Criminal Law Commons^™

To Transform The International Criminal Trial: Merging Restorative And Retributive Justice, Mark Findlay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper establishes the case for trial transformation looking at a model of justice that is more inclusive and cognisant of competing aspirations for justice resolutions internationally.

Summary Of Fiegehen V. State, 121 Nev. Adv. Op. 30, Michael Shalmy

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An intruder entered a residence, killed one person and shot another. The victim placed a 911 call, but within minutes, the 911 connection went dead. Sheriff's deputies arrived at the residence shortly thereafter and found one victim alive, lying on the floor in a pool of blood. The telephone line nearby had been cut. A body was discovered on a deck outside. Evidence implicated Christopher Fiegehen as the primary suspect. However, he abruptly fled Nevada on the day of the crime. Two months later, he was stopped and questioned by police officers in Indiana, where they apprehended him after a …

Time Travel, Hovercrafts, And The Framers: James Madison Sees The Future And Rewrites The Fourth Amendment, George C. Thomas Iii

ExpressO

The Framers could not have contemplated the interpretational problems that cloud the Fourth Amendment because police, in the modern sense, were unknown to the Framers. Also unknown to the Framers, of course, were wiretaps, drug interdiction searches, thermal imagining, helicopters, and blood tests. We can infer from the history surrounding the Fourth Amendment what the Framers hoped it would accomplish in their time. What if the Framers could have seen the future and known the kind of police techniques that are being used today? What kind of Fourth Amendment would they have written with that knowledge? This article seeks to …

Discretion And Criminal Law: The Good, The Bad, And The Mundane, George C. Thomas Iii

ExpressO

Most academic papers condemn discretion in the enforcement and prosecution of crime. This essay argues that discretion should be understood to come in three varieties: good discretion, which is beneficial; bad discretion, which is typified by acts motivated by race, sex, or class considerations; and mundane discretion, which is value-neutral. The decision to pursue a drunken driver rather than a speeder, for example, is a good use of discretion while the decision to pursue one speeder rather than another based on race is bad discretion. Most motives that prompt acts of discretion, however, are value-neutral or what I call “mundane” …

Summary Of Wilson V. State, 121 Nev. Adv. Op. 34, Kathleen L. Fellows

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

A jury convicted Wiley Gene Wilson of four counts of use of a minor in the production of pornography and four counts of possession of visual presentations depicting sexual conduct of a person under sixteen years of age. Wilson appealed, arguing that his four convictions for using a child in a sexual performance were redundant convictions. In September of 2001, Wilson and the ten-year-old female victim (M.T.) left M.T.'s father's trailer to attend to errands related to installing a satellite television system. Apparently, while running errands and stuck in traffic, M.T. urinated in her clothing. Subsequently, Wilson took M.T. to …

Summary Of State V. Dist. Court (Riker), 121 Nev. Adv. Op. 25, Kimberly Lou

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The State of Nevada convicted David Robert Riker (“Riker”) for murder. Riker filed two sets of post-conviction petitions for the writ of habeas corpus—one in 1998 and one in 2004. The district court denied the 1998 petition, but granted the 2004 petition and an evidentiary hearing. The State of Nevada petitioned the Nevada Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus or prohibition arguing that Riker’s habeas corpus claims are procedurally barred and that the district court exceeded its jurisdiction in granting a hearing. The Nevada Supreme Court agreed in part with the State and ordered the district court to apply …

State Of Israel V. Jerusalem Magistrates Court, Dorit Beinisch, Mishael Cheshin, Aharon Barak

Translated Opinions

Facts: The third respondent (‘the respondent’) was indicted in the Jerusalem Magistrates Court for an offence of committing an indecent act. The victim of the alleged offence (‘the complainant’) kept a personal diary and the parts that were relevant to the period during which the complainant and the respondent were acquainted with one another were photocopied and sent to counsel for the respondent.

Counsel for the respondent applied to inspect the whole diary under s. 74 of the Criminal Procedure Law. The Magistrate Court ordered the prosecution to produce the whole diary for inspection by the court, after an ex …

Missing Miranda's Story, A Review Of Gary L. Stuart's, Miranda: The Story Of America's Right To Remain Silent, George C. Thomas Iii

Rutgers Law School (Newark) Faculty Papers

Miranda v. Arizona is the best known criminal procedure decision in the history of the Supreme Court. It has spawned dozens of books and hundreds of articles. The world does not need another Miranda book unless it has something new and interesting to tell readers. Unfortunately, to borrow an old cliche, the parts of Gary Stuart’s book that are new are, for the most part, not interesting and the parts that are interesting are, for the most part, not new. Stuart adds material to the Miranda storehouse about the involvement of local Arizona lawyers and judges in the original case, …

Pursuing Justice For The Mentally Disabled, Grant H. Morris

University of San Diego Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series

This article considers whether lawyers act as zealous advocates when they represent mentally disordered, involuntarily committed patients who wish to assert their right to refuse treatment with psychotropic medication. After discussing a study that clearly demonstrates that lawyers do not do so, the article explores the reasons for this inappropriate behavior. Michael Perlin characterizes the problem as “sanism,” which he describes as an irrational prejudice against mentally disabled persons of the same quality and character as other irrational prejudices that cause and are reflected in prevailing social attitudes of racism, sexism, homophobia, and ethnic bigotry. The article critiques Perlin’s characterization …

Dickerson V. United States: The Case That Disappointed Miranda's Critics--And Then Its Supporters, Yale Kamisar

University of San Diego Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series

It is difficult, if not impossible, to discuss Dickerson v. United States intelligently without discussing Miranda, whose constitutional status Dickerson reaffirmed (or, one might say, resuscitated). It is also difficult, if not impossible, to discuss the Dickerson case intelligently without discussing cases the Court has handed down in the five years since Dickerson was decided. The hard truth is that in those five years the reaffirmation of Miranda’s constitutional status has become less and less meaningful.

In this paper I want to focus on the Court’s characterization of statements elicited in violation of the Miranda warnings as not actually “coerced” …

Overcriminalization, Discretion, Waiver: A Survey Of Possible Exit Strategies, Donald A. Dripps

University of San Diego Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series

In both the constitutional law of American criminal justice and the scholarly literature that law has generated, substance and procedure receive radically different treatment. The Supreme Court, even in this conservative political period, continues to require costly procedural safeguards that go beyond what elected legislatures have provided by statute. The Court, however, has shown great deference to the choices these same legislatures have made about what conduct may be made criminal and how severely it may be punished.

The distinction between substance and procedure pervades academic thinking all the way down to its foundations. Substantive criminal law still holds its …

New Jersey’S Adult Internet Luring Statute: An Appropriate Next Step?, John W. Lomas Jr.

Duke Law & Technology Review

New Jersey recently enacted legislation prohibiting the use of the Internet to lure or entice someone to a location with the purpose of committing a crime with or against that person or some other person. Most states have similar laws pertaining to pedophiles, but this is the first adult Internet luring statute. State measures to regulate the Internet, even in the context of criminal justice, will likely face constitutional challenge since the Internet has become such a critical vehicle for both protected speech and interstate commerce. Furthermore, while the use of the Internet in the commission of crimes against other …

The Market For Criminal Justice: Federalism, Crime Control, And Jurisdictional Competition, Doron Teichman

Michigan Law Review

Part I introduces the concepts of jurisdictional competition and crime displacement and argues that, as a positive matter, a decentralized criminal justice system may create a competitive process among the different units composing it, in which each such unit attempts to divert crime to neighboring communities. Part II then turns to evaluate the normative aspects of jurisdictional competition in the area of criminal justice. In this context I will show that competition can have both advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, the forces of competition might drive jurisdictions to fight crime efficiently, since any jurisdiction that functions inefficiently will suffer …

Victims Of Peace: Current Abuse Allegations Against U.N. Peacekeepers And The Role Of Law In Preventing Them In The Future, Alexandra R. Harrington

ExpressO

This article addresses the increasingly prevalent and horrific allegations of sexual abuse made against U.N. peacekeepers. The primary allegations addressed are those from the Congo, as the most plentiful and readily available evidence of these abuses comes from the region. The goal of this paper is not merely to critique the U.N. and its handling of the current peacekeeper abuse allegations, as such a critique would only serve half of the problem. Rather, this paper will use the past and current understandings of the U.N. Charter, peacekeeping, international law, and military justice to suggest several options for handling both the …

Summary Of Rosky V. State, 121 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 22, Jason Peck

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Police executed a search warrant at John Rosky’s apartment as part of an investigation into the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl. Two police officers eventually drove Rosky to a police substation for questioning but they did not formally arrest him or administer Miranda warnings. Police informed Rosky that his participation was voluntary and that he was free to leave at any time. At one point during the questioning, Rosky took a ten-minute break and went outside the police station unaccompanied by the detectives. The detectives used mild forms of deception and confronted Rosky with their belief that he was …

Summary Of Viray V. State, 121 Nev. Adv. Op. 19, Chris Orme

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

A jury convicted Benjardi Batucan Viray for lewdness with a minor. He appealed claiming that there was an improper inclusion of new information at a preliminary hearing and that this inclusion was sufficient to declare a mistrial. The Nevada Supreme Court held that a change in the factual situation is not sufficient to declare a mistrial if the inclusion of new information does not affect the defendant’s substantial rights and the charged offense remained the same. The second issue was whether a court should declare a mistrial when a juror disregards the admonishment of the court to not speak about …

The Crawford Issue- The Supreme Court Sharpens The Teeth Of The Confrontation Clause, Nathan Reed Haines

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Foreword: Beyond Blakely And Booker: Pondering Modern Sentencing Process, Douglas A. Berman

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Working Paper Series

The Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Blakely v. Washington and its federal follow-up United States v. Booker are formally about the meaning and reach of the Sixth Amendment’s right to a jury trial. But these decisions implicate and reflect, both expressly and implicitly, a much broader array of constitutional provisions and principles, in particular, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments and the notice provision of the Sixth Amendment. And the future structure and operation of modern sentencing systems may greatly depend on how courts and others approach the due process provisions and principles which lurk in …

State Of Israel V. Avraham Ben-Hayim, Dorit Beinisch

Translated Opinions

Facts: The respondent, the manager of the Postmen Department at the Benei Berak branch of the Postal Authority, was charged, before the Civil Service Disciplinary Tribunal, with sexually harassing and victimizing a woman (the complainant) who was working temporarily at the branch. The tribunal found that the respondent promised to ensure the promotion of the complainant, and it found that the respondent had conducted a sexual relationship with the complainant in which full sexual intercourse had taken place. In addition the respondent tried to prevent the complainant making a complaint against him. The tribunal found that an abuse of authority …

Sita's Trousseau: Restorative Justice, Domestic Violence, And South Asian Culture, Rashmi Goel

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This article focuses on the particular cultural factors that affect South Asian women who are abused and immigrant South Asian women who are abused, in particular, in the restorative justice process. By exploring cultural practices and the icon of Sita, the mythological heroine of the Ramayana, this article demonstrates how the South Asian ideals of womanhood and wifehood help to create a mind-set whereby South Asian women are reluctant to advocate for themselves and are reluctant to leave. Such a condition is contrary to the conditions and abilities assumed by the restorative justicemovement for dispute resolution, inside or outside of …

How Panels Affect Judges: Evidence From United States District Courts, Ahmed E. Taha

University of Richmond Law Review

Recent research has shown that judges on panels decide cases differently than they do individually. Understanding these panel effects is essential to understanding and predicting judicial behavior. This Article uses a unique naturalexperiment, and interviewsof United States district court judges who participatedin this ex-periment, to empirically investigate panel effects. Specifically, in fourteen district courts the judges chose to sit in an en banc panelto decide the constitutionalityof the FederalSentencing Guide- lines; in fifty-three other districts, the judges decided the issue in- dividually instead. This Article compares the decisions and the characteristicsof these districts to study how panels affect judicialdecision making …

In Defense Of Porfiry Petrovich, Robert Batey

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Passion's Puzzle, Stephen P. Garvey

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The puzzle of the provocation defense, otherwise known as the "heat of passion" defense, is to figure out how, if at all, each of the basic elements of the doctrine can be explained in a coherent and normatively attractive fashion. None of the prevailing theories of provocation succeeds in solving this puzzle. These theories either fail to explain one or more of the basic elements of the doctrine, or else end up committing the state to a decidedly illiberal course of action: punishing citizens not only for what they do (for their actions), but for who they are (for their …

Apprendi's Limits, R. Craig Green

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pluralizing International Criminal Justice, Mark A. Drumbl

Michigan Law Review

From Nuremberg to The Hague scours the institutions of international criminal justice in order to examine their legitimacy and effectiveness. This collection of essays is edited by Philippe Sands, an eminent authority on public international law and professor at University College London. The five essays derive from an equal number of public lectures held in London between April and June 2002. The essays - concise and in places informal - carefully avoid legalese and arcania. Taken together, they cover an impressive spectrum of issues. Read individually, however, each essay is ordered around one or two well-tailored themes, thereby ensuring analytic …

Equality, Objectivity, And Neutrality, Alafair S. Burke

Michigan Law Review

When is homicide reasonable? That familiar, yet unanswered question continues to intrigue both courts and criminal law scholars, in large part because any response must first address the question, "reasonable to whom?" The standard story about why that threshold question is both difficult and interesting usually involves a juxtaposition of "objective" and "subjective" standards for judging claims of reasonableness. On the one hand, the story goes, is a "subjective" standard of reasonableness under which jurors evaluate the reasonableness of a criminal defendant's beliefs and actions by comparing them to those of a hypothetical reasonable person sharing all of the individual …

Tribunals Organized To Convict: Searching For A Lesser Evil In The Capital Juror Death-Qualification Process In United States V. Green, Richard Salgado

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

United States V. Booker: The Demise Of Mandatory Federal Sentencing Guidelines And The Return Of Indeterminate Sentencing, Jonathan Chiu

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Process Affects Punishment: Differences In Sentences After Guilty Plea, Bench Trial, And Jury Trial In Five Guidelines States, Nancy J. King, David A. Soule, Sara Steen, Robert R. Weidner

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The research reported in this Essay examines process discounts-differences in sentences imposed for the same offense, depending upon whether the conviction was by jury trial, bench trial, or guilty plea-in five states that use judicial sentencing guidelines. Few guidelines systems expressly recognize "plea agreement" as an acceptable basis for departure, and none authorizes judges to vary sentences based upon whether or not the defendant waived his right to a jury trial and opted for a bench trial. Nevertheless, we predicted that because of the cost savings resulting from waivers, judges and prosecutors in any sentencing system would ensure that guilty …

The Third Wave Of Crime Victims' Rights: Standing, Remedy, And Review, Douglas E. Beloof

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.