Law Commons^™

Circumventing Congress: How The Federal Courts Opened The Door To Impeaching Criminal Defendants With Prior Convictions, Jeffrey Bellin

Faculty Publications

This Article spotlights the flawed analytical framework at the heart of the federal courts’ approach to one of the most controversial trial practices in American criminal jurisprudence — the admission of prior convictions to impeach the credibility of defendants who testify. As the Article explains, the flawed approach is a byproduct of the courts’ reliance on a five-factor analytical framework to implement the governing legal standard enacted by Congress in Federal Rule of Evidence 609. Tracing the evolution of the fivefactor framework from its roots in pre-Rule 609 case law, the Article demonstrates that the courts’ reinterpretation of the framework …

Deregulating Guilt: The Information Culture Of The Criminal System, Alexandra Natapoff

Alexandra Natapoff

De La Denuncia A La Sanción: Sistema Penal Peruano Y Procesamiento De Delitos Sexuales, Beatriz Ramirez, Clea Guerra

Beatriz Ramirez

Es una publicación que analiza la tramitación de los delitos contra la libertad sexual en el Perú. Analiza la legislación procesal vigente aún en varias regiones del país: el Codigo de Procedimientos Penales. No se considera el proceso que viene siendo implementado con el nuevo Código Procesal Penal del año 2004.

Summary Of Valdez V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 97, Elham Roohani

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Cumulative effect of prosecutorial misconduct and the abuse of discretion on the part of the district court through a failure to give the jury a written bifurcation instruction and the resultant effect of juror misconduct warrants reversal warranted reversal of a first-degree murder and attempted murder conviction.

The Chesterfield/Colonial Heights Drug Court: A Partnership Between The Criminal Justice System And The Treatment Community, Hon. Frederick G. Rockwell Iii

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Criminal Law And Procedure, Marla G. Decker, Stephen R. Mccullough

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legitimating Criminal Justice Through Community Engagement: Lessons From The Jury Experience, Mark Findlay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Fundamentally justifying the jury is the opportunity it provides for community participation in criminal justice and the legitimation function that offers. Indeed, a strong political motivation for the recent introduction of jury trial in several transitional jurisdictions is the public confidence it transfers to the system at large. Recent research on juror comprehension and satisfaction suggests the possibility of interrogating the participation/confidence nexus more intricately. This note argues that it is the quality of the participation and the participant satisfaction which eventuates that predicts juror confidence. Where the legitimacy of criminal justice through juror participation is to be maximised then …

Summary Of State V. Harte, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 82, Ian Houston

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a district court order partially granting a post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus in a death penalty case.

Summary Of Hernandez V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. 83, Julian R. Gregory

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a district court order denying Defendant’s post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus in a capital case.

Summary Of Rubio V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 87, Holly Cheong

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a district court order denying relief for ineffective assistance in a criminal case resulting in deportation.

Everyone Deserves Defense, Peter Keane

Publications

In his decades as a public defender, Peter Keane represented murderers and other criminals as skillfully as he could – even when he knew they were guilty . Keane believes every one, no matter what they’ve done, deserves to have somebody on their side.

Coming Soon To A Court Near You – Convicting The Unrepresented At The Bail Stage: An Autopsy Of A State High Court’S Sua Sponte Rejection Of Indigent Defendants’ Right To Counsel, Douglas L. Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

Recently, the Maryland Court of Appeals became the first state court of last resort to reject Gideon v. Wainwright’s guarantee of counsel at the bail stage. In ruling sua sponte that bail is not a critical stage entitling indigent defendants to invoke their constitutional right to counsel, the Fenner Court held that statements offered by an unrepresented and non-Mirandized indigent defendant were admissible at trial. I contend that the Fenner ruling may transform the pretrial fact-gathering process by providing prosecutors with an additional source of evidence against indigent defendants, namely statements made at a judicial proceeding for the purpose of …

Summary Of Davidson V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. 76, Moorea Katz

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a criminal conviction of two counts of burglary, two counts of robbery, two counts of battery, and adjudication as a habitual criminal.

Summary Of Knipes V State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 79, Miranda Mahe

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a conviction of driving under the influence causing death on the basis that the district court failed to follow the procedural safeguards for juror questioning.

Maintaining The Presumption Of Innocence In Date Rape Trials Through The Use Of Language Orders: State V. Safi And The Banning Of The Word "Rape", Jason Wool

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This note evaluates the use of language orders in date rape trials in which the defense is consent through a case study of State v. Safi, in which Tory Bowen claims that Pamir Safi date raped her. In that case, the trial judge granted a motion by the defense to prevent the prosecution and any of their witnesses from using words such as "rape" and "sexual assault." Using State v. Safi as a starting point, the author examines the use of such trial orders from the perspective of both defendants and victims. The author concludes that a modified version of …

Prosecutors' New Ethical Duty Relating To Wrongful Convictions, Niki Kuckes

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Death By A Thousand Cases: After Booker, Rita, And Gall, The Guidelines Still Violate The Sixth Amendment, David C. Holman

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Danforth, Retroactivity, And Federalism, J. Thomas Sullivan

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Fall And Rise Of Qualified Immunity: From Hope To Harris, Mark R. Brown

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Drug Inadmissibility, Nancy Morawetz

William & Mary Law Review

Changes in federal statutory policy, state criminal justice laws, and federal enforcement initiatives have led to an inflexible and zero tolerance immigration policy with respect to minor drug use. This Article traces the evolution of the statutory scheme and how various provisions in state and federal law interact to create the current policy. It proceeds to investigate the broad reach of these rules if they are fully enforced, in light of the widespread lifetime experience with minor drug use both in the United States and abroad. Drawing on the experience of law enforcement agencies that have abandoned similarly rigid rules, …

Get In The Game Or Get Out Of The Way: Fixing The Politics Of Death, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Case Of Weak Will And Wayward Desire., Vera Bergelson

Rutgers Law School (Newark) Faculty Papers

In this article, I confront Garvey¡¯s argument that a weak-willed individual deserves partial excuse for trying to resist a strong desire that pushes him toward commission of a criminal act even though in the end he unreasonably abandons his resistance and commits the crime.

I attempt to refute Garvey¡¯s argument on two counts: one, I question whether the law should indeed provide mitigation to such an offender; and two, I argue that, even if it should, this mitigation may not come in the form of a partial defense. Defenses, even partial, are desert based, and there is nothing in Garvey¡¯s …

Summary Of Mitchell V. State, 122 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 107, Aubree Nielsen

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Donald Mitchell appeals his second-degree murder conviction. Mitchell argues that the district court trial contained five procedural errors, the most significant being a violation of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Summary Of Chartier V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 66, Kelly Stout

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

This case is an appeal from a jury conviction in district court on one count of conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon.

Summary Of Picetti V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 68, Kristopher Zeppenfeld

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

This appeal arises from a judgment of conviction, pursuant to a guilty plea, of one count of driving under the influence (DUI), which is his third offense within 7 years, a class B felony. Paul Thomas Picetti (“Picetti”) contends that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress his prior DUI convictions. Moreover, he claims the district court erroneously refused to allow him an opportunity to apply for a treatment program established in NRS 484.379412 for third offense DUI offenders.

Summary Of Fergusen V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 69, Tara Zimmerman

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a judgment of conviction, upon jury verdict, of one count each of burglary, sexual assault, robbery, and first-degree kidnapping.

Brief Of Amicus Curiae In Support Of Appellants, Quinton Richmond, Et Al., V. The District Court Of Maryland, Et Al., No. 08-54, Brenda Bratton Blom, Robert Rubinson, Phillip J. Closius

Court Briefs

Amici curiae brief filed by 78 faculty members from the University of Maryland School of Law and the University of Baltimore School of Law, on behalf of Appellants Quinton Richmond, et al. Amicus members felt the need to comment on the application and implications of the statutory right to counsel under Maryland law for indigent criminal defendants. The issue before the Court of Appeals was whether the Court’s previous holding in McCarter v. State, 363 Md. 705 (2001), that the plain language of the Maryland Public Defender Act created a right to counsel during all stages of a criminal …

The Significance (If Any) For The Federal Criminal Justice System Of Advances In Lie Detector Technology, Jeffrey Bellin

Faculty Publications

Against a backdrop of accelerating developments in the science of lie detection certain to reopen the debate on the reliability and therefore admissibility of lie detector evidence in the federal courts, this Article examines whether the prohibition on hearsay evidence (or other evidentiary objections) will preclude admissibility of even scientifically reliable lie detector evidence. The Article concludes that the hearsay prohibition, which has been largely ignored by courts and commentators, is the primary obstacle to the future admission of scientifically valid lie detector evidence. The Article also suggests a potential solution to the hearsay problem that may allow admission of …

The Most Dangerous Power Of The Prosecutor, Bennett L. Gershman

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Prosecutions Under The Adam Walsh Act: Is America Keeping Its Promise?, Emily A. White

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.