Criminal Procedure Commons^™

Constitutional Law-Due Process Clause-Right Of An Accused To Have Counsel Appointed By The Court, Frank H. Roberts

Michigan Law Review

On May 16, 1932, petitioner, then seventeen years of age, was arraigned, tried, convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to life imprisonment. Petitioner was without legal assistance throughout these proceedings, was never advised of his rights to counsel, was never informed of the consequences of a guilty plea and, as disclosed by the record, was considerably confused as to the effect of such plea. In 1945, he moved for leave to file a delayed motion for new trial in the court in which he was convicted, on the ground that there had been serious impairment of his …

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department undertakes to note or review briefly current books on law and matters closely related thereto.

Constitutional Law-Search And Seizure, Howard A. Jacobs S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The most important step in the development of this constitutional provision came in 1886 in the famous case of Boyd v. United States. There the Court gave life to the Fourth Amendment by recognizing its intimate relation to the Fifth Amendment; thus laying the foundation for the federal rule that the Fifth Amendment protects every person from incrimination by the use of evidence obtained through search or seizure made in violation of his rights under the Fourth Amendment. With the exception of a temporary setback in 1903, this rule, as restated in the Weeks case, has effectively weathered a …

Declaratory Judgment Where Criminal Action Is Pending, Robert E. Walsh S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Subsequent to the filing of an information against him before a Justice of the Peace by the Secretary of Agriculture of the State of Iowa for violation of the Iowa Cream Grading Act, plaintiff applied to the District Court for an injunction against the proceeding before the Justice, and requested a declaration that he was not subject to the act. The District Court denied the injunction, but issued a decree declaring that plaintiff was not subject to the Cream Grading Act. On appeal, held, affirmed. Where complicated legal issues cannot be determined with equal facility by a Justice of …

Criminal Law And Procedure-Recent Developments-(A Service For Returning Veterans), John B. Waite

Michigan Law Review

In discussing developments of the criminal law during the war years it is convenient to group them into the three conventional divisions-substantive, procedural, and penal.

Criminal Law And Procedure-Whether Reversible Error For Judge To Give Instructions Relating To Credibility Of Defendant Witness, Edwin Boos

Michigan Law Review

Appellant who was convicted of committing a criminal abortion, moved for a new trial alleging as error an instruction given by the judge to the jury. The instruction singled out the defendant from the other witnesses, pointing to his high degree of interest in a verdict of not guilty, as reason for scrutinizing his testimony. The judge also warned the jury that it need not accept blindly the testimony of the accused. Held, reversed, new trial ordered. Swanson v. State, (Ind. 1944) 52 N.E. (2d) 616.

Federal Rules Of Criminal Procedure--The Various Drafts, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In February 1944 the REVIEW carried an article by Dean Harno of the University of Illinois entitled, "Proposed Rules of Criminal Procedure: Final Draft." In a footnote the draft was referred to as "Final Report ( 1943) ." While that issue of the REVIEW was on the press the Advisory Committee distributed a draft of the rules entitled "Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Second Preliminary Draft." In July 1944 a third printing of the proposed rules was circulated. This printing, labeled "Report," is, according to Mr. Holtzhoff, secretary of the committee, "the Final Draft of the Rules." It thus appears …

Criminal Justice In Germany: Ii, Hans Julius Wolff

Michigan Law Review

The trial (Hauptverhandlung) is the main and central part of the whole criminal proceeding. All that is brought forward in the trial and only what is brought forward there can furnish the basis for the verdict. Whatever has preceded the trial proper becomes irrelevant as soon as the trial is opened.

The principles governing the trial are publicity, orality, immediateness, and concentration.

The Place Of Trial Of Criminal Cases: Constitutional Vicinage And Venue, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

In 1909 one Henry G. Connor, presumably Mr. Justice Connor of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, published in the Pennsylvania Law Review an article entitled "The Constitutional Right to a Trial by a Jury of the Vicinage." The question discussed was: May a state constitutionally provide by statute that a crime be tried in a county other than that in which it was committed? Or, putting the question in terms of vicinage as distinguished from venue, may a state constitutionally provide by statute that a crime be tried by jurors summoned from a county other than the county …

Criminal Justice In Germany, Hans Julius Wolff

Michigan Law Review

Criminal law and procedure, perhaps even more than civil, reflect the underlying conceptions of the political system with which they are connected. The ideological structure of criminal procedure in Germany, as well as in other continental European states, rests on the historical development through which constitutional institutions in those countries have passed since the French Revolution. It mirrors the transformation of the all-powerful state of the period of absolutism into the liberal state with its guaranteed freedoms and rights of the individual and strict legal limits to the power of the authorities (Rechtsstaat); and in recent years it has adapted …

Constitutional Law-Due Process-Punishment For Acts Done Without Consciousness Of Wrongdoing, Benjamin M. Quigg, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In the recent case of United States v. Dotterweich the United States Supreme Court (four justices dissenting) held the president of a drug jobbing company personally liable for violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act on informations charging misbranding and adulteration of products. There was no evidence of any personal guilt on the defendant's part, nor was there any proof or claim that he ever knew of the introduction into commerce of the adulterated drugs in question. The disagreement among the members of the court was essentially one of statutory interpretation, but in view of the fact that …

Proposed Rules Of Federal Criminal Procedure: Final Draft, Albert J. Harno

Michigan Law Review

In February 1941, the Supreme Court appointed an advisory committee to prepare a draft of Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. That committee has made its report to the Court and has presented a final draft of the rules. The adoption of these rules would be a landmark in criminal law administration. The importance of the draft does not lie in the fact that it projects matters that are novel or new, but rather in that it presents in successive provisions, stated in simple language, the best practices in criminal law procedure that have been evolved through experience. Of equal, or …

The Proposed Federal Rules Of Criminal Procedure, Wendell Berge

Michigan Law Review

The recently published Preliminary Draft of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure is now before the bench and bar for discussion. The rules proposed are, of course, tentative. Following a procedure similar to that adopted in the case of the civil rules a few years ago, they have been printed and distributed by the Advisory Committee at this stage for the purpose of obtaining criticisms and suggestions. Some of the rules merely restate existing law as provided by statute or adopted by general agreement in judicial decisions. Others work substantial procedural changes. How is the product to be judged?

Searches And Seizures-The Criterion Of Reasonableness

Michigan Law Review

Epithetical jurisprudence is an easy way out of difficulty. Find some term to the use of which established law has commonly attached a consequence; apply that term to the fact situation at hand; the legal consequence is automatically determined. If it happens that the new fact situation is not quite like those to which the term has previously been applied, the term has unobtrusively acquired a new significance; but the forms of logical decision have been followed. One perennial illustration of that epithetical process is the judicial determination that a particular search or seizure is "reasonable" or "unreasonable" epithets whose …

Witnesses-Privilege Against Self-Incrimination-Effect Of Incorrect Decision By Trial Judge In Compelling Answer When Privilege Asserted

Michigan Law Review

ln a judicial proceeding, a question is asked of a witness, which question he declines to answer, claiming that the answer will tend to incriminate him. The judge orders him to answer. He does so and the answer does incriminate him. What happens?

Habeas Corpus As A Method Of Review-Prohibition-Mandamus

Michigan Law Review

It is a well-settled rule, sustained by innumerable cases, that errors and irregularities committed by a court within the sphere of its jurisdiction cannot be inquired into in habeas corpus proceedings. The reason commonly given for this rule is that such a proceeding is a collateral attack on the judgment, and a collateral attack is necessarily limited to the inquiry whether the court has acted without jurisdiction or has exceeded its jurisdiction.

Constitutional Law - Criminal Law And Procedure - Presence Of Accused During Arguments Of Law, Arthur B. Lathrop

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was indicted for a felony on charges of wilfully attempting to "evade or defeat'' federal income taxes based on his failure to report money allegedly received by him from "backers" of numbers games in exchange for political protection. On cross-examination he was questioned about certain payments made in the year following the ones on which the indictment was based. His attorney objected on the ground that the question was going to be the subject of another indictment against the defendant, and asked that the jury be dismissed while an argument was had upon the point of law raised. …

Constitutional Law-Trial By Jury-Conditions Of Valid Waiver

Michigan Law Review

Until the rendition of the Supreme Court's lengthy opinion in Patton v. United States the consequence of a defendant's waiver of his constitutional right to trial by jury in criminal cases, and his resultant trial without a jury of twelve persons, was matter for vigorous disputation. The decisions from various jurisdictions are conflicting and confused. Some courts have declared flatly that the right cannot be validly waived and that conviction following an attempted waiver is a nullity. But their reasons for so holding are widely variant.

Constitutional Law-Saboteurs And The Jurisdiction Of Military Commissions, George T. Schilling

Michigan Law Review

The jurisdiction of military tribunals in the United States has troubled political and legal writers since the days of the Revolution. Decided cases are not numerous. The boundaries separating military and civil jurisdiction are not precise. Observations of the plight of oppressed peoples in other lands as well as the conception of total war and the course of action necessary for survival warrant a reexamination and reappraisal of our constitutional guarantees, which were in part based upon and reflect a fear of tyrannical military rule. A pronouncement of the Supreme Court of the United States in this field is, therefore, …

Recent Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Criminal Law And Procedure - Statutes-Constitutionality Of Criminal Penalties For Unreasonable Deductions Under Federal Income Tax Statute, William H. Shipley

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was indicted for attempting to evade the federal tax on the income of a certain corporation for the years 1933 to 1936. In providing for deductions from gross income, the statute permits a reasonable allowance for salaries or other compensation for personal services. The government charged that the defendant was a party to a fraudulent scheme whereby, under the guise of paying commissions for services, which commissions were · deducted from gross income, the corporation distributed profits to its stockholders. The trial court submitted to the jury the issue whether the deduction represented a reasonable allowance for the services …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Notice And Hearing - Validity Of Statute Authorizing Seizure Of Property Illegally In Possession Of Pawnbroker, Wilbur Jacobs

Michigan Law Review

Complainant, believing his property to be illegally in the possession of defendant pawnbroker, obtained a search warrant, authorized by statute to be issued, on complaint under oath, by any magistrate who is satisfied that there is reasonable cause for complainant's belief. Although the statute required the property to be seized and delivered to complainant on his posting a bond for double the value of the property, the property was not in fact seized. However, actual notice to appear and be heard on a certain date was given to the defendant, even though such notice was not expressly required by the …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Conspiracy To Commit A Misdemeanor As A Felony, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was indicted for conspiring to destroy the poles and wires of an electric public utility, the destruction of such property being a statutory misdemeanor. The indictment was prosecuted under the provision of the Michigan statutes which states that all crimes indictable at common law are punishable as felonies unless specifically declared otherwise by the statute. The crime of conspiracy comes under this "common-law offense" provision. Upon denial of his motion to dismiss, defendant sought mandamus to review the ruling. Held, an agreement to do an act made a misdemeanor by statute is a common-law conspiracy, and such …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Conditional Pardons - Right To Notice And Hearing Upon Revocation For Breach Of Condition, Smith Warder

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was granted a pardon upon the condition that if he failed to conduct himself as a useful, upright and law-abiding citizen, he could be rearrested and reconfined at the discretion of the Governor. The Governor made an ex parte revocation and plaintiff was returned to the penitentiary. The action of the Governor was sustained in the state courts. Plaintiff brings habeas corpus in the federal court. Held, plaintiff had a constitutional right to be heard and the denial of this right was in violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Fleenor v. Hammond, (C. …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Charging One Theft As Several Larcenies, A Series Of Thefts As A Single Larceny, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The gist of the crime of larceny both at common law and under statutes is a fraudulent taking of the personal property of another with an intent to appropriate it. One taking coupled with the necessary intent normally constitutes a single offense of larceny, and normally the courts limit their inquiry to whether there is such taking and intent; if the finding is in the affirmative the crime of larceny is established. Yet the courts tend to go beyond these limits of inquiry where the problem arises whether a single offense or several distinct offenses have been committed. Two types …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Voluntary Communication To Grand Jury As Contempt, James K. Lindsay

Michigan Law Review

Defendant wrote two letters to the grand jury, then in session, asking leave to appear before it to present evidence of a conspiracy, described therein in highly inflammatory language, between a newspaper, the county assessor and the state's attorney to defraud the state of many millions of revenue by the illegal omission of the newspaper's personal property from the county tax rolls. The state's attorney filed an information incorporating these letters. The trial court found that defendant was guilty of criminal contempt. On appeal, defendant contended that this conviction deprived him of his constitutional right of free speech. Held, …

Constitutional Law - Trial By Jury - Right To Waive Presence Of Trial Judge, Robert P. Kneeland

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was tried for the crime of driving a car while intoxicated. After the jury was instructed and had retired, the judge who had supervised the trial up to that point announced that he was going to another town to sit for a judge who was in poor health, but that a second judge would be available to receive the jury's verdict. Defendant's counsel failed to object to these arrangements. After the judge who heard the cause had left, the jury desired further instructions. As defendant objected to this request, however, it was denied. The second judge received the unqualified …

Criminal Law And Procedure-Jury Trial- Directed Verdict Of Guilty- Michigan Rule, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was convicted of negligent homicide as the result of a collision between his car and another, in which an occupant of the other car was killed. The trial court charged the jury, inter alia, "The court submits the case to you for your determination. The view of the court is that under the law there is only one verdict that can be found by the jury under the evidence in this case in its most favorable light." This was objected to by the defendant as error. Held, the instruction was in effect a direction of a verdict …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Remedies Available To Convicted Defendant When New Facts Are Found, Smith Warder

Michigan Law Review

Due to its haphazard growth and evolution, the Anglo-American system of jurisprudence occasionally left gaping defects in its general contours. Many of these defects have been and are being filled, both by statute and by the continuing development of the common law. However, there is one case which re-occurs with distressing frequency where no satisfactory remedy has been developed and where this lack of remedy can have unjust or even barbaric results.

Injunctions Power Of Equity To Enjoin Criminal Act - Illegal Practice Of Medicine As A Public Nuisance, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The state, on the relation of a district attorney, sued to enjoin the defendant from practicing medicine in violation of a state statute. The statute termed the offense a misdemeanor and provided for imprisonment and a fine. The state alleged that the defendant's activities constituted a public nuisance because he was unskillful and thus endangered the health and lives of the public. Defendant demurred on the grounds that such conduct did not constitute a public nuisance and that the penal provisions of the statute afforded an adequate remedy. Held, injunction granted on the ground that the defendant's practice of …