Criminal Law Commons^™

Trial Distortion And The End Of Innocence In Federal Criminal Justice, Ronald F. Wright

ExpressO

This article starts with a troubling and unnoticed development in federal criminal justice: acquittals have virtually disappeared from the system in the last 15 years, and for all the wrong reasons. It seems likely that prosecutors have increased the “trial penalty” so much that defendants with meaningful defenses feel compelled to plead guilty, undermining the truth-finding function of the criminal process.

The article examines these federal developments in light of a proposed “trial distortion theory.” The theory I develop here evaluates the quality of plea negotiation practices in a jurisdiction by asking whether the system produces outcomes (convictions, acquittals and …

Conflicting Stories And Reasonable Doubt: Variations On W. (D.)'S Theme, Steve Coughlan

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Whether the guilt of an accused has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt is always a difficult issue, particularly so when the accused has testified. There is little difficulty when an accused's exculpatory testimony is accepted by the trial judge, since that of course leads unambiguously to an acquittal. More complex is the situation where a trial judge does not simply accept the accused's version of events — that is, most of the time. In those circumstances, trial judge must embark down the twisty road of deciding whether disbelieved testimony can nonetheless result in an acquittal, or alternatively whether an …

Australia And The United States: Two Common Criminal Justice Systems Uncommonly At Odds, Paul Marcus, Vicki Waye

Faculty Publications

At first glance the criminal justice systems of Australia and the United States look strikingly similar. With common law roots from England, they both emphasize the adversary system, the roleof the advocate, the presumption of innocence, and an appeals process. Upon closer reflection,however, they appear starkly different. From both Australian and U.S. perspectives, the authorsexplore those differences, examining important features such as the exclusion of evidence, rules regarding interrogation, the entrapment defense, and the open nature of trials. The Article concludes with an analysis of the reasons for those differences, reasons that heavily relate back to the founding of the …

Without Charge: Assessing The Due Process Rights Of Unindicted Co-Conspirators, Ira Robbins

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The grand jury practice of naming individuals as unindicted co-conspirators routinely results in injury to reputations,lost employment opportunities, and a practical inability to run for public office. Yet, because these individuals are not parties to a criminal trial, they have neither the right to present evidence nor the opportunity to clear their names. Thus, Professor Robbins argues that the practice violates the Fifth Amendment guarantee that “[n]o person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law[.]” While prosecutors may offer many justifications to support the practice of naming unindicted co-conspirators, these reasons …

Beyond The Bright Line: A Contemporary Right-To-Counsel Doctrine, Pamela R. Metzger

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The current right-to-counsel doctrine was developed in the 1970's. It created a bright-line rule still in effect today. The right to counsel attaches only at "critical stages" of a criminal prosecution. Under this critical stage doctrine, the right to counsel only attaches after the initiation of formal adversary proceedings and only applies to confrontations between the accused and the prosecution or law enforcement. In the years following the Supreme Court's development of the critical stage doctrine, national trends of mandatory sentencing and sentencing guidelines revolutionized criminal procedure and dramatically altered the roles of the system's key players.

Now, defense counsel's …

Can The "Public Interest" Justify Non-Consensual Searches Of Homes In Bankruptcy Cases?, A. Mechele Dickerson

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Section 8: Criminal Law & Procedure, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Section 5: Criminal Law And Procedure, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

The Commercial Activity Exception Under The Fsia, Personhood Under The Fifth Amendment And Jurisdiction Over Foreign States: A Partial Roadmap For The Supreme Court In The New Millennium, Stephen J. Leacock

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Allocution For Victims Of Economic Crimes, Jayne W. Barnard

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

International Criminal Jurisprudence Comes Of Age: The Substance And Procedure Of An Emerging Discipline, Nancy Amoury Combs

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Don't Take His Eye, Don't Take His Tooth, And Don't Cast The First Stone: Limiting Religious Arguments In Capital Cases, John H. Blume, Sheri Lynn Johnson

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Professors John H. Blume and Sheri Lynn Johnson explore the occurrences of religious imagery and argument invoked by both prosecutors and defense attorneys in capital cases. Such invocation of religious imagery and argument by attorneys is not surprising, considering that the jurors who hear such arguments are making life and death decisions, and advocates, absent regulation, will resort to such emotionally compelling arguments. Also surveying judicial responses to such arguments in courts, Professors Blume and Johnson gauge the level of tolerance for such arguments in specific jurisdictions. Presenting proposed rules for prosecutors and defense counsel who wish to employ religious …

Section 6: Criminal Law & Procedure, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Section 7: Criminal Law And Procedure, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Section 4: Criminal Law And Procedure, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Section 4: Criminal Law & Procedure, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

“Under The Present Mode Of Trial, Improper Verdicts Are Very Often Given”: Criminal Procedure In The Trials Of Slaves In Antebellum Louisiana, Judith Kelleher Schafer

Cardozo Law Review

When Louisiana became an American possession in 1803, a primary concern of the new territorial government and its inhabitants was what kind of law would be most appropriate to provide stability and maintain order in a heterogeneous population composed of free persons of French, Spanish, and American ancestry, those of African origin, free and slave, American Indians, and various combinations of these cultures and races.

Comment On Judith Schafer’S “Under The Present Mode Of Trial, Improper Verdicts Are Very Often Given”: Criminal Procedure In The Trials Of Slaves In Antebellum Louisiana, Peter Westen

Cardozo Law Review

This Response to Professor Schafer's essay, "Under the Present Mode of Trial, Improper Verdicts are Very Often Given": Criminal Procedure Trials of Slaves in Antebellum Louisiana, is divided into two parts. First, it raises some questions about the three things Professor Schafer attempts to do in her essay. Second, this Response discusses an issue that several commentators have remarked upon over the years-namely, that criminal procedure is the area of Southern slave law that has come closest to according slaves the same protections accorded to free persons.

Condemned By Substance And Process: A Comment On “Doubly Condemned”: Adjustments To The Crime And Punishment Regime In The Late Slavery Period In The British Caribbean Colonies And “Under The Present Mode Of Trial, Improper Verdicts Are Very Often Given”: Criminal Procedure In The Trials Of Slaves In Antebellum Louisiana, Raymond T. Diamond

Cardozo Law Review

The substance of modem criminal law and the procedures through which that law is enforced are a subject of current debate. On the one hand, some call into question the use of criminal sanctions as a means of enforcing schemes of regulation meant to guarantee public welfare. By the same token, violent crime and crime that is otherwise malum in se has caused increasing levels of fear and concomitant calls for more vigorous enforcement of the criminal law. As a result, the rights that protect the accused from intrusions by a potentially tyrannical state and from arbitrary decision making by …

Section 8: Criminal Law And Procedure, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Forensic Expertise In Dutch Criminal Procedure, Johannes F. Nijboer

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Revitalization Of The Common-Law Civil Writ Of Audita Querela As A Post-Conviction Remedy In Criminal Cases: The Immigration Context And Beyond, Ira Robbins

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Introduction: An alien lawfully enters the United States in 1972. He gets a job, gets married, and becomes a productive worker in the community. He is subsequently convicted of a felony, such as making false statements on a loan application. As a result, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) brings deportation proceedings against him. The individual will seek any means possible to vacate the conviction, in order to stay in this country.' This Article explores whether the writ of audita querela. primarily used to provide post-judgment relief in civil cases at common law, can be used to challenge criminal …

Tribe V. Mancha, No. 90-C-1355, 91-Ap-03 (Blkft. Tr. Ct. App., Aug. 29, 1991)., Blackfeet Appellate Court

Court Decisions

The Court of Appeals for the Blackfeet Indian Reservation dismissed the case against the defendant because he was denied his right to a speedy trial by jury. The Court found that the standard timeframe accepted by most courts for a speedy trial is 180 days, and Mancha was brought to trial after 284 days. The Court held that this delay in the trial date violated the defendant’s rights as defined in Rule 58, Chapter 9 of the Blackfeet Law and Order Code. The Court further ordered that the trial court implement a procedure at arraignment for documenting waiver of jury …

Who’S Afraid Of The Sanction Wolf: Imposing Sanctions On Pro Se Litigants, Donalda Gillies

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Theories Of Truth Finding In Criminal Procedure: An Evolutionary Approach, John D. Jackson

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Controversial Defense For Veterans Of A Controversial War, Michael J. Davidson

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Criminal Procedure In The Rehnquist Court: Has The Rehnquisition Begun?, Craig M. Bradley

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Proving Entrapment Under The Predisposition Test, Paul Marcus

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Towards Neutral Principles In The Administration Of Criminal Justice: A Critique Of Supreme Court Decisions Sanctioning The Plea Bargaining Process, Malvina Halberstam

Articles

This article compares the Court's reasoning in plea bargaining cases with its reasoning in non-plea-bargaining cases that involve the same legal principles. It analyzes the Court's arguments for sustaining guilty pleas induced by fear of the death penalty or by promises of leniency, and for sanctioning the imposition of harsher penalties on those who reject prosecutional offers to plead and insist on a trial. Finally, it briefly addresses the contention that the system for the administration of criminal justice in the United States could not function if use of a sentencing differential to induce guilty pleas were prohibited.

Criminal Discovery In New York: The Effect Of The New Article 240 , Thomas N. Kendris

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Despite the many persuasive reasons for criminal discovery, its development in New York took place in a gradual, ad hoc manner. This led the New York State Legislature to enact the original article 240 in the Criminal Procedure Act (CPL) in 1971 which provided the courts with a consistent framework to discovery and significantly expanded an accused rights to evidence. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the original article 240, some significant problems that arose under it, and how the new enacted article 240 attempted to address the problems. The author then argues that the new statute could have …