Archive for December 18, 2008
Print and e-mail issues resolved
Dec 18th
If anyone tried to print or e-mail something on the blog in the past week, you probably met with no success. Unbeknownst to me, the plugins handling those functions had been updated and I had to do some reconfiguring behind the scenes. They work now. Sorry. Next time, just drop me a note and I’ll fix it ASAP.
The Great Right (with poll!)
Dec 18th
We all have rights. You have rights, I have rights and most importantly, criminal defendants have rights. These latter rights are fundamental to the orderly administration of justice. They represent a check on the awesome power of the Government.
But what if you had to live without all but one? Which one would you be unable to do without? This is the question posed to me by fellow blogger Ryan “I’m a Red Sox fan” McKeen.
So I turned to the brains behind this operation, Miranda, who was kind enough to compile this list of essential rights afforded criminal defendants:
The forest for the trees, or: the purple heart for the prejudice
Dec 18th
Believe me now?
One standard jury selection question in criminal trials asks prospective jurors whether they’d give more weight to witnesses who hold some position of authority: most frequently police officers. The underlying theory is simple: testimony and evidence should be judged on its own and not accorded more weight simply because it comes out of the mouth of someone we have grown up being taught to trust.
Given the status and honor accorded military personnel in this country, one might make a reasonable argument that the same level of trust and deference applies to former servicemen/women. Which is why juries must be cautioned in the same way. Apparently, one judge doesn’t see it like that. Here’s the story:
Federal prosecutors charged Hinkson with attempting to hire his one-time friend, Elven Joe Swisher, to kill an IRS agent, a prosecutor and an Idaho district judge. Swisher testified against Hinkson while bedecked with a Purple Heart.
Turns out Swisher was never awarded the medal, and by the conclusion of trial, it became clear he perjured himself about his military service. Yet Tallman, a law and order judge, refused defense requests for a new trial.
A split panel of the 9th Circuit reversed, and this week an en banc panel heard reargument.
A little pd Christmas ditty
Dec 18th
Overheard in court and sent to me by a little canary.
For your listening pleasure, set to the tune of…well, you know.
THE 12 DAYS OF ARRAIGNMENTS
On the ____ day of Arraignments, my client came to me with:
12 FTAs
11 Prior Convictions
10 Years Suspended
9 Dumb Excuses
8 Failed Programs
7 Cases Pending
in 6 Jurisdictions
5 AKAs
4 VOPs
3 BCLs
2 DV cases
And the client needs to get a PTA!
Some of the phrases have been changed from the original because, well, the canary has a bad memory. Bad canary!
In honor of ditties, here’s a little ditty for you, because face it, the protagonists would be our clients today:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcJz-x6idd8[/youtube]
Glossary after the jump:
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