Criminal Procedure Commons^™

Co-Operation Between The Judiciary And The Police, John B. Waite

Articles

"The problem in which I have been interested is the reason for the great disproportion between the number of arrests by the police and the number of convictions resulting...." Professor Waite expresses his opinion that judges occasionally thwart police in their lawful activities out of distrust or ignorance of police practices by capriciously interfering with criminal procedure.

Irresistible Impulse And Criminal Liability, John Barker Waite

Michigan Law Review

Do you believe in free-will, or mechanistic determinism, or fore-ordination, or fatalism? What do you mean by 'irresistible impulse'? What is the purpose of this prosecution against which you advocate, or deny, irresistible impulse as a defense; and just what do you mean by 'defense'? If, instead of one question, "is irresistible impulse a defense", we should ask these other questions of counsel, judge and medical expert, how often would their answers be in accord? Yet the one question can never be intelligently discussed in the absence of certainty and agreement as to the other premises. There are certain combinations …

Trial Practice--Duty Of The Court To Instruct The Jury In The Absence Of A Request For Instructions

Michigan Law Review

A series of cases recently decided in Georgia brings to mind the interesting question as to whether the court is bound to give instructions upon the law of the case in the absence of a specific request therefor. See Slocumb v. State, 157 Ga. 131; Fort v. State, 121 S. E. 128; Hatfield v. State, 121 S. E. 129; Walker v. State, 121 S. E. 130; Bul­lard v. State, 121 S. E. 130; Coney v. State, 121 S. E. 132, and Riggs v. State (1924) 121 S. E. 142. In none of these cases …

Injunction Against Execution Of Criminal Judgment

Michigan Law Review

Sometime in 1921 or 1922 one Ullah Mohammed, an Afghan, unable to speak or understand English, was convicted of murder in the first degree in the Sonoma county court, of California. The evidence showed that he entered deceased's bed-room, fired a shot-gun at him, clubbed him over the head, and then cut his throat with a razor. An appeal was taken on the instructions as to self-defense and was summarily overruled. People v. Mohammed, 189 Cal. 429. Later a bill was filed in the superior court of San Francisco for an injunction to prevent Mohammed's execution. It was alleged …

Constructive Contempt Of Court

Michigan Law Review

The recent case of Craig v. Hecht (1923) 44 Sup. Ct. Rep. 103, aroused an extraordinary amount of interest among laymen, and involved some legal questions of importance to lawyers; but perhaps its most significant result was the opportunity it afforded the legal profession to observe the popular attitude of hostility toward certain phases of judicial administration which lawyers are habitually inclined to overlook.

Venue--Jurisdiction In Criminal Cases

Michigan Law Review

In a recent case in Oklahoma the defendant was prosecuted for bigamy, under a statute which read as follows: "It shall be unlawful for either party to such divorce to remarry any other person within six months from the degree of divorcement. * * * Any person marrying contrary: to the provisions of this statute shall be deemed guilty of bigamy, and such marriage shall be absolutely void." The defendant remarried in another state and returned to Live in Oklahoma. The court held that it had no jurisdiction. Jennings v. State, 17 Okla. Cr. R. 698.

Criminal Appeals In Southern States

Michigan Law Review

The attitude of American courts of last resort toward criminal convictions in the lower courts would be expected to have a pronounced effect on the number of appeals resorted to and the general respect of lawyers and criminals for decisions in original proceedings. The willingness of our supreme courts to hear appeals on technical and illusory grounds has often been compared most unfavorably, as in 51 AM.. L. REV. 239, with the informality and efficiency of appeals in other Anglo-Saxon countries. See, for example, 7 JOUR. OF CRIM. LAW, 17. Dean Roscoe Pound is quoted in 2 JOUR. OF CRIM. …

The Burden On Particular Defenses In Criminal Cases

Michigan Law Review

If it needs be that excuses be given for further discussion of this hoary question of burden of proof, they may be found in the fact that courts provoke it by doing such unreasonable things. In State v. Morrison (S. C.), 113 S.E. 304, it is held that the burden of proof is on defendant to satisfy the jury that he acted in self-defense, and that if there is not a preponderance of the evidence in favor of the defendant on this issue, and in consequence he fails in this defense, yet that such evidence may be considered in determining …

Book Reviews, Edwin W. Patterson, Edson R. Sunderland, C E. Griffin

Michigan Law Review

The title of this brilliant little volume might, more accurately, have been, "The Spirits of the Common Law," for it depicts the common law as the battleground of many conflicting spirits, from which a few relatively permanent ideas and ideals have emerged triumphant. As a whole, the book is a pluralistic-idealistic interpretation of legal history. Idealistic, because Dean Pound finds that the fundamentals of the 'common law have been shaped by ideas and ideals rather than by economic determinism or class struggle; he definitely rejects a purely economic interpretation of legal history, although he demands a sociological one (pp. io-ii). …

Due Process And Punishment, Clarence E. Laylin, Alonzo H. Tuttle

Michigan Law Review

To threaten such a man with punishment," wrote Sir James .LFitzjames Stephen,' "is like threatening to punish a man for not lifting a weight which he cannot move."

Documents And Their Scientific Examination, Victor H. Lane

Reviews

Professor Lane's short review of a "little work" that touches on "the composition and behavior of inks, pencil pigments, sealing wax, and other writing materials in connection with their use upon documents." Lane feels that "A study such as this is of material importance in presenting expert evidence in civil and criminal cases..."

Some Needed Reforms In The Methods Of Selecting Juries, Willis B. Perkins

Michigan Law Review

For the purpose of comparison and in a measure as a justification for some of the conclusions reached, I will premise what I have to say by a general review of the practice of securing juries in England.

Proposed Remedies In Court Procedure, Willis B. Perkins

Michigan Law Review

It is the judgment of the writer that the chief function of the legislature is to declare substantive rights. Court procedure being but the machinery by which substantive rights are determined, the responsibility for the effectiveness of that machinery should rest alone upon the courts. Unnecessary prolixity and confusion too frequently result from the present two-fold source of procedural law.

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.

Procedural Law Reform, Willis B. Perkins

Michigan Law Review

It is said that under our present practice, no matter how just the verdict and judgment of the court below may be, no lawyer can guarantee that his case may not be reversed by the Supreme Court. Is this criticism well-founded in fact; and, if so, is it a reflection upon our present methods of legal procedure? The statisticians tell us that no less than twenty per cent of all the cases taken to our appellate courts relate to questions of practice, and that throughout the country in forty per cent of these cases new trials are granted. In our …

Note And Comment, Ralph W. Aigler, Langdon H. Larwill, Walter R. Metz

Michigan Law Review

The Rule of Certainty in Damages and the Value of a Chance; Is a Bank Check an Assignment Pro Tanto of the Fund on Deposit?; The "Finger-Print" Case; Right of Husband to Recover Alimony Independent of an Action for Divorce;

Note And Comment, Gordon W. Stoner, Newton K. Fox, Walle W. Merritt, Albert E. Meder

Michigan Law Review

The Power of a Court to Compel a jury to Render its Verdict in Accordance with a Peremptory Instruction; The Liability of Municipal Corporations in the Discharge of Public or Governmental Duties and of Private or Corporate Duties; Some views of the Nature and Effect of Corporateness; Mitigation of Damages or Substituted Contract; Limitation of the Amount of a Carrier's Liability

Prosecuting And District Attorneys, Henry M. Bates

Book Chapters

Professor Bates defines his subject matter "Prosecuting and district attorneys are judicial officers of the state, within their respective districts, although not officers of the state at large. Under some statutes they are county officers, while under others they are not, but are circuit or district officers.... Like other attorneys, prosecuting and district attorneys are officers of the court; but they are not a part of the court because of their office." A two-page outline precedes the entry.

One Way To Prevent Some Of The 'Law's Delays', James H. Brewster

Articles

In view of discussions concerning "The Law's Delays" which have been had before several Bar Association meetings lately, the case of In re McHugh, 116 N. W. 459, decided by the Supreme Court of Michigan, is of interest. In this case two attorneys had been summoned by the trial court to answer a charge of contempt in failing to appear in court on the day set for the trial of one accused of murder whose defense they had undertaken, their failure to appear being alleged to be "for the purpose of obstructing the course of justice." After a hearing they …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Agency--Agent's Liability When Name of Principal is Undisclosed; Attorney and Client--Admission to Practice--Moral Character; Bailment--Hiring--Conversion; Bankruptcy--Attempted Assignment by Trustee to a Creditor of Fraudulently Acquired Property; Bankruptcy--Fraudulent Conveyance--Vendor's Lien; Banks and Banking--Pass Books--Duty of Depositor; Bills and Notes--Antecedent Debt Constitutes Value; Common Carriers--Special Service; Conflict of Laws--Defense to an Action of Tort; Constitutional law--due Process of Law--Equal Protection of the Laws--Service on State Auditor as Attorney for Corporation; Contracts--Right of Privacy--Breach of Trust; Corporations--Ultra Vires; criminal Procedure--Indictment Must Negative Exception in Statute; Damages--Measure--Medical Attendance--Loss of Business; Damages--Mental Suffering--Failure to Deliver Telegram Promptly; Deeds--Redelivery to the Grantor--Effect as to Title; Easements …

A Digest Of Important Cases On The Law Of Crimes, John R. Rood

Books

“In selecting the cases to be abridged, an effort has been made to choose those that have drawn the most attention, comment, and citation. The reputation of each case is shown to the reader in part by reference to the various collections of important cases on crimes which have been included….”--Preface.

Constitutional Privileges In The Philippine Islands, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

About a year ago an appeal was decided in the Supreme Court of the United States which came up from the Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands, involving the question of the right of the government to appeal in a criminal case and to secure a conviction after an acquittal below. That case was Kepner v. United States, 195 U. S. 100. The court held, by a vote of five to four, that proceedings in error instituted by the government after an acquittal in the trial court, had the effect of placing the accused twice in jeopardy for the same …

Note And Comment, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Statute Requiring Examination and License as Prerequisites to Ownership or Management of a Dental Office Unconstitutional; Railroad Control of the Telegraph Business; The Need of Uniform Laws Governing "Conditional Sales"; Jurisdiction of Equity over Void Instruments; Quitclaim Deed as Affecting the Question of Good Faith; Competency of a child as a Witness; Compensation for Party Walls as Between Subsequent Grantees;

Note And Comment, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The Federal Safety Appliance Act as a Regulation of Interstate Commerce; Liability of Christian Science Healer for Negligence and Deceit; Iowa and the Rule in Shelley's Case; Are Conditions Imposed by the Vendor of Chattels Binding on Subsequent Purchasers? Necessity for the Personal Presence of the Accused Upon Arraignment; Unconstitutional Aids to Local Industries; Damages for Mental Suffering Unaccompanied by Physical Injury

Note And Comment, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The Fayerweather Will Case; Conveyance of Land Includes Building material Fitted For Use Thereon; The Waiver of Fatal Defects in an Indictment; Consolidation of Railroads and Condemnation of Shares of Dissenting Stockholders; Compulsory Vaccination; Confidential Communications Between Physician and Patient; The Law on the Panama Canal Zone;

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Attachment--alliams Writ--Collateral Attack; Attorneys--disbarment--Malfeasance in Office; Chattel Mortgages--Liability of Mortgagee for Selling More Property than Enough to Satisfy Debt; Conflict of Laws--Comity--Extraterritorial Effect of Laws; Constitutional Law--due Process of Law--Restraint of Insane Persons--Habeas Corpus; Constitutional Law--Eight-Hour Haw--Public contracts; Contempt--Libel of Court; Contract--Construction--Damages; Corporations--Fraud of Directors--Rights of Stockholders; Criminal Law--Habeas Corpus--Waver of Objections as to the Legality of Trial Court; Criminal Procedure--Bill of Exceptions--Presumption as to Evidence; Deeds--In Consideration of Support--Condition Subsequent--Charge Upon Land; Divorce--Alimony--Payment After Husband's Death; Elections--Conduct of Special Elections--Preparation of Ballots; Evidence--constitutional Law--Privilege--Witness; Evidence--Presumption--Suicide; Garnishment--Interests in Expectancy; Husband and Wife--Conveyance to Avoid Taxation--Trusts; Injunction--Parties--Contempt; Insurance, Fire--"Iron Safe" Clause--Waiver; …

Note And Comment, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The American Political Science Association; The Bill of Rights and The Right to Labor; Right to Impeach the Consideration of a Judgment Rendered in Another State; the Function of the "Exhibit" in Copde Pleading; Lapse of Residuary Gifts; "Voluntary Confessions"; The Competency of the Conduct of Bloodhounds as Evidence in Criminal Cases; The "Reasonable Use" of Subterranean Waters

Coyle V. The Commonwealth, Henry W. Rogers

Articles

"Homicidal mania must be proved, not assumed, nor confounded with reckless frenzy; To instruct, however, that it must be proved by 'clearly preponderating evidence' is error. All the authorities require is that the evidence proving it should 'fairly' preponderate.

"An attempt at suicide is not of itself evidence of insanity, and raises no legal presumption thereof....

"It was clearly proved that Coyle killed Emily Myers. That fact is admitted. The only defence set up is that he was insane at the time."