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West Virginia Law Review

2024

Constitutional law

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

The Cartoon Physics Of The Court-Martial, John M. Bickers Apr 2024

The Cartoon Physics Of The Court-Martial, John M. Bickers

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.


Meet The New Chief, Same As The Old Chief: A Coherent Solution To The Problem Of Prior Conviction Proof Procedures, Robert Barnhart Apr 2024

Meet The New Chief, Same As The Old Chief: A Coherent Solution To The Problem Of Prior Conviction Proof Procedures, Robert Barnhart

West Virginia Law Review

Conventional wisdom tells attorneys they can avoid having the jury learn about criminal defendants’ prior convictions if the client exercises their right to not testify at trial. Conventional wisdom is wrong. Myriad status crimes, sentence enhancing specifications, and substantive offenses make prior convictions an element of the offense, ensuring the prosecution can introduce them as a matter of course during the prosecution’s case-in-chief. The seminal Supreme Court Case, Old Chief v. United States, provided some relief to criminal defendants by allowing them to stipulate to their status as a felon prohibited from possessing weapons to avoid having the jury learn …