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Capital Defense Weekly 
Covering Capital Defense
Post Frequency: 17.8/day Last Entry: March 28, 2011 at 23:29:51 Recent Entries: 1052
By Karl R. Keys, Esq.
Go to Capital Defense Weekly, find other Criminal Law blogs, or browse all law blogs.
favorable cases from this next edition
Posted on October 05, 2008From this week?s edition: Maurice Mason v. Mitchell, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 20840 (6th Cir. 10/3/2008) “Mason?s counsel failed to investigate Mason?s background and essentially conducted no interviews of any of Mason?s family members prior to settling upon a plan for the sentencing phase that was limited to appeals for mercy and claims of residual [...
email edition
Posted on September 28, 2008The email edition is now available. Note, we played around with this week’s formatting, please let us know if there is a problem. I’m off holiday and in court all day Monday. I’ll be iphone posting (i.e. no links), the results of the long conference as they are known...
refocusing on the basics
Posted on September 28, 2008The site has been stripped down. If there is a link you were looking for we likely will have it moved to my old practice website, karlkeys.com, in the coming days. Instead of a large number of links we’ve added a “cases being watched” section which will include notable capital trials, cases, and [...
Troy Davis
Posted on September 27, 2008On Monday, September 29th, the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to accept Troy Davis’ cert petition. The decision whether or not to grant cert may be announced on that day, or the order may not come down until the following Monday, October 6...
Justice Alito opts out
Posted on September 26, 2008Great news via Doug Berman on diminishing the power of law clerks, Justice Alito has opted out of the so-called cert pool.
Alabama Supreme Court refuses to set date for Arthur
Posted on September 26, 2008via wire stories: The Alabama Supreme Court has denied a request from Attorney General Troy King to set another execution date for convicted killer Thomas D. Arthur. In a 6-2 decision Tuesday, the court ruled the state must wait for a lower court to determine whether Arthur will get access to DNA evidence...
Oklahoma kills
Posted on September 25, 2008Oklahoma tonight killed Jessie James Cummings Jr Convicted killer Jessie James Cummings Jr. has been executed for the 1991 stabbing death of his 11-year-old niece. Department of Corrections spokesman Jerry Massie says Cummings was pronounced dead at 6:11 p...
Davis stayed
Posted on September 23, 2008The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed until at least next Monday the execution of Troy Davis. The stay appears related to his actual innocence claim - the scotusblog.com has the details. The Court appears to be concerned with the question left open in Herrera - whether factual innocence alone is enough [...
Florida kills
Posted on September 23, 2008Tuesday night, while most of those who follow such things had their eyes on Georgia, Florida killed Richard Henyard for his role in a string of crimes — including the murders of Jasmine & Jamily Lewis — in the 90’s.
Two favorable opinions from the week
Posted on September 21, 2008At first read, two favorable opinions from the week: Herbert Williams, Jr, v. Allen, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 19625 (11th Cir 9/17/2008) In this 9-3 jury override to death penaltyphase relief granted as “trial counsel?s investigation of mitigating evidence in Williams? background fell short of prevailing professional norms, and that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals [...
weekly email edition available
Posted on September 21, 2008This week’s email edition is here. From the intro: The South Carolina Supreme Court’s decision in Donney S. Council v. State, affirming the grant of penalty phase relief, leads off this edition. The justices ruled, 4-1, that trial counsel should have done more than simply have Council’s mother testify during the sentencing phase of his trial...
I’m on the road, on holiday,
Posted on September 21, 2008I’m on the road, on holiday, and will be most likely merely i-phone posting all week.
McCain v. Obama & the Court
Posted on September 20, 2008The NYT looks at the difference this election will make on the SCOTUS.
Farewell PDI Net
Posted on September 19, 2008I’ve been meaning to write for the last few weeks an obit to Greg Worthen’s PDI.Net. Long story short, it was teh sigularly best starting point for may of the routine investigation chores that every attorney & investigator gets hit with on occassion (such as “I need x, y, & z’s phone number before I [...
cert watch: SCOTUS Conference of September 29, 2008
Posted on September 19, 2008The SCOTUSBlog has launched the first of its docket reviews for the Court which has its first Conference of the new term on September 29, 2008. In addition to the motion in Kennedy and the Troy Davis petition there are roughly 55-60 capital cases scheduled for the conference...
Dallas DA reexamining capital prosecutions
Posted on September 19, 2008Following a flurry of exonerations, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins announced earlier this week that nearly 40 death penalty convictions will be re-examined provides additional assurances that executions will proceed only in cases that are air tight...
The more DNA that gets tested, the more Paul House apppears to be innocent
Posted on September 19, 2008Latest DNA findings from the Paul House case.
Why I Watch People Die
Posted on September 19, 2008Heavy stuff over at the Urban Monk — watching people get killed.
Stay: Washington
Posted on September 18, 2008The Washington State Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the execution of Robert Yates.
Texas exonerates
Posted on September 18, 2008via DPIC: A Collin County court in Texas has dismissed capital murder charges against Michael Blair who had been on death row for the 1993 murder of Ashley Estell. After more than a decade of legal appeals and requests for DNA testing, the hair evidence that had been used to convict Blair was [...
execution data updated
Posted on September 18, 2008The execution data to the right has been updated, including the moving of a Texas execution date originally scheduled for Thursday night to mid-October.
Texas kills
Posted on September 17, 2008Wednesday night Texas killed William Murray. From press accounts: William Murray was executed Wednesday night. He was the ninth Texas prisoner put to death this year. The total is the highest in the nation. Murray said drug problems led him to commit at least a dozen burglaries, including the one in February 1998 where Rena Ratcliff was awakened [...
Georgia kills Jack Alderman
Posted on September 16, 2008Georgia tonight killed Jack Alderman. Alderman, 57, had been on death row in Georgia 34 years, longer than any other prisoner. He was pronounced dead at 7:25 p.m. Tuesday. Alderman, who was convicted for the 1974 murder of his wife, Barbara Alderman, for $10,000 in insurance money, recorded a statement Tuesday ?thanking everyone who made his life [...
Mr. Alderman’s execution back on
Posted on September 16, 2008The Alderman execution is back on, as the stay has been lifted, according to sources. Those same sources report the fight for a stay continues. Reprieve.org has more, as does Standdown.org.
Troy Davis and the unanswered question in Herrera v. Collins
Posted on September 16, 2008via the SCOTUS Blog: A Georgia death-row inmate ? whose claims of innocence, based on a series of changed stories by witnesses against him, have given his case high visibility ? asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to delay his execution, now set for Sept...
Alderman stay Georgia
Posted on September 15, 2008Jack Alderman, who has been on Georgia?s death row for over 33 years, has received a stay of execution. From Clive & co. @ Reprieve: Jack Alderman, who has been on Georgia?s death row for over 33 years, has received a stay of execution. Today a Judge ordered that Jack?s execution ? scheduled for tomorrow ? should not [...
email edition
Posted on September 14, 2008This week’s email edition is now available. From the intro: Leading of this week is the Third Circuit’s holding in Joseph Kindler v. Horn The Kindler panel first grants penalty phase relief under Mills v. Maryland holding the jury charge, verdict form, and the trial judge’s answers to jury questions created a “reasonable likelihood that the [...
Well said
Posted on September 13, 2008One of our commenters, VEW, hits the nail on the head. As a capital defense attorney I laud the judges decision to give life. As a Black Capital Defense attorney, i am reminded once again, it is the race of the victim that determines who gets death. A conflict within me: black lives are held less [...
Troy Davis: clemency denied
Posted on September 12, 2008Georgia’s Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency tonight.
Looking ahead
Posted on September 12, 2008via the Innocence Project The Innocence Project and the Mississippi Innocence Project are reviewing hundreds of cases for potential forensic fraud and wrongful conviction, and the Jackson Clarion-Ledger profiled two death row cases in Forrest County involving testimony by discredited medical examiner Steven Hayne and forensic dentist Michael West...
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My fiance's check is DD into a local credit union. Bank seems to have a pattern of "invisibly holding" charges from the debit card until just HOURS before his DD is processed (and this is after hours, of course). Over th
Have your fiance take the information you've collected and go into the bank...
what are the proper and legal steps to dissolve a partnership in an ongoing farm business?
I would say that the final tax forms are dispersed for that year with the indica...
It is my understanding that the 6th Amendment requires, that if you can't afford a lawyer in a criminal case, the Court must provide a lawyer in your defense at no charge to you. However, in a civil case no such protecti
That is not entirely true, even in the case of criminal cases. The court will pr...
Attorney welt, weinberg & reis co....from pittsburgh are collecting a credit card debt from capital one can they force me to send them a list of my assets for sheriffs sale
No! Only a Judge can make you do that and that is only after you have your day i...
I was called to give a deposition for the defense and the defendant is the person who stole our car, there is a chance that I will be called to satisfy at his trial. How can I get out of this, as my husband is to testify
If you were subpoenaed for the deposition you will need to appear or face prosec...
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