A fundamental protection of the American justice is that a criminal defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And this protection was at the heart of the recent opinion of the Eleventh Circuit in United States
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Justice Sotomayor Sharply Critiques Anti-Jury Impeachment Rule in Death Penalty Dissent
Federal Rule of Evidence 606(b)(1) provides that
During an inquiry into the validity of a verdict or indictment, a juror may not testify about any statement made or incident that occurred during the jury’s deliberations; the effect of anything on
Supreme Court of Florida Deems Evidence of Defendant’s PTSD Admissible in Stand Your Ground Cases
Florida is famous, some would say infamous, for being the progenitor of the “stand your ground” defense, dispensing with the duty to retreat before using deadly force. See Section 776.102 of the Florida Statutes. So, should a defendant seeking a
Court of Appeals of Georgia Finds “One-Leg Stand” and “Walk and Turn” Field Sobriety Tests are Not Scientific Tests under Daubert
Similar to its federal counterpart, § 24-7-702(b) of the Georgia Code provides that
- (b) A witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if:
California Court of Appeal Finds No Error With Prosecutor Comparing a Crime to a “Hollywood Slasher Movie”
During closing arguments in a criminal case, the prosecutor cannot give the jury the impression that emotion may reign over reason. So, does a prosecutor do so by comparing the defendant’s crime to a “Hollywood slasher movie”? That was the
D.C. Court of Appeals Finds Prosecutor Mischaracterized What the Scales of Justice Mean
You’re probably familiar with the concept of the scales of justice, and you’ve probably seen them in real life, or at least some representation of them in an image.So, what do the scales of justice actually mean, and when does
Court of Appeals of Virginia Reverses Contempt Conviction for Defendant Who Said, “They’ll Never Finds Your Body” To Husband’s New Wife
Section 18.2-456(A)(2) of the Annotated Virginia Code provides that
The courts and judges may issue attachments for contempt, and punish them summarily, only in the following cases:….Violence, or threats of violence, to a judge or officer of the court, or
Supreme Court of Kentucky Finds Raw, Machine-Extracted Data Does Not Implicate the Confrontation Clause
In Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), the Supreme Court found that the Confrontation Clause is violated by the admission of testimonial hearsay by a declarant unless (1) the declarant is unavailable; and (2) the defendant previously had
Episode 5 of HBO’s “The Case Against Adnan Syed” Premieres Tonight
Tonight at 9pm EST, Episode 5 of HBO’s “The Case Against Adnan Syed” premieres.
In the new part, with exclusive access to Syed, “new information is unearthed, exposing flaws in the original investigation and prosecution, including undisclosed evidence pointing to
Fourth Circuit Finds That Justin Wolfe Proved Actual Innocence, Allowing His Defaulted Claims to Move Forward
In Monday’s Actual Innocence episode of Undisclosed, we talked about how Dion Taylor could be used as the basis for a Schlup actual innocence claim in federal court, in the process reviving Adnan Syed’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel