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Articles 1 - 30 of 35
Full-Text Articles in Law
Expanding Forfeiture Without Sacrificing Confrontation After Crawford, Joshua Deahl
Expanding Forfeiture Without Sacrificing Confrontation After Crawford, Joshua Deahl
Michigan Law Review
The central holding of Crawford v. Washington is fairly straightforward: The Confrontation Clause bars the admission of out-of-court testimonial statements unless the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the witness. Crawford, however, has an often overlooked caveat. In renouncing numerous exceptions to the confrontation right, the Court rejected only those that purport to test the reliability of testimonial statements. It left equitable exceptions undisturbed. As the Court pointed out, "[T]he rule of forfeiture by wrongdoing (which we accept) extinguishes confrontation claims on essentially equitable grounds." The parameters of the rule of forfeiture are a matter of some dispute. …
The Legal Context And Contributions Of Dostoevsky's Crime And Punishment, William Burnham
The Legal Context And Contributions Of Dostoevsky's Crime And Punishment, William Burnham
Michigan Law Review
Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is of more than average interest to lawyers. The title perhaps says it all in terms of content. The chief protagonist, the murderer Raskolnikov, is a law student on a break from his studies. And the pursuer of the murderer is a lawyer, an examining magistrate. But the more subtle and more important legal aspects of Crime and Punishment concern the time period in Russian legal history in which the novel was written and is set. The 1860s in Russia were a time of tremendous legal change. Among other things, an 1861 decree emancipated the serfs …
Descent And Distribution - Joint Ownership - Imposition Of Constructive Trust On Murderer Of Co-Tenant, John B. Schwemm S.Ed.
Descent And Distribution - Joint Ownership - Imposition Of Constructive Trust On Murderer Of Co-Tenant, John B. Schwemm S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
A husband, owning land with his wife as tenants by the entireties, killed her and immediately thereafter committed suicide. In an action to determine ownership of the realty, both the probate and appellate courts declared that since a relevant disinheritance statute was inapplicable, full title vested in the husband and, upon his death, descended to his heirs. On appeal, held, reversed. Despite the common law nature of such tenancies, equity will impose on the husband a constructive trust in one-half the property for the benefit of the victim's estate. National City Bank of Evansville v. Bledsoe, (Ind. 1957) …
Negligence-Duty Of Care-Liability Of State Mental Hospital For Acts Of A Dangerous Patient After Improper Discharge, Edgar A. Strause S.Ed.
Negligence-Duty Of Care-Liability Of State Mental Hospital For Acts Of A Dangerous Patient After Improper Discharge, Edgar A. Strause S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
One Jones, a mental incompetent, was erroneously released as "recovered" from a state hospital for the criminal insane, after having been transferred there because of his dangerous behavior at a state penal institution. Jones' frequent assaultive behavior at the hospital was not reported in his case history upon which the determination of his recovery was partially based, nor was any inquiry made into the motivation for such conduct. Crowded conditions and an inadequate psychiatric staff were responsible for the improper diagnosis of the patient's condition and his ultimate discharge. Four days after his release he killed four persons. The administratrix …
Constitutional Law-Due Process-Burden Of Proving Insanity As Defense To Crime, Lois H. Hambro S.Ed.
Constitutional Law-Due Process-Burden Of Proving Insanity As Defense To Crime, Lois H. Hambro S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Defendant was convicted of first degree murder after having pleaded insanity as a defense to the charge. He appealed to the Supreme Court of Oregon, alleging that the Oregon statute, which required an accused pleading insanity to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it placed on him the burden of proving his inability to premeditate and intend the criminal act. The defendant relied in part on the fact that Oregon is the only state requiring insanity to be proved ''beyond a reasonable doubt," while other states require at most that …
Evidence-Confessions-Mcnabb Rule Not Applicable Under The Fourteenth Amendment, Harry T. Baumann S.Ed.
Evidence-Confessions-Mcnabb Rule Not Applicable Under The Fourteenth Amendment, Harry T. Baumann S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Defendant, detained on a vagrancy charge in Texas, voluntarily confessed to a homicide committed in Nebraska. Upon his return to the latter state, the defendant repeated his confession and was subsequently arraigned, having been in custody for twenty-five days. The confessions were introduced at the trial and a conviction of manslaughter followed. Defendant, failing to gain a reversal in the state court, sought review by the United States Supreme Court, charging that a failure to arraign the defendant promptly in breach of local statutes was a want of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. On certiorari, held, affirmed, Justices …
Evidence-Admissibility Of Confessions In Federal Courts Under The Mcnabb Rule, Harry T. Baumann S.Ed.
Evidence-Admissibility Of Confessions In Federal Courts Under The Mcnabb Rule, Harry T. Baumann S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Defendant, after proper arraignment on a charge of as· sault, was questioned intermittently about and confessed to a murder. This confession, introduced at the trial in the District Court of Alaska, was instrumental in convicting the defendant of the graver charge. The court of appeals reversed because of a failure to file the murder complaint within a reasonable time. On certiorari, held, the confession, made after proper detention on a lesser charge, was legal and admissible if given freely; but case affirmed as modified on other grounds. United States v. Carignan, 342 U.S. 36, 72 S.Ct. 97 (1951).
Torts-Right Of Unemancipated Minor To Recover Prom Parent For Intentional Tort, William O. Allen S.Ed.
Torts-Right Of Unemancipated Minor To Recover Prom Parent For Intentional Tort, William O. Allen S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff, a child four years of age, was present when her mother was murdered by her father, defendant's intestate. After keeping plaintiff with the corpse for six days, the father drove plaintiff to his home, where he committed suicide in plaintiff's presence. Plaintiff brought an action against the father's estate for shock, mental anguish, and resulting physical injuries, caused by the father's atrocious acts. The trial court sustained defendant's demurrer on the. ground that a minor has no right of action in tort against its parent. On appeal, held, reversed. A minor may maintain an action against its parent …
Evidence-Admissibility Of Uncommunicated Threats, Thomas Hartwell S. Ed.
Evidence-Admissibility Of Uncommunicated Threats, Thomas Hartwell S. Ed.
Michigan Law Review
The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree, following his killing of one Hunter as the outcome of a quarrel. The defendant had pleaded self-defense, contending that Hunter had appeared to threaten him. The defendant was the only witness to testify as to any aggression on the part of Hunter, while the four eyewitnesses to the killing all testified that the accused had attacked Hunter without warning and had fired upon Hunter's wife and child. Defendant's motion for new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence showing that Hunter had in his pocket an open knife, which …
Criminal Law - ''Temporary Insanity" -Arguments And Proposals For Its Elimination As A Defense To Criminal Prosecution, Lewis R. Williams, Jr. S. Ed.
Criminal Law - ''Temporary Insanity" -Arguments And Proposals For Its Elimination As A Defense To Criminal Prosecution, Lewis R. Williams, Jr. S. Ed.
Michigan Law Review
ln view of the apparently increasing number of cases which have come before the courts in recent years in which the defense of "temporary insanity" has been made, an investigation into the status of that defense in the criminal law of today would seem desirable. The term "temporary insanity" is one of popular origin and finds no place in strict legal terminology. The defense of incapacity for the mens rea, legally speaking, is "insanity," not "temporary insanity." But because of the human desire for a mot convenable, we have come to apply the term "temporary insanity" to those …
Appeal And Error-Significance Of Denial Of Certiorari As Precedent By United States Supreme Court, Edward W. Rothe S.Ed.
Appeal And Error-Significance Of Denial Of Certiorari As Precedent By United States Supreme Court, Edward W. Rothe S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Respondents were found guilty of contempt of court for broadcasting dispatches concerning a person about to be tried on a charge of murder. The convictions were reversed on constitutional grounds by the Court of Appeals of Maryland, relying upon certain decisions of the United States Supreme Court. The state sought a writ of certiorari on the ground that the Maryland court had misconceived the rulings of the Supreme Court. Although the application for certiorari was denied, Justice Frankfurter took occasion to write an opinion stating that the denial of the writ meant only that fewer than four members of the …
Criminal Law-Proof Of The Corpus Delicti By The Use Of Extra-Judicial Confessions, Theodore Sachs
Criminal Law-Proof Of The Corpus Delicti By The Use Of Extra-Judicial Confessions, Theodore Sachs
Michigan Law Review
Defendant, a physician, was accused of the murder of his cancer-ridden patient by the injection of 40 c.c. of air into a vein of the patient's arm shortly before her death. The defendant had noted on the patient's medical chart the fact of the injection and that of her death, apparently a few minutes later. He subsequently dictated the same facts to his nurse, and later made similar admissions to local enforcement authorities and others making such statements on the day of his arrest and immediately thereafter. At the trial, a pathologist, called as an expert witness on behalf of …
Criminal Law-Confessions Obtained Prior To Commitment-What Constitutes Unreasonable Delay, B. J. George, Jr.
Criminal Law-Confessions Obtained Prior To Commitment-What Constitutes Unreasonable Delay, B. J. George, Jr.
Michigan Law Review
Defendants were arrested on suspicion of murder and questioned by police. Defendants confessed after being held incommunicado for some hours during the night, but were not arraigned until the following morning. The confessions were admitted in evidence and defendants found guilty. On appeal, held, affirmed. There had not been an unreasonable delay in producing defendants before a commissioner, because the length of time in hours was not unreasonable and because committing magistrates are not available late at night. Garner v. United States, (App. D.C., 1949) 174 F. (2d) 499.
Criminal Law-Evidence-Silence To Accusation While Under Arrest As Admission Of Guilt, Colvin A. Peterson, Jr.
Criminal Law-Evidence-Silence To Accusation While Under Arrest As Admission Of Guilt, Colvin A. Peterson, Jr.
Michigan Law Review
Defendant was convicted of murder. Before the victim died, defendant, handcuffed and in custody of police, had been taken to the hospital room where the victim lay. Eight witnesses were present at the time, and each testified that the victim pointed out the defendant as her assailant. At the trial the witnesses were permitted to testify that when accused of the crime, defendant stood by silently, saying and doing nothing, although it also appeared that he had been told by the police chief to ''keep your mouth shut." The prosecution capitalized upon defendant's silence as an admission of guilt. On …
Joughin And Morgan: The Legacy Of Sacco And Vanzetti, Michigan Law Review
Joughin And Morgan: The Legacy Of Sacco And Vanzetti, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
A Review of THE LEGACY OF SACCO AND VANZETTI. By G. Louis Joughin and Edmund M. Morgan.
Constitutional Law--Due Process-Federal Restrictions On The Use Of Confessions In State Criminal Proceedings, F. L. Adamson
Constitutional Law--Due Process-Federal Restrictions On The Use Of Confessions In State Criminal Proceedings, F. L. Adamson
Michigan Law Review
Undisputed evidence established that petitioner, a negro boy of fifteen, was arrested at about midnight, October 19, 1945 and taken to police headquarters. He was questioned by the police with no friend or counsel present. He was not informed of his right to counsel or of his right to refuse to answer. At about five in the morning, October 20, he confessed. He was then informed of his rights and his statement taken and transcribed. He was photographed by a newspaper photographer, and then placed in jail. On October 23 he was, for the first time, taken before a magistrate …
Jury-Effect Of Deviation From Statutory Procedure For Excusing Jurors, Jarrett R. Clark
Jury-Effect Of Deviation From Statutory Procedure For Excusing Jurors, Jarrett R. Clark
Michigan Law Review
In a prosecution for murder, a special venire was summoned and a list thereof served on the accused. On the day of trial, he learned for the first time that the trial judge had excused twenty-six of the seventy-four veniremen summoned. The excuses out of court violated a statute requiring that all requests for excuse be heard in open court. More than the minimum number of veniremen were present, and when it appeared that the original array might be exhausted thirty additional veniremen were called. Accused's motions to quash the jury panel and for a mistrial were overruled. On appeal …
Constitutional Law--Due Process And The Bill Of Rights--Self-Incrimination, F. William Hutchinson
Constitutional Law--Due Process And The Bill Of Rights--Self-Incrimination, F. William Hutchinson
Michigan Law Review
In the course of evolving workable doctrines which give substance and meaning to the skeletal phrase "due process of law" as used in the Fourteenth Amendment to limit state action, the Supreme Court has frequently been called on to determine the scope of the several prohibitions and guarantees of the Bill of Rights of the federal Constitution. This general problem, and more particularly the application of the Fifth Amendment self-incrimination clause to state criminal proceedings, was again presented in a recent case and resulted in a sharp division of opinion within the Court.
Constitutional Law-Due Process Clause-Right Of An Accused To Have Counsel Appointed By The Court, Frank H. Roberts
Constitutional Law-Due Process Clause-Right Of An Accused To Have Counsel Appointed By The Court, Frank H. Roberts
Michigan Law Review
On May 16, 1932, petitioner, then seventeen years of age, was arraigned, tried, convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to life imprisonment. Petitioner was without legal assistance throughout these proceedings, was never advised of his rights to counsel, was never informed of the consequences of a guilty plea and, as disclosed by the record, was considerably confused as to the effect of such plea. In 1945, he moved for leave to file a delayed motion for new trial in the court in which he was convicted, on the ground that there had been serious impairment of his …
Evidence-Police Regulation By Rules Of Evidence, John Barker Waite
Evidence-Police Regulation By Rules Of Evidence, John Barker Waite
Michigan Law Review
The judicial rules of Evidence, said their great expounder, "were never meant to be an indirect process of punishment." Yet twice the Supreme Court has promulgated new rules of evidence for precisely that purpose. The rule that evidence is inadmissible, regardless of its relevance and materiality, if it was obtained by unreasonable search was first suggested by Justice Bradley, who wrote the majority opinion in Boyd v. United States in 1886. The other rule was voiced in 1943 by Justice Frankfurter, writing the majority opinion in McNabb v. United States. And each rule demonstrates the inherent evil of judicial …
Criminal Law And Procedure - Remedies Available To Convicted Defendant When New Facts Are Found, Smith Warder
Criminal Law And Procedure - Remedies Available To Convicted Defendant When New Facts Are Found, Smith Warder
Michigan Law Review
Due to its haphazard growth and evolution, the Anglo-American system of jurisprudence occasionally left gaping defects in its general contours. Many of these defects have been and are being filled, both by statute and by the continuing development of the common law. However, there is one case which re-occurs with distressing frequency where no satisfactory remedy has been developed and where this lack of remedy can have unjust or even barbaric results.
Criminal Law And Procedure - Extradition Of A Juvenile Delinquent, Felicia I. Hmiel
Criminal Law And Procedure - Extradition Of A Juvenile Delinquent, Felicia I. Hmiel
Michigan Law Review
The state of Georgia, by an acting justice of peace of a county, charged a thirteen-year-old boy with the crime of assault with intent to murder. Under the Georgia Criminal Code the offense was punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term of two to ten years. The boy was found in the state of New York, whereupon the governor of Georgia sent a requisition for extradition to the governor of New York. The boy defendant brought a habeas corpus proceeding in a New York court to obtain release from custody under the extradition warrant. Held, the defendant …
Libel And Slander - Privilege - Liability Of A Telegraph Company For Transmtiting A Libelous Message, Michigan Law Review
Libel And Slander - Privilege - Liability Of A Telegraph Company For Transmtiting A Libelous Message, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Defendant telegraph company transmitted to ten officers of an international union a telegram from members of a local union. The contents related to labor affairs and were admittedly libelous per se as to the plaintiff, naming him as "responsible for the murder of our brother officer Borson." Held, verdict for plaintiff set aside and new trial ordered, because plaintiff has failed to justify recovery by furnishing evidence of actual malice or bad faith by the defendant. Klein v. Western Union Tel Co., 257 App. Div. 336, 13 N. Y. S. (2d) 441 (1939), appeal withdrawn, (N. Y. 1939) …
Insurance - Legal Execution Of Insured As A Defense, G. Randall Price
Insurance - Legal Execution Of Insured As A Defense, G. Randall Price
Michigan Law Review
Insured was convicted of murder and legally executed by the state. Plaintiff is the beneficiary of his life insurance policy. Held, no recovery on the ground that the risk of legal execution was impliedly excepted in the policy as a matter of law. Southern Life & Health Ins. Co. v. Whitfield, (Ala. 1939) 190 So. 276.
Criminal Law And Procedure - Admissibility Of Confessions - Exhortations To Tell The Truth, Dan K. Cook
Criminal Law And Procedure - Admissibility Of Confessions - Exhortations To Tell The Truth, Dan K. Cook
Michigan Law Review
Defendant, while in the custody of police officers, confessed to the crime of murder. It was shown that the police officers during the course of defendant's examination, stated to the defendant that "it was better for him to tell the whole truth," and ''You are not telling the truth, give us the truth on this," "You might as well tell the truth; to me now," "I advise you to tell the truth in this case." In the subsequent prosecution of the defendant for murder, it was held that the confession was properly admissible notwithstanding these statements by the officers. Commonwealth …
Insurance Beneficiary's Right To Recover When He Has Caused Death Of Insured, Michigan Law Review
Insurance Beneficiary's Right To Recover When He Has Caused Death Of Insured, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
The insured died from bullet wounds inflicted by a revolver in the hand of the beneficiary. After there had been an indictment for murder the beneficiary pleaded guilty to so much of the indictment as charged manslaughter. The beneficiary sued on the insurance policy. The Supreme Court of Massachusetts held that there was error in directing a verdict for the insurer because a beneficiary who is guilty of manslaughter, where there was no intentional injury of a kind likely to cause death, is not barred from recovering on the policy. Minasian v. Aetna Life Insurance Co., (Mass. 1936) 3 …
Criminal Law And Procedure-Admissibility Of Evidence-Rule As To Determination Of Preliminary Question Of Fact
Michigan Law Review
Following his arrest for murder, the defendant was held thirty-six hours before being arraigned for the purpose of obtaining a confession. On trial the defendant objected to introduction of the confession on the ground that it was involuntary, having been induced by wrongful detention and beating by the police. Held, failure, after due request, to instruct the jury that unnecessary delay in arraignment is prohibited by law and that such delay might be considered in determining whether or not the confession was voluntary was reversible error. People v. Alex, (N. Y. 1934) 192 N. E. 289.
Criminal Law And Procedure - Inexperience Of Defense Attorney As Denial Of Fair Trial
Criminal Law And Procedure - Inexperience Of Defense Attorney As Denial Of Fair Trial
Michigan Law Review
Defendant was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to be electrocuted. He now claims he was denied a fair trial as the attorney appointed by the circuit court to defend him was inexperienced, having practiced only thirteen months. Held, that inasmuch as the nature and extent of the attorney's practice was not shown and the record showed the defense was carried on in a highly creditable manner, the inexperience of defendant's attorney was not a denial of a fair trial. McGuire v. State, ( Ark. 1934) 74 S. w. (2d) 235.
Insurance - Civil Death Of Insured As Effecting Acceleration Of Endowment Policy
Insurance - Civil Death Of Insured As Effecting Acceleration Of Endowment Policy
Michigan Law Review
An endowment policy was made payable to insured if he should live to the policy anniversary date next preceding his sixtieth birthday, otherwise to his executors or administrators. Four years after the policy was taken out, insured was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his wife. A statute provided that the estate of a person incarcerated for life "shall be administered upon and distributed, and his contracts and relations to persons and things are affected, in all respects, as if he were dead." In an action on the policy by the administrator of insured, held, that imprisonment of insured …
Crimes-Influence From The Defendants Failure To Testify
Crimes-Influence From The Defendants Failure To Testify
Michigan Law Review
The testimony given on a trial for murder indicated that the defendant had shot and killed one of his pursuers while fleeing the scene of a robbery in which he had taken a principal part. The trial court instructed the jury that the defendant, while not compellable, was competent to be a witness in his own behalf; and that although his failure to take the stand raised no presumption of his guilt, if facts were testified to which were accusations against the defendant which he could by his oath deny, and he failed to take the stand in his own …