Criminal Law Commons^™

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow - Three Common Mistakes Courts Make When Police Lose Or Destroy Evidence With Apparent Exculpatory, Elizabeth A. Bawden

Cleveland State Law Review

Part I of this Article examines the first question, what does it mean for evidence to have "apparent exculpatory value?" Part II of this Article answers the second question, when does Youngblood's bad faith requirement apply in failure to preserve evidence cases? Part III then seeks to determine the substance of Youngblood's bad faith requirement and identify the best approach to defining it. Ultimately, this Article argues that there are three common mistakes that courts make when applying Trombetta and Youngblood.

International Jurisdiction And Prosecutorial Crimes, The Seventieth Cleveland-Marshall Fund Lecture , Richard J. Goldstone

Cleveland State Law Review

The topic of this address is international jurisdiction and prosecutorial crimes. Two distinct but pervasive issue-areas arise when discussing international jurisdiction and prosecutorial crimes. The first relates to the ability of domestic or national courts, whether in the United States or any other country, to try people for international crimes committed either within or outside their borders. The second concerns the establishment of supra-national or international courts with inherent international criminal jurisdiction. I believe that these two facets of the enforcement of international criminal law are neither inconsistent, nor contradictory. I am convinced that in principle and in practice, national …

Biased Justice: Humanrightsism And The International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia , Robert M. Hayden

Cleveland State Law Review

This article thus takes a close look at one of the most important of the elements of the new international legal order which human rights activists promote, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It finds that the ICTY delivers a "justice" that is biased, with prosecutorial decisions based on the national characteristics of the accused, rather than on what available evidence indicates that he has done. Evidence of this bias is found in the failure to prosecute NATO personnel for acts that are comparable to those of Yugoslavs already indicted, and of failure to prosecute NATO personnel …

Bargaining For Testimony: Bias Of Witnesses Who Testify In Exchange For Leniency , Spencer Martinez

Cleveland State Law Review

This note explores the risk that a criminal witness will lie on the stand when he testifies pursuant to a cooperation agreement. Section II is a history of cooperation agreements and how the permissible scope of such agreements has been curbed in the interests of defendants' rights. Section III examines the practice as it exists today, and how, in spite of the risk of perjury, state and federal prosecutors are being given increasing discretion in drafting cooperation agreements. In section IV, the "safeguards" available to the defendant which test the veracity of allegedly-biased testimony are discussed. The conclusion is that …

Childhood Abuse And Adult Murder: Implications For The Death Penalty, Phyllis L. Crocker

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

A jury that convicts a defendant of capital murder must then decide whether that defendant deserves a life sentence or death. Mitigating evidence is crucial to the defense at this stage because such evidence may provide the jury with a basis for imposing a life sentence. In this article, Professor Crocker argues that evidence that a defendant was abused as a child is paradigmatic mitigating evidence. A detailed presentation of the defendant's childhood experience and a cogent explanation of its long-term repercussions will enable the jury to understand why the defendant committed the crime, perhaps allowing the jury to sympathize …

A Current Look At Ohio's Juvenile Justice System On The 100th Anniversary Of The Juvenile Court, Scott C. Zarzycki

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note takes a closer look at the problems associated with transferring juveniles to adult court by focusing on Ohio's juvenile transfer statute. Part II begins with an analysis of the history of the juvenile court, including its establishment and evolution throughout time. It also includes an analysis of how the common interpretation of the original approach to juvenile crime has created an overly narrow view of how to deal with the problem today. Part III examines the latest crime statistics that reveal a significant drop in juvenile crime. This section also explores various alternative explanations for the apparent rise …

Identification Of The Unknown Soldier And The Fight For The Right To Anonymity: The Human Genome Project And Implications Of A National Dna Database, Kelly S. Erbes

Cleveland State Law Review

The focus of this writing is the use of DNA for identification purposes and the issues that arise when genetic traits and/or predisposition to physical or mental conditions are linked to the individual specifically, along with the implications of a national DNA database as a system of identification. It has become the general rule that it is not an unreasonable invasion of privacy to take DNA for the purpose of identifying criminal offenders through a DNA database. This writing will examine the potential for nonconsensual inclusion of nearly everyone into such a system, as well as the ramifications in the …

Appellate Review Under The New Felony Sentencing Guidelines: Where Do We Stand , Mark P. Painter

Cleveland State Law Review

Now that it has been more than four years since Senate Bill 2 became effective, this is a good time to analyze the cases to see where courts stand in their interpretations of the guidelines. This article will review the case law and show how different courts have dealt with the legislation. My analysis concentrates on one aspect of the guidelines in particular: the standard of review that appeals courts have used to determine the propriety of sentences. To illustrate my points, I focus on the issue of when judges can impose maximum prison sentences under the guidelines, one of …

The Imagination Is A Fertile Stomping Ground: Non-Enumerated Grounds For Departure From The United States Sentencing Guidelines Under 5k2.0, Jennifer L. Cordle

Cleveland State Law Review

Individuality in sentencing is a hallmark of true justice. The United States Sentencing Commission, which provides for uniformity through a series of detailed guidelines, recognized the need for individuality in sentencing by allowing for discretionary departures. Though the Sentencing Guidelines provide some direction regarding departures, the Commission did not take all factors that may be relevant into account when developing the guidelines. Section I of this article describes the sentencing systems in effect in the United States both before and after the adoption of the Sentencing Guidelines. Section II discusses the types of departure grounds, explains when a non-enumerated ground …

Life, Death And The Law - And Why Capital Punishment Is Legally Insupportable , Peter Fitzpatrick

Cleveland State Law Review

Given that law has an integral commitment to life, in this lecture I want to show how the law should manifest something of a fundamental dissonance, even a terminal incoherence, when law is called upon to deal death. That is what happens in the judicial discourse on the death penalty in the United States. I will approach this demonstration in a way that may at first seem paradoxical, in a way that will bring out the deep affinity between law and death. That affinity is one in which death is, in a sense, the limit of law; a limit that …

Standards And Procedures For Determining Whether A Defendant Is Competent To Make The Ultimate Choice - Death; Ohio's New Precedent For Death Row Volunteers, Matthew T. Norman

Journal of Law and Health

Despite the fact that many states will allow a death row defendant to waive his legal appeals in order to hasten his execution date, there are inadequate standards and procedures for determining whether the "volunteer" is first competent to make this ultimate decision of life versus death. To provide background for this issue, this Note will discuss the events initially leading up to the nation's first death row "volunteer", then it will introduce subsequent volunteers of the present day. This Note then will look at what the United States Supreme Court has said about the standards and procedures that are …

Rape By Fraud And Rape By Coercion, Patricia J. Falk

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

For more than a century, courts, legislatures, and legal commentators have struggled with the controversial and highly charged question of whether accomplishing sexual intercourse by means of fraud or coercion is blameworthy and appropriately condemnable as rape. In 1986 Professor Susan Estrich suggested that rape law should "prohibit fraud to secure sex to the same extent we prohibit fraud to secure money, and prohibit extortion to secure sex to the same extent we prohibit extortion to secure money." (Susan Estrich, Rape, 95 Yale L. J. 1087, 1120 (1986)). Such suggestion spawned the latest cycle of discussion about this age-old conundrum …

Feminism And Defending Men On Death Row, Phyllis L. Crocker

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In this Essay I explore the relationship between being a feminist and representing men on death row. It is appropriate to engage in this inquiry in considering how the law has developed in the twenty-five years since Furman v. Georgia. During that time both Furman and the advent of feminist legal theory have required a restructuring in the way we think about two fundamental legal questions: for death penalty jurisprudence, how and why we sentence an individual to death; and for feminist jurisprudence, how the law views crimes of violence against women. The relationship between these two developments becomes apparent …

Shaken Baby Syndrome: Who Are The True Experts, Joseph D. Hatina

Cleveland State Law Review

Shaken baby syndrome is a serious form of child maltreatment, often involving infants younger than six months of age. It commonly occurs, yet it is frequently overlooked in its most chronic form and underdiagnosed in its most serious expression. Section II of this article will discuss the symptoms, presentation, and clinical findings of shaken baby syndrome. It will conclude by looking at recommendations from the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect. Section III delves into the history, function and statistics of Child Death Review Teams on a national level. The discussion ends by examining Ohio's proposed legislation concerning …

When Something Wicked This Way Comes: Evolving Standards Of Indecency - Thompson And Stanford Revisited , Jennifer L. Whitney

Cleveland State Law Review

If the death penalty becomes an option for children under sixteen, the unavoidable conclusion must be that we have reverted back to colonial theories of punishment. The issue facing the nation will again become at what age to draw the line. In this article I argue that, as a society, we must prevent such executions and refute claims that, as a result of the failure of the juvenile justice system to rehabilitate killers before they kill, a consensus in favor of reducing the minimum age of execution has evolved. Part II of this note presents the theories of colonial crime …

State V. Lovejoy: Hung Juries And Retrial Vs. Double Jeopardy And Collateral Estoppel, Nicole M. Ellis

Cleveland State Law Review

This article argues that the Supreme Court of Ohio's decision in Lovejoy helps to preserve the purpose of our criminal laws, which is to protect society. The article starts by recapping the events leading up to trial, then it breaks down the court decisions on appeal. The analysis of these decisions arrives at the conclusion that allowing a defendant to be retried on charges in which the accused was not previously acquitted, but rather the jury was hung or there was a mistrial, does not frustrate justice but instead greatly increases the opportunities for justice. In addition, the accused is …

On Seeking Controlling Law And Re-Seeking Death Under Section 2929.06 Of The Ohio Revised Code , Margery B. Koosed

Cleveland State Law Review

This article explores and analyzes the two-pronged legal dilemma that confronted the court in State v. Marshall: in Ohio, finding the correct sentencing law is often difficult; and a recent amendment to the resentencing portion of that law, S.B. 258, destroys the efficiency that was characteristic of Ohio's previous resentencing framework. Consequently, Part II of this article examines the facts and holding of State v. Marshall and suggests that finding the applicable law must be simplified. Practitioner handbooks are often confusing and incomplete, in part as the Ohio legislature generates an ever-changing body of law. Justice and the lives of …

Where We Have Been, And Where We Might Be Going: Some Cautionary Reflections On Rape Law Reform, The Sixty-Eighth Cleveland-Marshall Fund Lecture , Joshua Dressler

Cleveland State Law Review

We should always be looking to see where we are, how we got there, and where we appear to be going. My purpose in this article has been to ask those questions in the context of rape law. In evaluating rape reform, I have tried to be fair-minded and balanced in my observations. I have suggested areas in which the law should go further to protect against sexual misconduct, but I have also expressed my belief that rape law reform threatens to move in undesirable directions. In particular, I have argued that there is a risk that courts will follow …

Genetic Technology And Its Impact On Culpability For Criminal Actions , Marcia Johnson

Cleveland State Law Review

This article addresses only one issue, one which our judicial system ultimately must address: the criminal responsibility one will bear for committing a crime when the actions are determined by the actor's genetic make-up. Part I of the article traces the roots of genetic research from Darwinism to eugenics and Nazi racial purity theories. Part II reviews theories and studies which support the concept of genetic influence on social, particularly criminal, behavior. Part III considers the impact of the genetic revolution on our criminal justice system with special emphasis on the effect on our system's fundamental concept of free will. …

Rape Shield Statutes And The Admissibility Of Evidence Tending To Show A Motive To Fabricate 1998 John M. Manos Writing Competition On Evidence, Regan Kreitzer Latesta Clerk For United States Bankruptcy Court For The District Of Maryland

Cleveland State Law Review

Rape shield statutes were enacted in order to protect the rape victim from embarrassment and humiliation at the trial of the accused by restricting the admission of sexual conduct evidence. While these statutes, for the most part, succeed in protecting the victim and encouraging her to report the rape, they can have the effect of limiting the accused's ability to defend himself. Part II of this article discusses the advent of rape shield statutes in the United States. Part III examines case law construing the statutes with regard to prior sexual conduct as evidence of a motive to fabricate. Finally, …

Concepts Of Culpability And Deathworthiness: Differentiating Between Guilt And Punishment In Death Penalty Cases, Phyllis L. Crocker

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The punishment of death is supposed to be reserved for those defendants who commit the most grievous murders and deserve the most extreme punishment. It is constitutionally insufficient to conclude that because a defendant is guilty of committing murder, death is the only deserved punishment. The judgment that a defendant is one of the few who will be sentenced to death requires an inquiry that looks beyond the defendant's guilt to consider whether the defendant is worthy of a death sentence. This article argues that the distinction between a defendant's guilt and deathworthiness is so often obscured that defendants who …

The Criminal Corporation: Is Ohio Prepared For Corporate Criminal Prosecutions For Workplace Fatalities, Judy K. Broussard

Cleveland State Law Review

Although the public perception of the meaning of the term "corporate crime" includes white collar crimes such as embezzlement and insider trading, today corporate crime encompasses another meaning in American jurisprudence-violent corporate crime. Corporations charged with such violent crimes generally fall into two categories: (1) those that manufacture or market consumer products which cause death within the general public, and (2) those whose employees are killed due to fatal accidents within the workplace. The usual legal recourse against a corporation responsible for the death of a person, in either of the above categories, is the filing of a civil wrongful …

The Character Evidence Defense: Acquittal Based On Good Character, Thomas J. Reed

Cleveland State Law Review

This article centers on the case of United States v. Martinez, the only recent case in which an accused was acquitted on the ground of good moral character. Martinez illustrates the powerful effect of a good character evidence defense that showed the accused led a blameless life before being inveigled into drug courier service by an intimidating DEA informer. This article begins with a brief review of United States v. Martinez. Following a presentation of this case, the article shifts focus to examine what our sister discipline of psychology can tell us about human personality and the cross-situational stability of …

Florida's Community Notification Of Sex Offenders On The Internet: The Disregard Of Constitutional Protections For Sex Offenders, Andrea L. Fischer

Cleveland State Law Review

One of the toughest challenges for the courts is determining how to balance society's need for protection against an individual's constitutional rights. This Note provides an analysis of the controversy concerning community notification of sex offenders who victimize children, with the discussion directed to the constitutionality of community notification over the Internet, and suggests other possible ways to help prevent repeat sex offenses against children. Part II begins by focusing on which members of our communities are sex offenders that victimize children and looks at the reasons why they choose children as their victims. In Part III, this Note traces …

Novel Theories Of Criminal Defense Based Upon The Toxicity Of The Social Environment: Urban Psychosis, Television Intoxication, And Black Rage, Patricia J. Falk

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In recent years, defendants have proffered a multitude of novel theories of criminal defense in seeking to explain their criminal behavior in terms of internal and external influences beyond their control, including biological processes, chemical reactions, intra-psychic dynamics, social conditions, and cross cultural stresses. This Article focuses on one subset of this burgeoning class of defenses: those based upon the central premise that the defendant's criminal conduct was caused, or significantly influenced, by his exposure to social environmental factors or, if you will, toxins affecting his mental functioning. While a wide panoply of toxins exist within the fabric of our …

On The Abolition Of Man: A Discussion Of The Moral And Legal Issues Surrounding The Death Penalty, Thomas J. Walsh

Cleveland State Law Review

This article examines the moral and practical arguments supporting the death penalty in an effort to show why the United States should join other Western nations in the abolition of the death penalty. First, this article explores the historical context of the death penalty in the United States and examines the current status of constitutional doctrine on the death penalty. Next, because an analysis of the arguments for and against the death penalty are invariably charged with moral issues, an effort will be made to examine the moral aspects of the death penalty. The arguments offered in support of the …

Development Of A Criminal Law Clinic: A Blended Approach, Norman Fell

Cleveland State Law Review

Traditionally law schools have viewed the study of law as an academic science with the development of theoretical skills and methodology being the objective of a legal education. There are legal educators who believe that a curriculum teaching the traditional model is the school's exclusive role and that the professional skills and values associated with the practice of law are more properly acquired by the emerging lawyer in post-graduation settings. This article discusses how the traditional law school curriculum is changing. Section II lays out the historical perspective of practical legal education, and then Section II discusses how this is …

Hiv-Specific Crime Legislation: Targetting An Epidemic For Criminal Prosecution, Erin M. O'Toole

Journal of Law and Health

A growing number of state legislatures have drafted HIV specific crime statutes which criminalize the intentional transmission of the HIV virus to another. This discussion will focus on the impact of HIV-specific crime statutes on the following issues: confidentiality, the right to privacy, the decision to submit to HIV testing, and how the statutes may or may not succeed in containing the spread of HIV.

Brief Of Amici Curiae Of Ohio Right To Life Society, Inc., Cleveland Lawyers For Life, Inc., Physicians For Life, Inc. In Support Of Respondents, National Organization For Women V. Scheidler, 114 S. Ct. 798 (1993), David F. Forte

Law Faculty Briefs and Court Documents

(In this action, petitioner health care clinics alleged, among other things, that respondents, a coalition of antiabortion groups called the Pro-Life Action Network (PLAN) and others, were members of a nationwide conspiracy to shut down abortion clinics through a pattern of racketeering activity -- including extortion under the Hobbs Act -- in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) chapter of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968.)

Amici contend that the ordinary canons of statutory interpretation support the Seventh Circuit's conclusion below that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ("RICO") chapter of …

Re-Righting The Right To Privacy: The Supreme Court And The Constitutional Right To Privacy In Criminal Law, Jana Nestlerode

Cleveland State Law Review

Since the 1970's, federal legislation has expanded privacy rights in nonconstitutional areas. Juxtaposed against this more liberal legislative trend is the action of a significantly more conservative judiciary which has, and is, contracting that right in those areas governed by the Constitution. An examination of the Supreme Court's most recent decisions in the criminal law arena readily bears witness to this proclivity.