Criminal Procedure Commons^™

Constitutional Law - Criminal Law And Procedure - Right To Effective Assistance Of Counsel, Walter Muller

Michigan Law Review

Robbery of a Federal Reserve Bank and jeopardizing lives by the use of dangerous weapons were the charges brought against defendant in a federal district court. Ten months after being taken into custody, he was finally brought to trial. On the latter date, for the first time, the defendant expressed to the court a desire to engage different counsel because of recent difficulties he had had with his original choice. The defendant was the complaining petitioner in a pending disbarment proceeding against his attorney. But the record did not show that the defendant disclosed the nature of those differences to …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Use Of Involuntary Confessions In Criminal Cases, Reed T. Phalan

Michigan Law Review

The practice of wringing confessions from the lips of persons accused of crime forms a substantial blot on the history of the medieval administration of criminal law. Never legalized in England, the practice early earned the condemnation of writers and criticism of courts. From a recognition of human rights and a perception of the unreliability of statements extorted by violence, evolved the general rule, now long recognized in England and the United States, that the accused's involuntary confession is inadmissible in evidence against him. Recently this rule of evidence has been implemented by the recognition of the United States Supreme …

Searches And Seizures - Constitutionality Of Statute Providing For Issuance Of Search Warrant On Affidavit On Information And Belief, William C. Wetherbee

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff demanded a writ of prohibition against the defendant, a justice of the peace, to prevent his proceeding to determine ownership of trademarked milk bottles seized from plaintiff's milk truck under a search warrant. A statute required the issuance of a search warrant when any person made affidavit that he had reason to believe and did believe that trademarked receptacles were being wrongfully held. Held, writ of prohibition granted since the statute was unconstitutional in requiring the issuance of a search warrant without a showing of facts constituting probable cause, and in allowing the affiant instead of the judicial …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Extradition Of A Juvenile Delinquent, Felicia I. Hmiel

Michigan Law Review

The state of Georgia, by an acting justice of peace of a county, charged a thirteen-year-old boy with the crime of assault with intent to murder. Under the Georgia Criminal Code the offense was punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term of two to ten years. The boy was found in the state of New York, whereupon the governor of Georgia sent a requisition for extradition to the governor of New York. The boy defendant brought a habeas corpus proceeding in a New York court to obtain release from custody under the extradition warrant. Held, the defendant …

Criminal Law And Procedure -- Privilege Against Self-Incrimination -- Duty To Give Requested Instruction That No Significance Should Be Attached To Defendant's Failure To Testify, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, charged with conspiracy to import and sell narcotics, requested a special instruction that failure of defendant to take the witness stand does not create any presumption against him. A federal statute specifically provides that no such presumption shall arise. The trial court refused the instruction, and after the circuit court of appeals affirmed the conviction, the case was taken to the United States Supreme Court. Held, the statute gave defendant a right upon request to have such an instruction given. The error committed by its refusal was not a mere "technical error," but one affecting defendant's substantial rights. …

Criminal Law And Procedure-Federal Courts - Substitution By Supreme Court Of Its Inferences Of Fact For Those Of The State Court, John S. Pennell

Michigan Law Review

The recent cases of Avery v. Alabama and Chambers v. Florida raise the interesting question of the conclusiveness of a fact finding of a state court upon the United States Supreme Court in a criminal trial when the accused claims that one of his constitutional rights has been impaired, and the holding of the state court is to the effect that on the facts presented such right has not been impaired. The case may arise in the United States Supreme Court in either of two ways. It may come up on appeal from a lower federal court denying a petition …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Statute Of Limitations - Income Tax Prosecution, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was indicted for wilfully attempting to evade and defeat payment of part of his income tax for the taxable year 1930 by filing a false return in violation of the Revenue Act of 1928. A motion to quash was entered because the indictment had not been found and returned within six years of the alleged commission of the offense. The indictment had been actually found and filed six years and one hundred sixty-six days from the day upon which the return was filed. Defendant was absent from the district on various business and pleasure trips for more than the …

Some Problems In The Enforcement Of The Antitrust Laws, Wendell Berge

Michigan Law Review

There has been much discussion through the years about the evils of monopoly, monopolistic practices, and unreasonable restraints of trade. We have always paid lip service to the ideal of free competition. But we have done little in this country to cope with these evils. We have done little to make our competitive ideal effective.

Criminal Law And Procedure - Interpretation Of Statute, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Convicted of the statutory crime of falsely uttering a bank check, defendant appealed on the ground that the instrument in question was a promissory note. It was in appearance and form a check except for the substitution of "will pay" for "pay" and the addition of the words "payable at" before the name of the bank. Held, affirmed, the court construing the instrument as a check. State v. Doudna, (Iowa, 1939) 284 N. W. 113.

Evidence - Criminal Law And Procedure - Admissibility Of Recording Made On Device At Receiving End Of Telephone Conversation, William H. Klein

Michigan Law Review

In a prosecution for conspiracy to violate the narcotic laws, defendant objected to the admission of a recorded telephone conversation between himself and an informer, taken down by the latter on a device attached to the receiver. Defendant contended that this was inadmissible under the rule of Nardone v. United States. Held, the evidence was not intercepted, therefore not within the purview of the Federal Communications Act and, consequently, admissible despite the Nardone decision. United States v. Yee Ping Jong, (D. C. Pa. 1939) 26 F. Supp. 69.

Criminal Law And Procedure - Evidence - Admissibility Of Lie Detector Tests In Evidence, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

After all the evidence had been produced for the jury's consideration in a murder trial, defendant's counsel moved to reopen the case and be permitted to take defendant to a laboratory to be examined under a pathometer, or lie detector. Held, that as the court could not take judicial notice that the instrument was or was not effective for determining the truth, because the record gave no indication of general scientific recognition, the motion was denied. People v. Forte, 279 N. Y. 204, 18 N. E. (2d) 31, affg. (King Co. Ct. 1938) 4 N. Y. S. (2d) …

Criminal Law And Procedure - New Trial - Motion For New Trial For Newly Discovered Evidence - Recantation By Important Witness For The State, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

After conviction of rape allegedly committed upon defendant's thirteen year old daughter, defendant, on motion for new trial, produced an affidavit of the daughter recanting the testimony against defendant which the daughter had given at the trial. Held, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to grant a new trial. Sutton v. State, (Ark. 1938) 122 S. W. (2d) 617.

Criminal Law And Procedure - Constitutionality Of A Comment Upon Defendant's Failure To Testify, D. M. Swope

Michigan Law Review

For several years there has been agitation in legal and legislative circles to permit comment in a criminal action upon the failure of the defendant to testify. Both the American Bar Association and the American Law Institute have passed resolutions favoring such legislation. The chief objection to the proposal has been its alleged unconstitutionality. The purpose of this comment is to attempt to rebut such a contention and to show that the advocated change is both constitutional and eminently desirable.

Constitutional Law-Double Jeopardy-Acquittal In Prior Criminal Prosecution As Bar To Action For Penalties Based In Fraud, Allan A. Rubin

Michigan Law Review

Defendant had been acquitted of a criminal charge of wilfully attempting to evade or defeat an income tax under section 146(b) of the Federal Revenue Act of 1928. Subsequently this action was initiated for the collection of an additional fifty per cent of the total amount of the deficiency under section 293 (b) of the same act, which provides that if any deficiency is due to fraud with intent to evade the tax, fifty per centum of such deficiency in addition to the amount of the deficiency shall be collected. Plaintiff brought certiorari from an order of modification eliminating the …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Essential Definiteness Of Criminal Statutes - Automobile Regulations, Robert Meisenholder

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was convicted of reckless driving under section 48 of the Illinois Uniform Traffic Act which reads, "Any person who drives any vehicle with a wilful or a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving." He appealed on the ground that the statute violated the Illinois Constitution because it was too vague, indefinite, and uncertain. Held, that the statute did not violate the constitution and was a valid exercise of the police power of the legislature. People v. Green, 368 Ill. 242, 13 N. E. (2d) 278 (1938).

Criminal Law And Procedure - Physicians And Surgeons - Contraceptive Statutes And Implied Exceptions Thereto, Thomas K. Fisher

Michigan Law Review

A Massachusetts statute made the selling of any drug, medicine or instrument for the prevention of conception a criminal offense. The defendants, a doctor, a nurse, and two social workers, all connected with a charitable association, prescribed and sold contraceptives to non-pregnant, married women. Defendants' offer of proof, admitting the facts charged, but contending that the statute did not apply where the sale was made under a physician's prescription for the preservation of life or health, was found by the trial court to constitute no defense. Held, that the wording was plain and unequivocal allowing for no implied exception. …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Admissibility Of Confessions - Exhortations To Tell The Truth, Dan K. Cook

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, while in the custody of police officers, confessed to the crime of murder. It was shown that the police officers during the course of defendant's examination, stated to the defendant that "it was better for him to tell the whole truth," and ''You are not telling the truth, give us the truth on this," "You might as well tell the truth; to me now," "I advise you to tell the truth in this case." In the subsequent prosecution of the defendant for murder, it was held that the confession was properly admissible notwithstanding these statements by the officers. Commonwealth …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Appeal By State - Constitutionality Of Statutes-Due Process Of Law, Edward D. Ransom

Michigan Law Review

Developing as a result of a period when an accused person was placed at a tremendous disadvantage at the hands of tyrannical judges exercising an unconscionable abuse of power, the concept that no person shall "be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb" was put into the Fifth Amendment of the Federal Constitution and into many of the state constitutions. As a part of this double jeopardy concept, the American courts, from the first, established the rule that the state should not be allowed to appeal in a criminal prosecution. The accused, …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Evidence - Dismissal Of Prosecution For Reference To Other Crimes Of Defendant, John Barker Waite

Michigan Law Review

Any discussion of Judge Pecora's declaration of a mistrial in People v. Hines must adhere firmly to the fundamental proposition that every accused person, no matter how evident his guilt nor how great the hostility toward him, is entitled to a fair trial, conducted in accord with established rules, and to the verdict of a jury uninfluenced by improper factors. But did the judge's ruling perhaps exceed what was reasonably necessary to assure the defendant of these essentials?

Witnesses - Effect Of Mental Deficiency On Competency And Credibility, Erwin B. Ellmann

Michigan Law Review

Inquiry into the admissibility of evidence showing mental deficiency in a witness is suggested by State v. Teager, a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Iowa. Defendant, charged with assault with intent to commit rape, offered to prove by a school teacher that the complaining witness, a child twelve years old, was "at least two years behind in her school work . . . subnormal mentally . . . and ought to be in an institution . . . . " No objection had been made to the competency of such witness. It was held that the evidence …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Appeal - Reversal Of Conviction Despite Guilt As Rebuke To The Administration Of Justice, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In a prosecution for murder the prosecuting attorney, in his opening address, improperly stated that the evidence would show that both defendants had previous records for burglary and robbery, had served time in penitentiaries, and that the state would ask that the two men be hanged on the basis of this and other evidence. No objection or move for a mistrial was made at the time by the defendants, nor was the court requested to instruct the jury to disregard the remarks. Defendants were unquestionably guilty of murder, the evidence for the state being conclusive, while that of the defendants …

The Theory And Practice Of Pre-Trial Procedure, Edson R. Sunderland

Michigan Law Review

Pre-trial civil procedure under the English common-law system consisted only of pleading. Whatever the rules of pleading could accomplish in the way of defining and restricting issues contributed to the efficiency of the trial. What could not be done by the rules of pleading could not be done at all.

The great weakness of pleading as a means for developing and presenting issues of fact for trial lay in its total lack of any means for testing the factual basis for the pleader's allegations and denials. They might rest upon the soundest evidence, or they might rest upon nothing at …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Power Of Appellate Court To Modify Sentence, Emma Rae Mann

Michigan Law Review

It is generally conceded that when a sentence is illegal in the sense that it exceeds the maximum prescribed by statute, it may be modified by a reviewing court, although it is not clear that common-law courts were always regarded as having such power. Power to modify in such cases is now recognized in federal courts as well as in state courts. Quite another question arises when the sentence appealed from is within the limits allowed by law but is urged to be unduly severe. The decision in the recent case of Beckett v. United States that the federal circuit …

Constitutional Law- Right To Jury Trial - Petty Statutory Offenses, James H. Roberton

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was tried before the police court of the District of Columbia for selling, as a second-hand dealer, unused return-trip railroad tickets without a license, contrary to an Act of Congress. The act provides for a maximum penalty of $300 fine or ninety days in jail. The defendant was denied a jury trial. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found the defendant entitled to a jury trial. On appeal to the United States Supreme Court, it was held by a majority of the Court, that the Federal Constitution does not guarantee the defendant a jury trial …

Grand Jury - Power Of Court In Pennsylvania To Direct A General Investigation -Where No Specific Crime Charged, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In a criminal case the judge of a Pennsylvania trial court was erroneously informed that the committing magistrate had discharged the accused's accomplices. The judge thereupon charged the magistrate with "fixing," but after investigation merely censured the latter for (1) failing to require bail in certain cases, and (2) remanding one defendant to a trial court without jurisdiction. The judge expressly said that he had no reason to believe the magistrate had acted from any corrupt motive. He nevertheless told a grand jury that a magistrate's violation of law had come to his attention and ordered the jury to investigate …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Federal Courts - Reservation Of Power To Grant Probation After Sentence Begun, Virginia M. Renz

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was convicted of a violation of the National Motor Vehicle Act and a sentence not exceeding one year was imposed, subject to reservation of a power to grant probation later. He served a portion of the sentence. Pursuant to an investigation and report by the probation officer, the defendant was released and put on probation for the remainder of his term. Held, that the district court, under the National Probation Act of 1925, had authority to reserve jurisdiction of the case and to release the defendant and put him on probation after he had served a portion …

Constitutional Law - Federal Criminal Procedure - Short Form Indictment, James H. Roberton

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to discuss the validity under the Federal Constitution of an indictment, drawn in accordance with the proposed code, which would merely accuse the defendant of having committed some kind of "offense," and would leave the particulars of the offense to a bill of particulars.

Trials-Right To "Public Trial"-Power Of Judge To Exclude General Public, Francis T. Goheen

Michigan Law Review

Convinced of the desirability of such action, a judge, conducting the trial of a criminal case, wishes to clear the court room of all or a portion of the spectators. To what extent may he legitimately do so? He is necessarily limited by the provision in the constitution of almost every state and in the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States that in "all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial." The extent to which the trial court may go in clearing the court room has been most often tested …

Evidence -- Competency Of Wife To Testify Against Husband--Rules Of Evidence In Federal Court, Philip A. Hart

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was convicted of transporting a female in interstate commerce for immoral purposes. Over the defendant's objection the trial court permitted testimony against him to be given by the defendant's wife. This ruling he assigned as error but held a wife is competent as a witness against her husband. Yoder v. United States, (C. C. A. 10th, 1935) 80 F. (2d) 665.

Evidence - Statutory Presumptions In Criminal Cases - Constitutionality - Due Process, Malcolm L. Denise

Michigan Law Review

Defendant admitted killing deceased with unlicensed pistol. The trial court instructed the jury pursuant to a statute which provided that in the trial of a person charged with committing or attempting to commit a felony against the person of another while armed with any firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, without having a license or permit to carry such firearm, the fact that he was so armed should be prima facie evidence of his intent to commit such felony. Upon objection that the statute was unconstitutional as depriving defendant of due process of law, the court held that …