Criminal Law Commons^™

Criminal Law And Procedure, Michael T. Judge, Stephen R. Mccullough

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking The Constitutional Criminal Procedure Of Juvenile Transfer Hearings: Apprendi, Adult Punishment And Adult Process, Jenny E. Carroll

Faculty Scholarship

This article makes valuable new contributions to the burgeoning scholarly discourse on Apprendi v. New Jersey-a landmark decision that celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. It builds on the author's experience as a public defender, during which she pioneered the surprising but straightforward argument that under Apprendi, findings that justify transferring a juvenile to adult court must be proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Apprendi requires that any fact authorizing a sentence higher than the otherwise applicable statutory maximum must be found by a jury using a beyond a reasonable doubt standard. This tenet applies directly to juvenile …

Summary Of Mendoza-Lobos V. State, 125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 49, Ryan Mcinerney

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appellant Douglas Mendoza-Lobos was convicted of one count each of burglary, robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, sexual assault with the use of a deadly weapon, attempted sexual assault with the use of a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, and battery with a deadly weapon. On appeal, Mendoza-Lobos argued that the district court failed to comply with NRS 193.165(1) in imposing the sentences for the deadly weapon enhancements because it failed to articulate sufficient findings on the record. As a preliminary matter, the Court addressed whether NRS 193.165(1) (1) violated the separation-of-powers doctrine and (2) required …

Summary Of Wyman V. State, 125 Nev. Adv. Op. 46, Karlee Phelps

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a judgment of conviction for second-degree murder, challenging the district court’s denial of Appellant’s motion to dismiss for pre-indictment delay and Appellant’s motion for certificate of materiality to obtain out-of-state mental health records.

Performing Discretion Or Performing Discrimination: An Analysis Of Race And Ritual In Batson Decisions In Capital Jury Selection, Melynda J. Price

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Research shows the mere presence of Blacks on capital juries--on the rare occasions they are seated--can mean the difference between life and death. Peremptory challenges are the primary method to remove these pivotal participants. Batson v. Kentucky developed hearings as an immediate remedy for the unconstitutional removal of jurors through racially motivated peremptory challenges. These proceedings have become rituals that sanction continued bias in the jury selection process and ultimately affect the outcome of capital trials. This Article deconstructs the role of the Batson ritual in legitimating the removal of African American jurors. These perfunctory hearings fail to meaningfully interrogate …

Stop The Killing: Potential Courtroom Use Of A Questionnaire That Predicts The Likelihood That A Victim Of Intimate Partner Violence Will Be Murdered By Her Partner, Amanda Hitt, Lynn Mclain

All Faculty Scholarship

Judges in domestic cases often underestimate the risk to a mother and her children that an angry and abusive father or other intimate partner poses. In a recent Maryland case, for example, two judges refused to deny a father visitation or require that visitation be supervised, despite the fact that the father had threatened suicide. During the father’s unsupervised visitation, he drowned all three of his children, then attempted to kill himself.

The Danger Assessment tool (the D.A.) developed by a Johns Hopkins Nursing professor and validated by herself and other social scientists shows how much the father’s thoughts of …

The Psychology Of Conflicts Of Interest In Criminal Cases, Tigran W. Eldred

Faculty Scholarship

This article demonstrates that current Sixth Amendment jurisprudence fails to account for how defense lawyers respond to conflicts of interest in criminal cases. Too often, the Supreme Court has made assumptions about the behavior of defense lawyers without empirical support. The result has been a confusing doctrinal landscape, which both relies upon and questions the ability of defense lawyers to address and resolve conflicts of interest.

This article fills the gap in existing literature by viewing conflicts of interest in criminal cases through the prism of behavioral economics. The research reveals that defense lawyers are subject to psychological biases that …

No Rational Basis: The Pragmatic Case For Marijuana Law Reform, Eric D. Blumenson, Eva Nilsen

Faculty Scholarship

This article presents a critique of marijuana prohibition and suggests some alternative regulatory approaches that would be more productive and consonant with justice. Part I relies on a forty-year empirical record to demonstrate that (1) reliance on a law enforcement approach has aggravated rather than mitigated the risks involved with marijuana use, and (2) criminalization, which results in the arrest of more than 700, 000 Americans annually for possession of any amount of marijuana, is an inhumane and destructive response to an act that almost 100 million Americans have committed. Part II assesses the relative merits of several alternative reform …

Summary Of Zana V. State, 125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 41, Anthony R. Sassi

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An appeal from a judgment of conviction in the Eighth Judicial District Court, pursuant to a jury verdict, of one count of open or gross lewdness, three counts of lewdness with a child under the age of fourteen, and six counts of visual representation depicting sexual conduct of a person under the age of sixteen.

The Stockley Verdict: An Explainer, Chad Flanders

All Faculty Scholarship

The purpose o f this document is to help explain some o f the existing Missouri law that Judge Wilson used in his opinion. It does not take a side on the opinion itself. At the end o f the day, the decision Judge Wilson made was based on his call on various disputed factual questions. The law was not, for the most part, at issue. I attempt only to describe the legal framework within with Judge Wilson decided the case; not to support or to criticize his verdict. Each person will ultimately have to make his or her own …

Suspicionless Laptop Searches Under The Border Search Doctrine: The Fourth Amendment Exception That Swallows Your Laptop, Ari B. Fontecchio

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Modes Of Discretion In The Criminal Justice System, Roger Fairfax

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Funderburk V. State, 125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 25, James Conway

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a judgment of conviction, upon a jury verdict, of two counts of burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery, and four counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon.

Summary Of Mcconnell V. State, 125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 24, Ian Houston

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from an order of the district court dismissing appellant’s post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus in a death penalty case.

Self-Love And Forgiveness: A Holy Alliance?, Patrick Mckinley Brennan

Working Paper Series

Forgiving is not pardoning, excusing, condoning, forgetting, or reconciling, nor is forgiving just about a change in emotions on the part of a victim. This paper pursues a virtue-theoretic account of the human person in the context of the theology of Thomas Aquinas, arguing that human forgiveness is the form love takes by an offended toward her offender. The paper argues, first, for the priority of the offended person's self-love and, second, for such self-love's extension into love of the offender as another self. The paper explores in depth the challenges of seeing one's enemy as "another self." Forgiving, the …

The Future For Collected Prosecutorial Evidence At The International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda, Gerda Visser

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article focuses on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and its Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), emphasizing the need to balance the preservation of sensitive information with the public's right to access historical records. It highlights the ICTR's role in developing international criminal law standards and the challenges of managing its vast archive, particularly regarding witness protection, privacy, and future prosecutions. The article proposes establishing an international judicial archive with a legal reviewing body to oversee access to the OTP database, ensuring transparency while safeguarding sensitive data.

The Price Of Pictures, Lucille A. Roussin

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article explores the significant increase in the value of art since World War II, highlighting the evolution of the art market and the complexities surrounding the restitution of looted artworks. It examines the growth of the art market through specific examples, such as the sales of high-value paintings, and discusses the legal and emotional challenges of recovering artworks stolen during the Holocaust.

Mothers And Sons: The Lloyd Schlup Story, Sean O'Brien

Faculty Works

This article tells the back story of the near-execution of Lloyd Schlup, condemned to die in Missouri for the 1984 murder of fellow Missouri State Penitentiary prisoner Arthur Dade, Jr. Mr. Schlup came within hours of execution before the Supreme Court granted certiorari on his case to decide whether a prisoner who is probably innocent can avail himself of the habeas corpus remedy. Mr. Schlup's and Mr. Dade's mothers played pivotal roles in the ultimate outcome of Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298 (1995). Dedicated to the memory of Nancy Slater.

Throwing The Baby Out With The Bathwater: A Call To Reinstate The Public Housing Drug Elimination Program, Wendy Tolson Ross

Faculty Works

In fiscal year 2002, the federal government, upon recommendation by the Office of Management and Budget, eliminated funding to the Public Housing Drug Elimination Program (PHDEP), a grant program designed to assist public housing authorities in fighting drugs and crime. In explaining its decision, the government cited (1) the program’s ineffectiveness, (2) its duplication of activities, and (3) the availability of other enforcement tools (e.g., evictions) to control crime and drugs in public housing. On the surface, the budgetary concerns appear to be sound. However, today, seven years later, crime and drug violence are still causing problems in public housing …

Summary Of Ramet V. State, 125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 19, Tara C. Zimmerman

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appellant Daniel Anthony Ramet was convicted of first-degree murder. On appeal, Ramet contended that the testimony concerning his refusal to consent to a search of his home, taken together with the prosecutor’s comment on it, was violative of his Fourth Amendment rights. The Court concluded that the district court erred in allowing testimony and argument regarding Ramet’s invocation of his Fourth Amendment right. However, they further concluded that the error in admitting the statements was harmless. The Court therefore affirmed Ramet’s conviction.Óÿ

Padilla V. Kentucky: Brief For Legal Ethics, Criminal Procedure, And Criminal Law Professors As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioner, Eve Brensike Primus

Appellate Briefs

Amici curiae legal ethics, criminal procedure, and criminal law professors are 37 law professors who teach, research, and write about criminal law, criminal procedure, or legal ethics, including their intersection. The names, titles, and institutional affiliations (for identification purposes only) of these amici are listed in Appendix A. Some amici work as clinical professors, in which capacity they regularly counsel and advise clients in criminal matters and train attorneys on how to effectively represent such clients. Amici have a professional interest in this Court's consideration of the doctrinal, historical, and policy issues involved in this Court's interpretation of the Sixth …

Summary Of Hannon V. State, 125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 15, Shannon Rowe

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court took this opportunity to align Nevada’s standard for emergency home entries with the recent Supreme Court opinion in Brigham City v. Stuart.2 The Supreme Court held in that case that for a warrantless entry to be lawful there must be an objectively reasonable basis to believe that a party inside is in danger.3 Accepting this standard eliminates Nevada’s previous test, which allowed courts to look at the law enforcement agent’s lack of intent to arrest or search.

Attempt By Omission, Michael T. Cahill

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Does Strickland Prejudice Defendants On Death Row?, Kenneth Williams

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Sims V. Dist. Ct., 125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 13, Kristopher Zeppenfeld

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Petitioners filed writs of mandamus challenging the district court orders denying petitioners’ requests to present evidence during competency hearings.

Summary Of Scarbo V. Dist. Ct., 125 Nev. Ad. Op. No. 12, Michelle D. Alarie

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Consolidated writs for mandamus challenging the district court’s denial of petitioners’ request for full and complete copies of competency examination reports prior to competency hearing.

Towards A More Reasonable Approach To Free Will In Criminal Law, Stephen O'Hanlon

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

This paper questions criminal law's strong presumption of free will. Part I assesses the ways in which environment, nurture, and society influence human action. Part II briefly surveys studies from the fields of genetics and neuroscience which call into question strong assumptions of free will and suggest explanations for propensities toward criminal activity. Part III discusses other "causes" of criminal activity including addiction, economic deprivation, gender, and culture. In light of Parts I through III, Part IV assesses criminal responsibility and the legitimacy ofpunishment. Part V considers the possibility of determiningpropensity for criminal activity based on assessing causal factors and …

Catching Up: The Need For New York State To Amend Its Juvenile Offender Law To Reflect Psychiatric, Constitutional And Normative National Trends Over The Last Three Decades, Michelle Haddad

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The note argues that New York's Juvenile Offender Law of 1978 is outdated and in need of reform. Enacted in response to a tragic crime, the law shifted juvenile justice from rehabilitation to punishment, allowing children as young as 13 to be tried as adults. However, advancements in psychological understanding of adolescent brain development, constitutional rulings, and international trends emphasize the need for a more nuanced, rehabilitative approach. The note advocates for amending the law to reflect these developments and prioritize individualized consideration of juvenile cases.

Dan Freed: My Teacher, My Colleague, My Friend, Ronald Weich

All Faculty Scholarship

At a recent meeting of the National Association of Sentencing Commissions, Yale professor Dan Freed was honored during a panel discussion titled "Standing on the Shoulders of Sentencing Giants," Dan Freed is indeed a sentencing giant. but he is the gentlest giant of all. It is hard to imagine that a man as mild-mannered, soft-spoken, and self-effacing as Dan Freed has had such a profound impact on federal sentencing law and so many other areas of criminal justice policy, Yet he has.

I've been in many rooms with Dan Freed over the years — classrooms, boardrooms, dining rooms, and others. …

Summary Of In Re Application Of Shin, 125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 10, Kendal L. Davis

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

No abstract provided.