about 4 years ago - No comments
Veteran’s Day edition! Governor Rell is opposed to the $260million proposal to build new prisons, which was covered here. This NYT piece considers whether suspension of parole is an Ex-Post Facto violation. Norm covers the CT angle, while Scott has the New York perspective. Indignant Indigent has a great post on why it is ineffective…
about 4 years ago - 1 comment
For a while now, we have heard about exonerations obtained due to DNA testing. The current number from the Innocence Project stands at, I believe, 208. One of the more common refrains you hear from champions of innocence is that there are thousands more in jail that are innocent and have no way of proving…
about 4 years ago - 5 comments
It’s Monday. Have you set your clocks back one hour? The topic du jour is snitching, so let’s start off with the Windypundit’s exploration of the snitching debate from an economics perspective. Speaking of economics, Grits has this absolutely terrific post on why economic theory doesn’t apply to plea bargaining. Corrections Sentencing follows up on…
about 4 years ago - 2 comments
As the dust on the 208th DNA exoneree had barely begun to settle, Broward County public defender Howard Finkelstein sent a letter to law enforcement officials suggesting a change in identification procedures. Bostic’s [the exoneree] accuser recently told an investigator she never saw her rapist. She picked Bostic out of a photo lineup, she said,…
about 4 years ago - 2 comments
Ugh. It’s almost winter. Here are stories to keep you warm on this cold, dark morning: It’s not much, but at least the 18-year old West Hartford kid charged with having sex with his girlfriend is out on bail. CDW’s weekly roundup is here. GA isn’t the only state with capital defense payment problems. Speaking…
about 4 years ago - No comments
For those of you interested, the search warrants in the Cheshire case have been made public. The Bristol Press (of all things) has made them available on their website here. There’s really nothing remarkable in any of them (and certainly not anything new), except for one bit that I found a little laughable. The police…
about 4 years ago - No comments
Another Monday, another edition of the Jumpstart! Anne Reed has posted the third installment in her series on “A trial lawyer’s guide to social networking sites”. [Here are one and two.] Mark Bennett is conducting a clinic on how to cross examine an expert. Scott Greenfield is expressing his desire to become a law school…
about 4 years ago - 1 comment
Another Monday, another weekend full of interesting reads. Think that person you e-mail is real? Think again. CTLP writes about David Pollitt and highlights the use of fear. The National Institute of Justice’s latest journal includes this article entitled “Police Lineups: Making Eyewitness Identification More Reliable”. [H/T: CDW] Bennett informs us that there still are…
about 4 years ago - No comments
Columbus Day edition! From the Columbus Dispatch: Challenges to residency restrictions and “sex offender ghettos”. Mark Bennett has a copy of Phil Russell’s plea agreement. Robert Guest takes an in-depth look at written plea agreements and what you have to agree to give up. CDW discusses Catholics usually being disqualified from sitting on death juries…
about 4 years ago - 7 comments
Remember the series of posts last month about the Hartford pastor that rejected plea deals despite DNA evidence proving (to the tune of 99% certainty) that he was the father of a now 15-yr old girl’s baby? Remember his attorney’s comments to the court and the press that spawned approximately 50 comments here? I sure…
