second-degree manslaughter charge,” Giglio said. “I assure you that living with a charge of that nature for two years was not easy, and he complicated his own case and received a more serious charge because of his Tiktoks.”
Business marketing senior Kevin Nguyen said he found Giglio’s presentation to be informative and helpful.
“A lot of it was very helpful, and she touched on a lot of topics in a short amount of time,” Nguyen said. “People think that everything they post online is about freedom of speech, but those posts can have consequences.”
One topic that’s particularly geared toward young people is “sexting,” – especially the act of exchanging indecent photos or videos.
“It’s a misdemeanor to begin with, but if you’re a college student dating a high school student, there could be child porn charges involved depending on the ages,” Giglio said. “And if you break up with that person and decide to send or publish any of those indecent photos or videos to other people, then you’re into an area of revenge porn.
“That’s a felony that carries up to two years of jail time. Breakups suck, but jail sucks worse.”
Possession of small amounts of marijuana (less than 14 grams) has been decriminalized in Louisiana, but that doesn’t mean marijuana is legal.
Giglio said fines still apply to any amount of marijuana if the person doesn’t have a valid medical marijuana card.
Larger amounts of marijuana could carry jail time if the person is convicted of intent to distribute.
The combination of marijuana (or any other drug) and the possession of a gun vastly increases legal penalties.
“There is a big crackdown locally on guns,” Giglio said. “If you possess guns and drugs (more than the limit determined by the intent to distribute) together, it sets off something called a ‘trigger lock’ charge.
“That’s a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence, and prosecutors are pursuing these.”
Texting and driving is another common offense, and police can obtain phone records in a case, particularly if a wreck involves serious injury or death.
“They’ll know whether or not you were texting at the time of an accident,” Giglio said. “I know there’s a lot of temptation to text and drive, but just don’t.”
Finally, Giglio recommends that before talking with the police about any subject, exercise your right for legal representation.
“There was a case in front of the Louisiana Supreme Court in which a guy said, ‘I want a lawyer, dog,’ and the Supreme Court said that wasn’t enough to exercise his right,” said Giglio, who noted that the highest court in the state ruled that it didn’t know what a ‘lawyer dog’ was. “The guy kept talking to police after that, so the lesson from this example is to request a lawyer and stop talking from that point.”
Giglio points out that these topics aren’t just hypothetical, they are cases that walk into her office on a regular basis.
“The point of this is to be aware of the law so you don’t have to come into my office in these situations,” Giglio said.
