Criminal Procedure Commons^™

Defining Indefiniteness: Suggested Revisions To The Void For Vagueness Doctrine, Cristina D. Lockwood

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The void for vagueness doctrine is itself indefinite. The current void for vagueness analysis provides that the law is void for vagueness if it fails to provide fair notice of the prohibited conduct or is so standardless that it allows for discriminatory enforcement. Uncertainty within the doctrine exists because the United States Supreme Court has not articulated a definitive position as to when facial review is appropriate in the void for vagueness analysis. Further, the Court's decision that a law can be void for vagueness based solely on a finding that there is a potential for discriminatory enforcement creates uncertainty …

Appealing To The Legislature: A Comparative Analysis Of The Georgia Statutes Regarding Evidence Preservation And Access To Post-Conviction Dna Testing, Joy D. Aceves-Amaya

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

DNA evidence testing is the leading cause of exonerations in criminal cases throughout the United States.2 Yet, without the preservation of evidence in these cases and the ability to subject this evidence to advancing technology in DNA testing, many claims of innocence go unheard and defendants remain incarcerated while the real perpetrators of crime go unpunished. As of September 2009, seven Georgia men have been exonerated by post-conviction DNA testing.3 Such exonerations should be considered "victories for our criminal justice system: they free the innocent, correct miscarriages of justice that undermine public confidence in our criminal justice system, and allow …

Judge's Ill-Timed Ruling Invites Irrationality In Public's Views About Capital Punishment, Adam M. Gershowitz

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

No Witness? No Admission: The Tale Of Testimonial Statements And Melendez-Diaz V. Massachusetts, Jody L. Sellers

Mercer Law Review

In Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, the United States Supreme Court held that the Massachusetts trial court's admission into evidence of forensic "certificates of analysis" violated the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. Following Crawford v. Washington, the Supreme Court held that the accused has a right to be confronted with the forensic analysts at trial unless "the analysts [are] unavailable to testify at trial" and the accused "had a prior opportunity to cross-examine" the analysts. Melendez-Diaz will have an important impact on criminal evidence procedure, specifically in regard to the potential growth of notice-and-demand statutes.

Curriculum: Investigating Allegations Of Staff Sexual Misconduct With Offenders (Facilitator's Guide), Brenda V. Smith, Morris L. Thigpen, Thomas Beauclair, Dee Halley, Jaime M. Yarussi, Marcia Morgan, Aaron Aldrich, Darrell Alley, Roy Austin, Diane Berman, Susan Carle, Wally Carmichael, Deborah Connor, Dan Dunne, Karen Giannakoulias, Katherine Huffman, Madeleine Lamarre, Susan Mccampbell, Andie Moss, Mary Pinn, Susan Poole, Keith Reid, Jo Sterns, Melissa Turner, A.T. Wall

Research Reports & White Papers

Investigating Allegations of Staff Sexual Misconduct with Offenders is a 36-hour educational program that addresses the complex issues in investigations of staff on offender sexual abuse in correctional settings. It is primarily designed for investigators, prosecutors, human resource administrators, and high-level correctional administrators, but can be adapted for other audiences.

Before the lesson plans begin on page 31, you will find background information for the instructor. First you will find the proposed program agenda for the training, a list of topics and break times. This provides the instructor with a snapshot of the entire training; each module, topic and time …

Description And The Evidentiary Production Of Images, Kyle J. Mcgee

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Fool For A Client: Competency Standards In Pro Se Cases , Reed Willis

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

No Longer The Right To Remain Silent: Cross-Examining Forensic Analyst Testimony, Casey Unwin

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Statewide Capital Punishment: The Case For Eliminating Counties’ Role In The Death Penalty, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Documentation, Documentary, And The Law: What Should Be Made Of Victim Impact Videos?, Regina Austin

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Vol. Ix, Tab 41 - Ex. G - Dulitz Deposition (Google Adwords Project Manager), Daniel Dulitz

Rosetta Stone v. Google (Joint Appendix)

Exhibits from the un-sealed joint appendix for Rosetta Stone Ltd., v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007, on appeal to the 4th Circuit. Issue presented: Under the Lanham Act, does the use of trademarked terms in keyword advertising result in infringement when there is evidence of actual confusion?

Conflicts Of Interest In Criminal Cases: Should The Prosecution Have A Duty To Disclose?, Anne Poulin

Working Paper Series

This article addresses two types of conflicts of interests that arise in criminal cases: 1) when defense counsel has an employment relation to the prosecutor’s office, and 2) when defense counsel faces criminal investigation or charges. Both these situations threaten both the defendant’s representation and the actual as well as apparent fairness of the proceeding. Yet, only in extreme cases are these conflicts likely to result in a reversal of the defendant’s conviction. As a result, protection of the defendant and the fairness of the process often depends on early intervention, which allows the court to advise the defendant of …

Deciding When To Decide - Appellate Procedure And Legal Change, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Law Day Oral Argument Session Fifth District Court Of Appeal, 2010, Honorable William D. Palmer, Chief Judge, Honorable Bruce Jacobus, Honorable C. Alan Lawson

Law Day Presentations

As part of Law Day activities, a three judge panel hear appellate oral arguments on a first-degree murder case, a contract dispute, and a sexual battery and false imprisonment case, in the FAMU College of Law's Ceremonial Moot Courtroom. The Court entertains questions from the gallery regarding the appellate process and organization of the appellate court following each argument.

State V. Burgess: A Limitation On A Defendant’S Right To Remain Innocent, Elizabeth Lahey

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “This note will explore the current state of the privilege against self-incrimination, particularly in regard to whether it works to bar negative inferences from being drawn from a defendant’s silence during sentencing in order to determine his remorse for the crime of which he has been convicted. I will focus primarily on the issue in the context of the recent New Hampshire case State v. Burgess. In that case, the court recognized the application of the privilege at sentencing, but nonetheless carved out a unique exception which made negative inferences permissible at sentencing when the defendant has admitted to …

Finality, Habeas, Innocence, And The Death Penalty: Can Justice Be Done?, Ellyde Roko

Washington Law Review

In 1995, Judge Betty Binns Fletcher posed a question: In the context of the death penalty, can justice be done? She did not answer the question at the time. However, an examination of the procedural hurdles now facing condemned inmates seeking review of claims of constitutional violations suggests the answer is no. Too often courts, including the Supreme Court, have favored finality over fairness, elevating strict adherence to procedural rules over the responsibility to make sure justice is done. Nowhere is the problem clearer than in the arena of actual innocence, where the failure to consider a condemned inmate’s claim …

Know Your Limit: How Legislatures Have Gone Overboard With Per Se Drunk Driving Laws And How Men Pay The Price, Andrew Gore

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Higgs V. State, 126 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 1, Kathleen Wilde

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

A multi-faceted appeal from a Second Judicial District Court conviction of first-degree murder.

Advising Noncitizen Defendants On The Immigration Consequences Of Criminal Convictions: The Ethical Answer For The Criminal Defense Lawyer, The Court, And The Sixth Amendment, Yolanda Vazquez

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

This Article discusses the tension between the Sixth Amendment analysis by courts on the issue of immigration consequences of criminal convictions and the moral and ethical duties that an attorney owes his noncitizen client. Under the majority of jurisdictions, federal circuit and state courts hold that there is no duty to advise on this issue because they are deemed to be “collateral”. However, a growing number of these jurisdictions have begun to find a Sixth Amendment violation for failure to advise. These jurisdictions have created a Sixth Amendment duty only when: 1) the attorney “knew or should have known” the …

"You Crossed The Fog Line!"—Kansas, Pretext, And The Fourth Amendment, Melanie D. Wilson

Scholarly Articles

In Whren, the United States Supreme Court sanctioned pretextual traffic stops. In practice the holding of Whren condones police investigations that target certain suspect classes of people, like Hispanics, for increased police scrutiny. In permitting pretextual stops, the Court ignored the risk that such practices will encourage police to distort the truth, overlooked the cost of under-enforcement of the laws, and ignored the consequences to the criminal justice system of race and ethnicity based discrimination.

Kansas law exacerbates these risks by making fog-line stops a model for protecting ulterior motives from a sifting judicial inquiry. In Kansas, it makes …