Life and Law

On Season 3, Episode 16 of The Life and Law Podcast by Pro Legal Solutions, we welcome special guest Josh Burns from Texas. Josh is a husband, father, longtime airline pilot and pilot instructor who has spent more than 26 years in aviation. He has been married to his wife, Brenda, for 20 years, and together they have a daughter, Naomi. Today, Josh lives near Dallas, Texas—but more than a decade ago, while his family was living in Michigan, their lives were completely turned upside down by allegations that Josh had abused his infant daughter. After a difficult labor that ended in an emergency C-section, Naomi experienced feeding problems and other medical issues during her first months of life. When she later developed projectile vomiting and eventually became critically ill, Josh and Brenda repeatedly sought medical care. Naomi was ultimately admitted to the pediatric ICU.What began as a medical emergency soon became a child-abuse investigation after retinal hemorrhages were discovered and a child abuse pediatrician concluded that Naomi had suffered “abusive head trauma,” historically referred to as shaken baby syndrome.Josh describes how CPS became involved, how he and his wife were subjected to separate forensic-style questioning, and how Naomi was eventually removed from their care and placed into foster care. The allegations quickly expanded beyond the hospital and into family court, where the couple faced the possibility of losing their parental rights. Josh was later arrested and charged with second-degree felony child abuse. Throughout the episode, he walks us through the extraordinary legal battle that followed—including draining retirement savings to pay attorneys, retaining independent medical experts, fighting CPS proceedings, facing both civil and criminal trials, and challenging medical conclusions that his experts argued were unsupported by Naomi’s records and could have had alternative explanations related to birth trauma, medical procedures, or other causes. Despite those challenges, Josh was convicted and faced up to 10 years in prison. He ultimately received a sentence of one year in county jail followed by probation. While incarcerated, his case gained national attention. More than 100 supporters protested outside the courthouse, investigative journalists covered his story, Josh and Brenda appeared on Dr. Phil, and attorneys from the University of Michigan Innocence Clinic eventually stepped in to represent him on appeal. Josh also fought to preserve his relationship with his daughter. His parental rights were ultimately restored, and his family was reunified. The legal battle over his conviction, however, continued for years. Josh explains how, after years of appeals and continued efforts to bring attention to the evidence in his case, a Conviction Integrity Unit became involved. In November 2024, after approximately seven years of fighting, Josh says he was formally declared factually innocent and exonerated. Today, he has turned what happened to his family into advocacy. Josh now works with parents facing allegations of child abuse and families navigating CPS and family-court proceedings. He advocates for greater transparency and informed consent when hospital child-abuse teams begin investigating parents, including warnings that families may be the subject of an investigation and may need legal representation. He also discusses his work advocating for people convicted under disputed shaken-baby or abusive-head-trauma theories, including his close involvement in the case of Texas death-row prisoner Robert Robertson. Learn more about Josh’s work and connect with him at UnshakenTruth.com.

Anthony J. Cibelli talks about how he truly feels about his longtime girlfriend Alicia Jagnarain AKA Alicia Jackson AKA Alicia Rivers, from New Hyde Park, and the Bronx, NYC

Karen Bowers from Waterbury, Connecticut, mother of Matthew Lodice, denies a wellness check for granddaughter Angelina Lodice

A capital murder case, an international flight, and an electronic monitor that could not stop it.

In this episode of The Life and Law Podcast, Theodora Antar sits down with attorney Ken W. Good, a longtime criminal justice and bail reform advocate and board member of the Professional Bondsmen of Texas, to examine growing concerns surrounding pretrial release, electronic monitoring, mental-health competency, and the future of bail reform.

The discussion centers in part on the case of Lee Gilly, a defendant charged with capital murder who was released while subject to GPS monitoring and later fled the United States. The case raises a critical question: How much protection does electronic monitoring actually provide when a defendant is considered a serious flight or public-safety risk?

Good explains the differences between personal recognizance bonds, cash bonds, and private surety bonds, and discusses why GPS monitoring functions primarily as a detection tool—not a physical restraint. The conversation also examines what happens when defendants are found incompetent to stand trial, later restored to competency, and returned to the community under previously imposed release conditions.

The episode explores broader questions surrounding:

• The limits of GPS and electronic monitoring

• Personal recognizance and no-cash release policies

• How private surety bonds assess and manage flight risk

• Mental-health competency and competency restoration

• Failure-to-appear rates and accountability

• The decline of public mental-health infrastructure

• Recent changes to Texas bail law

• The role of judges in reassessing bail after competency restoration

• Texas's expanded authority to deny bail in certain violent felony cases

• The ongoing debate over public safety, defendants' constitutional rights, and meaningful pretrial accountability

As lawmakers continue debating bail reform across the country, this episode asks whether policies designed to reduce unnecessary detention have gone too far in some cases—and whether technology and unsecured release can realistically replace the human and financial accountability traditionally built into the bail system.

Guest: Ken W. Good, Attorney and Board Member, Professional Bondsmen of Texas

Host: Theodora Antar
The Life and Law Podcast

This episode discusses pending criminal matters and public-policy issues. Criminal charges are allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

On Season 3, Episode 14 of The Life and Law Podcast by Pro Legal Solutions, we welcome special guest Kurt Erickson. Kurt is a Connecticut resident who is currently facing dozens of charges in criminal court in both Bridgeport Superior Court and in Milford Superior Court. He has been fighting his current set of charges for going on 8 years now, and has recently gotten multiple protective orders issued against him in civil court by police officers who alleged that they feared for their lives after seeing him post them on his Facebook page. This is alarming, as Connecticut notoriously denies restraining order and civil protective order applications when serious abuse and harm is alleged on a routine basis, but will grant frivolous CPO applications for those who are "connected" to the municipal or state government and its officials and employees. This goes along with the theme that, over the last decade, Connecticut has morphed into one of the most corrupt states in the United States of America, where people are punished for exercising their first amendment constitutional rights, second amendment constitutional rights, and more. Erickson shares his story and explains how he believes he is innocent and that his criminal charges are not based on factual or legal merit and basis, but rather constitute targetted retaliation by law enforcement and public officials in response to his exposing of the corruption on his social media platforms. #kurterickson #connecticut #bridgeportct #milfordct #criminallaw #prolegalsolutions #lifeandlawpodcast #theodoraantar #lawyer

On Season 3, Episode 13 of The Life and Law Podcast by Pro Legal Solutions, we welcome special guest Joe Grit$. In our last 2 episodes, we touched on his case and discussed some of the legal aspects of his case with currently suspended Connecticut attorney Lawrence Dressler. On this episode, we have Joe himself on to tell his story in his own words. On May 29, 2026 a jury in Bridgeport Superior Court in Bridgeport, Connecticut, found Joseph “Joe Grits” Thompson, age 40, of Bridgeport, guilty of Inciting Injury to Persons, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-179a, and Threatening in the Second Degree, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-62(a)(2)(B). The Honorable Robert G. Golger presided over the trial. The State of Connecticut claimed in a press release that, according to the evidence at trial, the defendant posted on social media a photograph of a Bridgeport police officer altered to include a tombstone and the words “R.I.P.” across the officer’s face. A second post featured the same officer’s photograph accompanied by the caption, “somebody gotta die, somebody should die with a badge on.” The posts were made following a March 31, 2025 officer-involved shooting in Bridgeport. Thompson is scheduled for sentencing on July 27, 2026 in Bridgeport Superior Court where he faces up to 10 years and 364 days in prison. The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Felicia D. Valentino. Joe shares his story in his own words, and talks about why he decided to represent himself in his criminal trial and why he declined representation from a public defender. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday 7/27/26 at 2:00PM and asks any members of the public who are interested in showing support to come out and be present for his sentencing. His case, which involved 1st Amendment constitutional issues related to posting on social media and the right to artistic expression and freedom through music and other forms of media, is remarkable because it is another example of how corruption, racism, and other factors play a role in the way that Connecticut police and prosecutors choose to address criminal defendants and cases in the state. #joegrits #bridgeport #bridgeportconnecticut #truestory #bridgeportct

On Season 3, Episode 12, of The Life and Law Podcast by Pro Legal Solutions, we welcome back special guest Lawrence Dressler who was previously our special guest on episode 11. Lawrence is currently a suspended attorney in the State of Connecticut, and has had his law license suspended for the past 12 years. He feels that this is because of his blog that he has operated for many years, which the state has been very unhappy about. He claims that, even after disabling the blog at one point, the state still refused to reinstate his law license. He originally lost the license after a conviction in which he served a federal prison sentence, but even though all of his co-conspirators all got their licenses reinstated, he has been singled out by the state and made an example out of. He describes his current situation with his appeal, and discusses some other high profile cases in the state such as Paul Boyne who was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for writing about judges like Jane Kupson Grossman on the internet.

On Season 3, Episode 11 of The Life and Law Podcast by Pro Legal Solutions, we welcome on special guest Lawrence Dressler. Lawrence is a suspended attorney who worked in both family law and criminal law in the State of Connecticut, as well as in federal court doing bankruptcy and other matters, for over 25 years. After getting indicted on federal charges, he plead guilty and spent 18 months in federal prison in New York. Now, post-release, he has been working for over a decade to try to get his attorney license reinstate in the State of Connecticut, yet seems to be made an example out of and isn't being treated fairly by the state. His quest for appealing the suspension is currently still pending in the Connecticut Appellate Court.

On Season 3, Episode 10 of The Life and Law Podcast by Pro Legal Solutions, we welcome on our special guest Chad Peace. Chad is an attorney based in California, and works in the role as legal strategist for the Independent Voter Project, an organization that has put him right at the center of debates over independent voter rights, open primaries, and modernizing access to our election systems. His efforts have not only positioned him as an advocate but as someone who has seen real change happen through legal avenues, which is rare and powerful. We discuss some of his recent lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of election laws, as well as his thoughts on ways that the system can be reformed nationwide to allow for more access to elections.

On Season 3, Episode 9 of The Life and Law Podcast by Pro Legal Solutions, we welcome our special guest Hayley Howard. Hayley is from Virginia and found herself dealing with the court system regarding custody and injunctions related to her children, as well as baseless criminal charges. She comes on to share her story of how her rights were violated by the Virginia judicial system, and explains how she was completely cut off from her children #hayleyhoward #prolegalsolutions #virginia