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Criminal Law

Law Of Criminal Defense

News, information, ethics opinions and analysis relating to criminal defense, legal ethics and professional responsibility.
By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Post Frequency: 11.2/day

Last Entry: March 25, 2011 at 18:32:28

$290k Hyde Amendment award

Posted on August 15, 2010
ABAJ.com: The feds agree to pay $290k for the cost of defense in a failed prosecution, albeit it without an admission of fault. Sort of like some SEC settlements. I won't do it again, but I didn't do wrong.

Mass. suspends lawyer for paying receptionist under the table

Posted on August 13, 2010
Massachusetts suspends a lawyer for a month for agreeing to pay his receptionist "under the table," and it may not have even been his idea. See ABAJ.com, and the opinion is here.

IL only paying 40% of its share of PDs and ASAs salaries this year

Posted on August 10, 2010
On ABAJ.com: Ill. to Pay Only 40% of its Share of Salaries for State’s Attorneys, Public Defenders, by Stephanie Francis Ward. At least the state is not discriminating against PDs.

Law student plagiarism increasing?

Posted on August 10, 2010
On ABAJ.com, an adjunct law professor says that plagiarism is increasing. I'm a criminal defense lawyer. Nothing surprises me.

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Lawyer who showed no remorse gets no break on community service

Posted on August 10, 2010
A convicted [now former] lawyer who did his time has his effort to do his community service by teaching at a law school rejected. The judge quoted newspaper articles saying that the lawyer showed no remorse [or acceptance of responsibility] after the sentencing and that his only message to the law students would be "don't get caught...

NJ: Offer to trade sex for fees gets 1 year suspension

Posted on July 31, 2010
NJ has suspended for one year a lawyer accused of offering to trade sex for fees in bankruptcy cases, although the clients didn't take him up on it. In Matter of Witherspoon, D-157-08 (N.J. July 29, 2010). See ABAJ.com.

NACDL: "Compassion and the Criminal Defense Attorney"

Posted on July 29, 2010
In the June 2010 Champion (not yet online): "Compassion and the Criminal Defense Attorney" by Steven R. Morrison.

E.D.Ark.: Rape shield limits violated right to present a defense

Posted on July 27, 2010
"The constitutional right to present a defense is not satisfied simply because some defense, any defense, is presented." Jackson v. Norris, 4:08-CV-03319 GTE-JTK, at 13 (E.D.Ark. July 20, 2010) (Eisele, J.) (holding that Arkansas Supreme Court's limits on defense evidence by construction of its rape shield statute violated the right to present a defense).

"Courts Differ About Retroactive Effect" of Padilla

Posted on July 27, 2010
On Law.com today: Courts Differ About Retroactive Effect of High Court Counsel Ruling by Noeleen G. Walder.

N.D. Ill.: IAC does not mean that defendant failed to get the "best defense"

Posted on July 25, 2010
Defense counsel is not ineffective for not being the best possible criminal defense lawyer. "the Constitution does not ensure that every defendant receives the benefit of superior advocacy--how could it, given that half of all lawyers are below average?" Hale v...

OH: Judge disciplined as lawyer for being heavy-handed against defense counsel

Posted on July 25, 2010
Back in 2007 or so, I testified that a public defender was duty-bound to say he could not proceed with a trial he was appointed on two hour earlier, and the lawyer could not be held in contempt. The contempt judgment was set aside on appeal. State v. Jones, 2008 Ohio 6994, 2008 Ohio App...

WI: Failure to object to comment about refusal to consent was IAC

Posted on July 23, 2010
In an eyewitness ID case, it was IAC for defense counsel to fail to object to the prosecutor’s eliciting that defendant refused to consent to taking DNA evidence and then argue in it close. The other IAC claims are moot by the granting of a new trial...

Federal Defender's Office of Defense Services Training Branch materials online

Posted on July 23, 2010
For CJA lawyers, even federal defense lawyers, the Federal Defender's Office of Defense Services Training Branch has added materials online. It is added to the sidebar.

Why hire a criminal defense lawyer? "Playing it safe"

Posted on July 23, 2010
Armstrong playing it safe by hiring defense lawyer in NewsDay.

"San Jose defense attorney convicted on five money-laundering counts"

Posted on July 21, 2010
San Jose defense attorney convicted on five money-laundering counts, by Howard Mintz: Once a prosecutor who put criminals behind bars, San Jose lawyer Jamie Harley now finds herself on the other side of the legal system and facing the prospect of time in prison...

IA rejects per se "prejudicial to the administration of justice" standard for sex with clients, but suspends for 30 days

Posted on July 17, 2010
A lawyer was suspended for 30 days for having sex with a client that started in a marriage dissolution case and he was relieved from that but represented her in criminal proceedings. There is no per se rule that sexual relations prejudices the administration of justice, but the marriage dissolution case is aggravating...

ND: Taking DNA sample by search warrant was not a "critical stage"

Posted on July 16, 2010
A juvenile accused of a forced sex offense did not have a right to have an attorney or his parents present for execution of a search warrant for his DNA because it was not a "critical stage" of the proceedings. State v. Poitra, 2010 ND 137, 2010 N.D. LEXIS 132 (July 13, 2010): [*P25] In general, a criminal defendant does not have a constitutional right to an attorney before submitting DNA during the execution of a search warrant...

"Understanding Retainers and Flat Fees"

Posted on July 16, 2010
"Understanding Retainers and Flat Fees," by Doug Richmond. Abstract: The law generally recognizes lawyers' right to reasonable fees for their services. For years, lawyers seeking to secure payment have requested security retainers from clients. Clients who wish to ensure a favored lawyer's availability to represent them in transactions or litigation have long been able to do so by paying general retainers...

SJ, CA: Lawyer says she didn't know client funds tained

Posted on July 16, 2010
On ABAJ.com: Lawyer Says She Didn’t Know Client Funds Were Tainted; Prosecutors, Client Say She Did, by Mark Hansen, as the case of the San Jose criminal defense lawyer on trial goes to the jury. Is veteran San Jose, Calif. criminal defense lawyer Jamie Harley a conniving crook who knowingly laundered money on behalf of a dirty client, as prosecutors allege, or an overly trusting person who didn't know what her client was up to, as she and her lawyers suggest? The answer rests with a federal jury in San Jose, which began deliberations Thursday in a high-stakes money laundering trial against the prominent 53-year-old lawyer, better known in local legal circles by her previous name, Jamie Harmon, the San Jose Mercury News reported Thursday.

MI: "Supreme Court tosses suit over public defenders"

Posted on July 16, 2010
Supreme Court tosses suit over public defenders by Doug Guthrie in The Detroit News: Lansing --The Michigan Supreme Court reversed itself today and threw out a lawsuit that was aimed at holding the state responsible for failure to provide adequate funding to hire lawyers for poor people accused of crimes...

ABAJ: "Lawyer Takes Plea in Case Over His Hardball Litigation Tactics, Will Be Disbarred"

Posted on July 15, 2010
On ABAJ.com: Lawyer Takes Plea in Case Over His Hardball Litigation Tactics, Will Be Disbarred, about a California law who, inter alia, sued a witness to make her not testify, but agreed to dismiss the case if she testified favorably.

OH: Muni judge who was jerk to defendants and adjunct prosecutor suspended from practice

Posted on July 15, 2010
In Disciplinary Counsel v. Campbell, 2010-Ohio-3265 (Ohio S.Ct. July 15, 2010), the Ohio Supreme Court held that a municipal court judge who was a jerk to defendants and acted sometimes as an adjunct prosecutor was suspended from the practice of law for one year.

Last refuge of a scoundrel: Blame the lawyers

Posted on July 13, 2010
On ABAJ.com: Blago Defense Plans to Blame Then-Gov’s Lawyers for Steering Him in Wrong Direction: To the extent that impeached former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich may admit any mistaken conduct on the stand if he testifies, as expected, in his ongoing political corruption trial, there is a ready-made target for blame: His lawyers...

NPR: "50 Years Later, 'Mockingbird' Remains Relevant"

Posted on July 10, 2010
To add to December's "To Kill a Mockingbird" post, is NPR's 50 Years Later, 'Mockingbird' Remains Relevant

ABAJ: Lawyer Accused of Smuggling Witness Hit List From Jailed Client

Posted on July 10, 2010
On ABAJ.com, Lawyer Accused of Smuggling Witness Hit List From Jailed Client: A California lawyer has been accused of smuggling--perhaps unknowingly--a witness hit list from a jailed client. It allegedly contained highlighted names that would have understood by the recipient to be those of witnesses to be eliminated...

Houston PD wants DA approval to talk to defense counsel

Posted on July 08, 2010
Houston PD decides, without DA's input, that its officers won't talk to defense attorneys without DA's approval. Great cross-examination material, don't you think?

NYT: "Defendants Squeezed by Georgia?s Tight Budget"

Posted on July 07, 2010
Defendants Squeezed by Georgia’s Tight Budget by Adam Liptak on NYTimes.com: When the State of Georgia ran out of money to pay the lawyers for a man facing the death penalty, the prosecutor, of all people, had an idea. He asked the judge to appoint two overworked public defenders instead, identifying them by name...

NY1: Obstruction conviction means disbarment

Posted on July 07, 2010
An attorney's federal conviction for obstruction of justice for counseling a client to destroy a flash drive with evidence that was pertinent to a federal investigation required disbarment because it is essentially the same as the NY offense of tampering with evidence...

CA9: Farreta-Edwards waiver binding on defendants who were "fools" but not incompetent

Posted on July 07, 2010
Defendants' Faretta hearing lasted "days" and resulted in defendants' self-representation which they insisted upon. After conviction they claimed error. It wasn't. "The record clearly shows that the defendants are fools, but that is not the same as being incompetent...

Law.com: "Lawyering Suits Pile Up at High Court"

Posted on July 06, 2010
Lawyering Suits Pile Up at High Court | During 2009-2010 term, some 20 percent of the decision docket involved cases on lawyering by Marcia Coyle in The National Law Journal, July 6, 2010, on Law.com.

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