Law Commons^™

Criminal Law And Procedure: A Two-Year Survey, James P. Fleissner

Mercer Law Review

During the two-year survey period, the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court issued well over a thousand published opinions addressing issues of criminal law and procedure.' The primary purpose of this Article is to summarize judicial decisions constituting noteworthy developments in the law. Given the scope of survey, the constraint of limited space imposed difficult choices concerning what to include. As in past years, this survey will focus on highlights, such as cases of first impression and cases presenting close or controversial issues. The Author hopes this Article will provide useful information for busy practitioners seeking to …

Arizona V. Evans: Carving Out Another Good-Faith Exception To The Exclusionary Rule, Sara Gilbert

Mercer Law Review

In Arizona v. Evans, the United States Supreme Court considered whether the exclusionary rule requires suppression of evidence seized incident to an arrest, when the arrest resulted from inaccurate computer data created by court personnel. In January 1991, police arrested Isaac Evans during a routine traffic stop because the patrol car's computer indicated he was the subject of an outstanding misdemeanor warrant. While being handcuffed, Evans dropped a marijuana cigarette. A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed a bag of marijuana hidden under the passenger seat, and Evans was charged with possession. Upon notifying the justice court of the …

Constitutional Criminal Procedure, James P. Fleissner

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys significant 1995 decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in the field commonly referred to as "Constitutional Criminal Procedure." The primary focus of this branch of criminal procedure is on the interpretation of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution. In selecting notable cases from 1995, the author looked for important interpretations of legal tests, rulings in cases of first impression, and opinions on close or controversial questions. I have endeavored to provide criminal practitioners with a useful "briefing" on recent significant developments in the Eleventh Circuit. Furthermore, I hope …

Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Andrea Wilson

Mercer Law Review

Whether the sentencing guidelines have finally become familiar enough for consistent application or because there were so few amendments last year,' there seem to be fewer dramatic and controversial Eleventh Circuit decisions regarding sentencing this year than in years past. The court took the opportunity to focus more closely on the process of sentencing itself rather than on the precise application of the guidelines.

The Court wrote extensively about the district courts' frequent failure to create a fully articulated record on which appellate review can be had. Expanding on its earlier requirement that district courts elicit and respond to objections …