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Judicial Abuse Of "Process": Examining The Applicability Of Section 2f1.1(B)(4)(B) Of The Federal Sentencing Guidelines To Bankruptcy Fraud, Hideaki Sano Feb 2000

Judicial Abuse Of "Process": Examining The Applicability Of Section 2f1.1(B)(4)(B) Of The Federal Sentencing Guidelines To Bankruptcy Fraud, Hideaki Sano

Michigan Law Review

The proliferation of bankruptcy filings over the past decade has coincided with a comparable increase in the incidence of bankruptcy fraud. In response to this growing problem, the United States Department of Justice has placed greater emphasis on federal prosecution of bankruptcy fraud. As a result, federal judges are increasingly applying the Federal Sentencing Guidelines ("Guidelines") to bankruptcy fraud and have begun to implement uniform standards for sentencing defendants convicted of this crime. Congress enacted the Guidelines pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. In instituting the Guidelines, Congress sought honesty, reasonable uniformity, and proportionality in sentencing. Congress attempted …


The Case Against Section 1983 Immunity For Witnesses Who Conspire With A State Official To Present Perjured Testimony, Jennifer S. Zbytowski Jun 1995

The Case Against Section 1983 Immunity For Witnesses Who Conspire With A State Official To Present Perjured Testimony, Jennifer S. Zbytowski

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that witnesses who conspire with a state official to present perjured testimony at a judicial proceeding should not have absolute immunity from a section 1983 suit for damages. Part I provides background information on section 1983 and explains why a witness-state conspiracy satisfies the requirements of a section 1983 cause of action. Part I also summarizes the Supreme Court's doctrinal approach to section 1983 immunity. Finally, Part I examines two Supreme Court cases which are relevant to the issue of immunity for witness conspirators: Briscoe v. LaHue, and Malley v. Briggs. Part II applies the …


I Cannot Tell A Lie: The Standard For New Trial In False Testimony Cases, Daniel Wolf Aug 1985

I Cannot Tell A Lie: The Standard For New Trial In False Testimony Cases, Daniel Wolf

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines the question of what standard should be used for granting a new trial when a defendant's conviction is alleged to have been based, at least in part, on false testimony. Part I demonstrates the failure of the existing standards to strike a satisfactory balance between defendants' rights and the efficient administration of the criminal justice system. Part II argues that motions for retrial based upon false testimony should be governed by a standard drawn not only from newly discovered evidence cases generally, but also from cases involving prosecutorial misconduct. Finally, Part III suggests that the proper test …


Professional Responsibility Of The Criminal Defense Lawyer: The Three Hardest Questions, Monroe H. Freedman Jan 1966

Professional Responsibility Of The Criminal Defense Lawyer: The Three Hardest Questions, Monroe H. Freedman

Michigan Law Review

In almost any area of legal counseling and advocacy, the lawyer may be faced with the dilemma of either betraying the confidential communications of his client or participating to some extent in the purposeful deception of the court. This problem is nowhere more acute than in the practice of criminal law, particularly in the representation of the indigent accused.


The Purposes Of Advocacy And The Limits Of Confidentiality, John T. Noonan Jr. Jan 1966

The Purposes Of Advocacy And The Limits Of Confidentiality, John T. Noonan Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The privilege of confidentiality between lawyer and client is a significant barrier to the search for truth and the attainment of justice. Since bankers, accountants, psychiatrists, and confessors are not entitled at common law to confidentiality in their relationships with those with whom they deal, one may well inquire why lawyers possess such an extraordinary privilege. In the early English case which established the lawyer-client privilege, counsel offered several justifications: (I) A "gentleman of character" does not disclose his client's secrets. (2) An attorney identifies himself with his client, and it would be "contrary to the rules of natural justice …


Professional Ethics In Criminal Trials: A View Of Defense Counsel's Responsibility, David G. Bress Jan 1966

Professional Ethics In Criminal Trials: A View Of Defense Counsel's Responsibility, David G. Bress

Michigan Law Review

More than thirty years ago, in Berger v. United States, Mr. Justice Sutherland described the heavy and multiple responsibility assumed by a prosecutor. The United States Attorney, he asserted, not only must be an advocate for the prosecution, but also must ensure that justice prevails. The Justice stated: "It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one."


Advising A Witness To Exercise His Privilege Against Self-Incrimination When The Adviser's Motive Is To Protect Himself Is An Obstruction Of Justice-Cole V. United States, Michigan Law Review Jun 1965

Advising A Witness To Exercise His Privilege Against Self-Incrimination When The Adviser's Motive Is To Protect Himself Is An Obstruction Of Justice-Cole V. United States, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, who had perjured himself before a federal grand jury, feared that the testimony of his former employee before the same body would reveal the perjury. Knowing that the employee had previously filed a false affidavit with the McClellan Committee, defendant was able to persuade him to invoke his constitutional privilege against self-incrimination. When the former employee later voluntarily made a full disclosure to government agents, defendant was indicted by a second grand jury and convicted of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the administration of justice in violation of section 1503 of the Federal Criminal Code. On appeal to the Court …


Grand Jury Secrecy, Richard M. Calkins Jan 1965

Grand Jury Secrecy, Richard M. Calkins

Michigan Law Review

When a leading state such as Illinois enacts "reform" legislation, an impact on the legislatures of other jurisdictions may be anticipated. Accordingly, a need exists for an examination of this legislation in the light of the common-law background of grand jury secrecy and for a further analysis of it in the face of the growing trend toward more liberalized discovery of grand jury minutes in other jurisdictions. It is the contention of the author that such an empirical study will demonstrate that this legislation adopted by Illinois is contrary to all modern judicial thinking and is, in fact, a retrogressive …


Betts V. Brady Twenty Years Later: The Right To Counself And Due Process Values, Yale Kamisar Dec 1962

Betts V. Brady Twenty Years Later: The Right To Counself And Due Process Values, Yale Kamisar

Michigan Law Review

I am quite distressed by talk that the landmark case of Mapp v. Ohio "suggests by analogy" that the Court may now overrule Betts v. Brady. For whether one talks about the fourth or the sixth amendment, there is much to be said for Justice Harlan's dissenting views in Mapp. "[W]hatever configurations ... have been developed in the particularizing federal precedents" should not be "deemed a part of 'ordered liberty,' and as such ... enforceable against the States .... [W]e would not be true to the Fourteenth Amendment were we merely to stretch the general principle [ of …


Packer: Ex-Communist Witnesses, Malcolm Sharp Nov 1962

Packer: Ex-Communist Witnesses, Malcolm Sharp

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Ex-Communist Witnesses. By Herbert L. Packer


Evidence - Dead Man's Statute - Interpretation Of "Transaction", Howard N. Nemerovski S.Ed. Jun 1957

Evidence - Dead Man's Statute - Interpretation Of "Transaction", Howard N. Nemerovski S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was a passenger in an automobile which collided with one driven by defendant's intestate. Both drivers were killed, and plaintiff sued defendant, administrator of intestate's estate, for personal injuries, alleging negligence. There were no other eye-witnesses to the collision, and the trial court, relying upon the Alabama dead man's statute, would not permit plaintiff to testify to any of the details or circumstances of the accident, or even to the fact that she had been involved in an accident with an automobile driven by the decedent. The jury found for defendant. On appeal, held, reversed. Plaintiff, passenger in …


Criminal Law - Contradictory Statements Under Oath As Grounds For Perjury In The Federal Courts, Richard M. Adams S.Ed. Jun 1955

Criminal Law - Contradictory Statements Under Oath As Grounds For Perjury In The Federal Courts, Richard M. Adams S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Perjury has frequently been described as one of the more difficult convictions to obtain, and the truth of this saying is no better illustrated than in the case of Harvey Matusow. During the two years in which ex-Communist Matusow served as a professional government witness, he accused 180 or more persons as being members of the Communist Party or Communist sympathizers. This same witness has now described himself as a "habitual and perpetual liar" and has publicly admitted that all of his previous testimony was false. On the strength of this recantation, motions were filed for a new trial in …


Constitutional Law-Congressional Committees-Quorum, G. B. Myers S.Ed. Mar 1950

Constitutional Law-Congressional Committees-Quorum, G. B. Myers S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, having testified falsely before a committee of the House of Representatives, was convicted of perjury. On trial, petitioner contested the competency of the committee, maintaining that a quorum must actually be present when the testimony is given. Evidence was offered tending to show that though there was a record quorum at the beginning of the meeting in question, this quorum was not maintained at the time petitioner testified. The trial court agreed that presence of a quorum was essential, but charged, in effect, that this requirement is satisfied by a showing of a record quorum at the outset together …


Criminal Law And Procedure - Remedies Available To Convicted Defendant When New Facts Are Found, Smith Warder Apr 1941

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.


Jury-Evidence-Privilege Of Jury Deliberations Apr 1933

Jury-Evidence-Privilege Of Jury Deliberations

Michigan Law Review

The extent to which affidavits of jurors anent proceedings in the jury room can be used, when not aimed at impeaching their verdict, is a question upon which there is little affirmative authority. The law seems clear since Bushell's case that a juror cannot be punished for his finding of fact; what is more, his vote within the jury room as well as his debates seem to be privileged absolutely on grounds of policy.


Attorney And Client - Disbarment - False Testimony Jan 1932

Attorney And Client - Disbarment - False Testimony

Michigan Law Review

A, an attorney, as a witness for his client in a suit against the latter, testified falsely under oath with knowledge of the fact. In proceedings for disbarment, during which A admitted the falsity of his testimony, held, his conduct warranted suspension from the bar for one year. Green v. State Bar ( Cal. 1931 ) 2 Pac. ( 2d) 340.


Decency At The Bar Dec 1931

Decency At The Bar

Michigan Law Review

One day, during the trial of the notorious Al Capone in the Federal Building in Chicago, immediately after an adjournment, officers stepped up to a man by the name of D'Andrea in the corridor outside the court room and removed from his person a business-like looking gun. The gentleman so unburdened is said to have been Mr. Capone's bodyguard, his attendant inside and outside the court room. After that, Mr. Capone had to get along without that particular guardian, for Judge Wilkerson, before whom the trial was conducted, ordered the henchman confined in jail. After the main case had been …


Evidence By Surviving Participant Of A Contract Or Other Transaction Jan 1926

Evidence By Surviving Participant Of A Contract Or Other Transaction

Michigan Law Review

Among the most prolific and endless sources of litigation of recent times are the so-called "dead man statutes", which forbid the surviving participant in a contract or other transaction to testify regarding it unless the opposing party waives the restriction. These statutes lay down a rule of thumb which treats all cases, meritorious or unmeritorious, exactly the same. In attempting to apply them to the cases the courts have made one fine distinction after another, only to interject still finer ones in between, until the whole· makes a labyrinth in which suitor and court have often found themselves hopelessly lost. …


Witnesses--When Interpreters May Be Used Nov 1925

Witnesses--When Interpreters May Be Used

Michigan Law Review

A novel situation in regard to the use of interpreters was presented in People v. Walker (Cal. App. 1924) 231 Pac. 572. The prosecution called a witness who was brought in in a crippled and weak condition. He was asked questions, but "the witness could give forth no sound, not even a whisper, by means of the organs of Speech." While the record was not clear whether there was any movement of his lips whatever, at least there was none which conveyed to any person but his wife the impression that he attempted to put forth articulate speech in response …


Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review May 1922

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Assignments- Assignment of an Expectancy - Joseph and James were two of six children. A contract witnessed "that Joseph Snyder has sold to James Snyder one undivided sixth of the real estate owned by the mother, Susan Snyder; to secure said interest to James after her death, the mother unites in the conveyance of said interest The said Joseph warrants and defends the interest from all claims." The contract was signed by Joseph and by the mother. Held, Joseph had no estate which he could convey, and the contract, though made with the consent of the mother, was unenforceable either …