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Public Defense

A Public Defender

Criminal law news from Connecticut and around the country.
By Gideon

Post Frequency: 10.1/day

Last Entry: March 31, 2011 at 12:17:35

Monday Morning Jumpstart

Posted on April 07, 2008
Is it spring yet? Why is it so darn cold in the mornings? Dan Solove at Co-op writes about the police practice of surreptitiously obtaining DNA left behind and asks if we have a reasonable expectation of privacy in that DNA. Mark Bennett tells us that the law is not a beautiful thing...

Appellate Judge facing discipline for concurring opinion

Posted on April 07, 2008
A very strange story of out Florida, courtesy of the inimitable Howard Bashman. The story goes thusly: The underlying case began as an appeal from a criminal conviction. The appeal was originally argued before a panel that ultimately decided by a vote of 2-1 to overturn the conviction...

Sunday stupidity: Strange sports edition

Posted on April 06, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC5ykhXDDbo SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Sunday stupidity: Strange sports edition", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/06/sunday-stupidity-strange-sports-edition/" });

Judge reverses conviction after polling jurors

Posted on April 05, 2008
Update: The decision is a must read. It comes in at a whopping 236 pages. (Yes, you read that correctly. 236 pages.) Not only is there an extensive discussion of the history of 6th Amendment jurisprudence, but there is also an extremely fascinating discussion of the Constitutionality of the federal child porn statute and whether [...

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Who?s putting kids in danger?

Posted on April 04, 2008
The world is a big, bad place. It really is. Which is why we have to protect children. No one will argue with that. Which is why there are tons of laws on the books criminalizing conduct that harms children, for the most part with extra penalties. I agree...

There must be something in the water

Posted on April 04, 2008
What is it in Connecticut’s water that makes some people batty? Whatever it is, it seems to have some staying power. After Cheshire and more recently the killing in New Britain, Connecticut Congressman Chris Murphy has announced plans to introduce legislation making “home invasion” a Federal crime...

Focus starting to shift in crim justice ?reform?

Posted on April 04, 2008
Two news stories today that allow me to hope, just a little bit, that perhaps some sense is seeping into the Capitol. The first proclaims boldly that the suspect in the recent New Britain home invasion had “little rehab for sex offense”. The ex-convict accused in this week’s fatal New Britain home invasion dropped out of [...

They could not take your pride

Posted on April 04, 2008
40 years to the day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cDRWvDx8h4 SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "They could not take your pride", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/04/they-could-not-take-your-pride/" });

What not to do in Court

Posted on April 02, 2008
Attack a federal prosecutor. Seems pretty logical, no? Yet Victor Wright decided to buck conventional wisdom and make a lunge for the prosecutor with a razor. Sucks for him that two people in the courtroom were former military personnel: His lawyer and the court reporter...

Three-strikes again: Prescience and a three-ring circus

Posted on April 02, 2008
The killing of a 62 year old woman last week turned into a political battle over three-strikes laws with a sideshow on plea bargains. Not too long after news broke that Leslie Williams, a probationer, was arrested for one murder and one attempted murder, Gov...

A time for change

Posted on April 01, 2008
Well folks. The time is upon us. I’ve been hinting at this for weeks now and today I can officially announce to all my readers (and some colleagues who happen to be reading as well) that I will no longer be public defending. I’ve taken a position with the general practice firm of Houlihan and [...

Monday Night Lullaby

Posted on April 01, 2008
Yes. Very lame title. I know. It’s 10:12pm. If you expected more, you don’t know me. Anyway. I found a short window of time in which I have nothing to do, so here are the most interesting posts and stories from the past few days: From EvidenceProfBlog, the Iowa Supreme Court will hear the first challenge to [...

Sunday stupidity: American Pie edition

Posted on March 31, 2008
Remember that scene from American Pie? Yeah, this is like that. Except with a table. A table. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbY0j02cNqY SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Sunday stupidity: American Pie edition", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/03/30/sunday-stupidity-american-pie-edition/" });

Monday Morning Jumpstart

Posted on March 31, 2008
Sorry folks, no jumpstart this week (again). I’ll be busy until Wednesday (and with those changes I mentioned almost upon us, too), so I’ll try and get an extended jumpstart edition up after that. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Monday Morning Jumpstart", url: "http://apublicdefender...

The courtroom as assembly line

Posted on March 28, 2008
The criminal justice system is a heavy volume business. There are hundreds of thousands of individuals being processed through the system on a yearly basis. Hundreds get sentenced on a daily basis, there are even more that have short court-appearances...

The right of self-representation: More important because of us?

Posted on March 26, 2008
Today, SCOTUS heard oral argument in Indiana v. Edwards, which focused on the application of Farreta. Indiana argued that pro-se defendants who cannot communicate coherently with the court or the jury can be denied their right of self-representation. Yesterday, Prof...

Eyewitness reform bill fails; DNA on arrest bill passes

Posted on March 25, 2008
Just to show you how skewed the priorities of legislators are, let us compare two bills side by side. On the left, we have the eyewitness id reform bill and on the right, the “collect DNA from the innocent” bill. One is clearly needed, the other could be a significant violation of due process...

I?m back

Posted on March 25, 2008
Sorry for the sporadic posting over the last week. My computer was malfunctioning and - believe it or not - I had work to do. I am now back, armed with my computer and plenty to say. Additionally, those changes I mentioned are coming closer to fruition...

Sunday Stupidity: All for a taco edition

Posted on March 23, 2008
This is not your normal Sunday Stupidity post, mostly because the video has been taken off Youtube. But the story is still amusing enough to feature here. Instead of paying the $15 it cost to purchase seven tacos, a large order of fries, two sodas and two quesadillas with extra chicken, three men decided to scam [...

Giving a judge ?the hand?

Posted on March 21, 2008
photo credit: mag3737 Usually will get you into trouble. Consider the “kerfuffle” between Judge John Bayly, Jr. and Liyah Brown, a public defender. They got into a petty dispute over whether Brown’s client was homeless and after an escalating argument during which the judge apparently told her to let it go, he asked marshalls to [...

Legal fictions and the standard of proof

Posted on March 20, 2008
Here’s a legal fiction that we live with: Defendant is accused of murder. Defendant is on probation while he is alleged to have committed this crime. The state presents an eyewitness to the crime. The jury disbelieves the eyewitness and returns a verdict of not guilty...

Three-strikes bill killed in committee

Posted on March 19, 2008
By a 25-16 vote, the Judiciary Committee voted against one three-strikes proposal today. The bill called for mandatory life sentence for third time offenders. Opponents said the revamped three-strikes-and-you’re-out proposal was deceiving because it would not automatically require a life sentence for a third violent offense...

Happy Birthday to me?

Posted on March 18, 2008
Only one of you wished me a Happy Birthday *sniff* Where’s the love? div#main{overflow:visible;} SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Happy Birthday to me…", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/03/18/happy-birthday-to-me/" } );

It must be St. Paddy?s Day - ARO 3/17/08

Posted on March 17, 2008
I felt like I was drunk this morning (or was it the judges?) when I read the Advance Release Opinions around noon. For there are not one, not two, but three reversals today (and three dissents!). Goldmine. First up, from the Supreme Court, State v. T...

Oh Georgia: Dubious conviction of Troy Davis to stand

Posted on March 17, 2008
The Georgia Supreme Court issued a 4-3 opinion today, essentially affirming Troy Davis’ conviction. Troy Davis, you will remember, was granted a stay of execution by the Georgia Board of Parole and received a letter of support from The Pope. EyeID explains: According to the court, statements by a slew of witnesses who claimed that they had [...

Monday Evening Wind-down

Posted on March 17, 2008
Sorry for the delay folks, I am having computer problems. Enjoy these stories - substantive posts to follow: Lisa at Compassion in Juvenile Sentencing continues her fantastic series of interviews with Jacob Ind with 10 more installments. Scott reports on today’s SCOTUS oral argument on when the right to counsel attaches...

Sunday Stupidity: Windex edition

Posted on March 16, 2008
It sure is funny when it happens to other people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXoM_9aEgtg SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Sunday Stupidity: Windex edition", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/03/16/sunday-stupidity-windex-edition/" } );

Big changes coming

Posted on March 15, 2008
Stay tuned, dear readers, for there are some big changes coming to this blog in the very near future. I can’t tell you as of yet what these changes are or when they’re going to happen, but I can tell you that they are big and will happen soon...

Your medicine tastes a bit bitter, no?

Posted on March 14, 2008
photo credit: CJ Sorg In this world of indiscriminating sex offender registries, violent offender registries, lifetime registration, neighborhood notification and posting of pictures, names and offenses online for everyone to see, it was a bit amusing when law enforcement got their collective panties in a wad over a website called ratemycop...

The real cause of prison overcrowding: public defenders

Posted on March 12, 2008
Well, they’re at it again. The law firm that can’t seem to sell itself without dumping on public defenders has another post up. This post actually makes some valid points and seems more like a blog post than a marketing advert. At least until you get to the middle, that is: A vast majority of the [...

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