Law Commons^™

Criminal Law And Procedure, John O. Cole

Mercer Law Review

The Georgia appellate courts wrote opinions in over 500 cases during the year of the survey period, most of which were in the court of appeals. The volumes in question in this survey are positively bloated with criminal appeals. Reading through them is a depressing experience for two reasons. First, something seems amiss in a system in which so many attorneys, judges, law clerks, other officials, printers, and trees participate in an appellate process that for the most part changes nothing and has no effect on the litigants. Second, while some of the appeals are meritless to the point of …

United States V. Elgersma: The Burden Of Proof In Criminal Forfeiture Proceedings Under 21 U.S.C. § 853, James D. Tolliver

Mercer Law Review

In United States v. Elgersma, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided the issue of what burden of proof applies to a criminal forfeiture proceeding under section 853 of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 19842 ("section 853"). After examining the legislative history of section

853 and case law- from its own and other circuits, the court held that criminal forfeiture is a criminal charge requiring the government to prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. A majority of the court rejected Judge Anderson's concurring opinion in which he argued that criminal forfeiture is an element …

Constitutional Criminal Law, Peggy Natale, Anthony J. Natale

Mercer Law Review

Last year, the Eleventh Circuit examined some interesting constitutional issues that affect defendants in criminal cases. What follows are the most significant of those constitutional issue cases, and an additional criminal case of first impression to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The authors have made no effort to provide an exhaustive digest of all the court's opinions for the 1991 year.

• First Amendment
• Fourth Amendment
• Fifth Amendment
• Sixth Amendment
• Case of First Impression