Criminal Law Commons^™

State V. Boston, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 20 (March. 31, 2016), Nancy Snow

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and related crimes. Defendant was sentenced to death of each murder. The district court denied Defendant’s motion to suppress statements he made in two interviews with police after his initial appearance before a magistrate. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the district court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion to suppress, as his Sixth Amendment right to counsel attached at his initial appearance before the magistrate, but Defendant waived his right to …

Phong T. Vu V. Second Jud. Dist. Ct. Of Nev., 123 Nev. Adv. Op. 21 (Mar. 31, 2016), Chelsea Finnegan

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Under NRS 433A.310(1)(b), a district court may issue an order of involuntary admittance to a mental health facility if there is clear and convincing evidence that the person is likely to harm himself or others. Here, the Court held that (1) a district court is not required to wait 30 days for a final order under NRS 433A.310(1)(b) before transmitting an involuntary admission to the proper agency, and (2) based on sufficient evidence, the district court properly concluded the petitioner should be admitted to a mental health facility.

Penanganan Konflik Sosial Dengan Pendekatan Keadilan Restoratif, - Sukardi

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Restorative Justice approach in conflict resolution is basically a new method of settling disputes, especially in the concept-criminal cases, but using traditional patterns whose values have no concept of local wisdom in each culture. Therefore, the application of restorative justice approach in conflict resolution, in fact is the use of traditional patterns with the values of the resolution of the existing conflicts in wisdom local culture, with a focus on fulfillment of justice victims, through the concept of equality, partnership, reconciliation and participation.

Like Snow To The Eskimos And Trump To The Republican Party: The Ali's Many Words For, And Shifting Pronouncements About, "Affirmative Consent", Kevin Cole

Faculty Scholarship

This short piece examines changes from prior drafts in the most recent draft (Preliminary Draft No. 6) of the American Law Institute's project on sexual assault law.

Community Control Over Camera Surveillance: A Response To Bennett Capers’S Crime, Surveillance, And Communities, Christopher Slobogin

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Interrogation First, Miranda Warnings Afterward: A Critical Analysis Of The Supreme Court's Approach To Delayed Miranda Warnings, Joshua I. Rodriguez

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Crime, Surveillance, And Communities, Bennett Capers

Fordham Urban Law Journal

We have become a surveillance state. Cameras—both those controlled by the state, and those installed by private entities—watch our every move, at least in public. For the most part, courts have deemed this public surveillance to be beyond the purview of the Fourth Amendment, meaning that it goes largely unregulated—a cause for alarm for many civil libertarians. This Article challenges these views and suggests that we must listen to communities in thinking about cameras and other surveillance technologies. For many communities, public surveillance not only has the benefit of deterring crime and aiding in the apprehension of criminals. It can …

Shakin' And Bakin': The Supreme Court's Remarkable Criminal Law Rulings Of The 1999 Term, William E. Hellerstein

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The ‘Hart’ Of The (Mr.) Big Problem, Adelina Iftene

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Hart reviewed the application and evidentiary consequences of Mr. Big operation. For the majority, Moldaver J. changed the common law confessions rule so that it applies in Mr. Big scenarios based on a two-pronged test. Immediately after Hart, the SCC rendered a new decision in R v Mack where the two pronged test was leniently applied in favour of the Crown. In this article I argue that the SCC approach in Hart and its application in Mack failed to address to the core problems that Mr. Big operations pose. It …

The Uneven Playing Field: Ethical Disparities Between The Prosecution And Defense Functions In Criminal Cases, Thomas F. Liotti, Christopher Zeh

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Law Professor's Sabbatical In District Attorney's Office, Bobby Marzine Harges

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fixing Bail, Samuel R. Wiseman

Scholarly Publications

A large portion of the jail population consists of criminal defendants whose guilt has yet to be established. A growing number of states have attempted to reduce jail populations in light of budget concerns, and many federal and state statutes already direct judges to detain defendants only if alternative conditions will not protect society or prevent pretrial flight. Despite these legislative directives, judges continue to jail too many defendants pretrial. Indeed, although statutes often direct judges not to impose financial conditions leading to detention, many pretrial detainees are in jail because they could not afford the bond set by a …

The Prosecutor's Turn, Bennett Capers

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Birchfield V. North Dakota:Why The United States Supreme Court Should Rely On Riley V. California To Hold That Criminalizing A Suspect’S Refusal To Consent To A Warrantless Blood Test Violates The Fourth Amendment, Adam Lamparello, Cynthia Swann

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Humane Proposals For Swift And Painless Death, Bryce Buchmann

Law Student Publications

This comment will provide reasons why lethal injection is not the appropriate method of execution in the United States, discuss factors that should be considered in selecting a method of execution and conclude that several alternative methods of punishment are preferable to lethal injection. Part I of this comment will detail the history of lethal injection in the United States and the issues associated with the practice. Part II examines how the government determines which method of execution is appropriate. Finally, Part III provides proposals for more humane punishment and concludes the comment.

Plea Bargain Negotiations: Defining Competence Beyond Lafler And Frye, Cynthia Alkon

Faculty Scholarship

In the companion cases of Lafler v. Cooper and Missouri v. Frye the U.S. Supreme Court held that there is a right to effective assistance of counsel during plea bargaining. However, the Court defined effective assistance of counsel in only one narrow phase of plea bargaining: the client counseling phase. The Court said it would not look more broadly at the negotiation process itself as "[b]argaining is, by its nature, defined to a substantial degree by personal style.” This statement indicates that the Court does not fully understanding developments in the field of negotiation over the last thirty years. Negotiation …

Thinking Outside The Jury Box: Deploying The Grand Jury In The Guilty Plea Process, Roger Fairfax

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

There is near-universal agreement that the engine of the modern American criminal justice system is plea bargaining.'Given the ubiquity of plea bargaining, the Supreme Court and the rest of the legal community have begun setting their sights on how the practice might be better regulated. At the same time, many hold the view that the grand jury has outlived its usefulness in the administration of criminal justice and is a relic of a time gone by. Even before recent calls for the abolition of the grand jury in the wake of high-profile cases that seemed to cast the institution in …

Rippo V. State, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 11 (Feb. 25, 2016), Kristian Kaskla

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Rippo’s claim, that the ineffective assistance of the counsel who represented him in the first post conviction hearing excused the procedural bars to claims raised in the second petition, was rejected. The Court provided guidance on two issues related to whether an ineffective-assistance-of-postconviction-counsel claim has been raised in a timely fashion: (1) when does a postconviction-counsel claim reasonably become available, and (2) what is a reasonable time thereafter in which the claim must be asserted. They held on (1) that the factual basis for such a claim is not reasonably available until the conclusion of postconviction proceedings in which the …

Quisano V. State, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 9 (February 18, 2016), Michael Hua

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

This court affirmed an appeal from a judgment of conviction, pursuant to an Alford plea, of voluntary manslaughter and child abuse, neglect, or endangerment with substantial bodily harm holding:

(1) Brady violations do not occur when the evidence in question is not favorable to the defendant;

(2) Prosecutors have a strict duty to disclose under their own open-file policy until sentencing proceedings; and,

(3) Media outlets require a written by the district court to electronically cover proceedings unless nonconstitutional or harmless error results in such coverage.

Padilla V. Kentucky: Sound And Fury, Or Transformative Impact, Steven Zeidman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Realizing Padilla’S Promise: Ensuring Noncitizen Defendants Are Advised Of The Immigration Consequences Of A Criminal Conviction, Yolanda Vàzquez

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Gauntlet Thrown: The Transformative Potential Of Padilla V. Kentucky, Malia Brink

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

How Bad Arrests Lead To Bad Prosecution: Exploring The Impact Of Prior Arrests On Plea Bargaining, Besiki Luka Kutateladze, Victoria Z. Lawson

Cardozo Law Review

Arrests and arrest records play an important role in the criminal justice system. Police agencies customarily use suspects' prior record for investigative purposes, and courts use this information to set bail. Yet many arrest practices, and particularly stop-and-frisk, have long been criticized for disproportionately targeting young black and Latino men, and for their overall negative effect on communities of color. Not surprisingly then, arrest practices have received much attention, including among legal scholars and social scientists. However, what effect a prior arrest record has on other decision points, including prosecutorial decision making, is relatively unknown. In particular, we have a …

The Never Ending Tale: Racism And Inequality In The Era Of Broken Windows, Jonathan Oberman, Kendea Johnson

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting Juveniles In Adult Facilities From Sexual Abuse: Best Practices For Implementing The Youthful Inmate Standard, Brenda V. Smith

Research Reports & White Papers

Housing youth who are prosecuted and convicted as adults in adult facilities is challenging and creates significant dilemmas for correctional agencies. In particular, should such “youthful inmates” be treated as part of the regular adult population or should these youth be housed in facilities still under the purview of the adult corrections agency but in facilities designated for youth? More narrowly, should youthful inmates who remain in an adult facility be held in separate housing blocks? Or, should youthful inmates in adult correctional facilities be housed in protective custody or solitary confinement for their protection? How should agencies provide required …

The Degradation Of Civil Society And Hyper-Aggressive Policing In Communities Of Color In New York City, Donna Lieberman, Kara Dansky

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Duty Of Candor In The Digital Age: The Need For Heightened Judicial Supervision Of Stingray Searches, Andrew Hemmer

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This Note explores the constitutional implications of the use of a device known as the “Stingray” in criminal investigations. This device masquerades as a cell phone tower and forces all cell phones within a considerable range to connect to it, transmitting data and allowing law enforcement to ascertain the location of each cell phone. The use of Stingrays raises important Fourth Amendment concerns that have been brought to light most significantly by the 2008 federal prosecution of Daniel Rigmaiden. This Note argues that Stingray use constitutes a Fourth Amendment search and that a new standard of warrant requirements is needed …

Florida's Stand Your Ground Regime: Legislative Direction, Prosecutorial Discretion, Public Pressures, And The Legitimization Of The Criminal Justice System, Mary Elizabeth Castillo

Journal of Legislation

This note seeks to examine the tripartite relationship between legislative delegation, prosecutorial discretion, and public pressures in the context of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" regime. In the context of high profile criminal cases, a prosecutor faces significant public and political pressures that may influence her exercise of discretion in that case. Ultimately, Castillo argues that when a prosecutor succumbs to these pressures, it undermines her expertise, experience and exercise of discretion, and undercuts the legitimacy of the criminal justice system as a whole.

Is The American Criminal Jury System In Criminal Trials Worthy Of Export To Iraq?, Mohammed J. Ailan

Law Student Scholarship

The American criminal jury system has a long, ancient history. It went through several stages throughout history until it became a sophisticated institution for educating the American people about the law in their country. Jury duty is one of the privileges of U.S. citizenship. This thesis shows how the criminal justice system currently works in the United States. This paper discusses issues such as the hung jury, the capital jury, checking abuses of power, and jury nullification. This thesis focuses on other countries that have recently adopted the criminal jury system, such as Spain and Russia, after they adopted democracy. …

Muscle Memory And The Local Concentration Of Capital Punishment, Lee B. Kovarsky

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.