Category: Criminal law

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics, Society, Uncategorized

ACLU.2.0: ACLU Shifts Position On Civil Rights Action Against Zimmerman

American_Civil_Liberties_Union_logoZimmermanx-inset-communityThe American Civil Liberties Union seems a bit less unified in the aftermath of the Zimmerman acquittal. I remain a huge admirer of the ACLU and its inspiring legacy in fighting for civil liberties in America. I also have great respect for ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero. However, the divisions evident on this civil liberties blog appears equally represented in that civil liberties institution. To the surprise of many, including myself, Romero sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder that seemed to clearly invite a civil rights or hate crime prosecution of George Zimmerman. The ACLU however has long taken the view that such prosecutions violate the double jeopardy clause of the Constitution. When the federal government does not like the outcome of a high-profile case, it can use the very same facts to bring another prosecution under a different crime. After sending the letter, however, the ACLU staff appear to have objected and sent out a conflicting position that such successive prosecutions are violative of constitutional principles.

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Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion

Dubai Pardons Alleged Rape Victim Sentenced For Having Sex Out of Wedlock

130721220413-marte-deborah-dalelv-story-topAfter a global outcry, Dubai has pardoned Norwegian Marte Deborah Dalelv, 24, who was sentenced to 16 months in prison after she reported her alleged rape by a colleague. The police allegedly asked her if she was just complaining because she did not like it and she was eventually convicted of having unlawful sex, making a false statement and illegal consumption of alcohol. The case highlights the abusive Sharia laws applied to women and the continuing barriers to countries like Dubai as they try to attract greater tourism and investment.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law

Federal Marshals Raid Woman’s Home After She Screams And Hides From Officer Pointing Gun At Her Through Window

woman2-230x300200px-U.S._Marshals_knock_and_announceWe have been discussing the increased powers claimed by police in searching homes without warrants under claims of exigent circumstances or hot pursuit, including the right to search an entire area of a city. Sarasota Florida resident Louise Goldsberry came face to face with these powers recently after eating dinner. The nurse was at her kitchen sink when she looked out the window facing a man in a hunting vest pointing a gun in her face. She dropped to the floor and started screaming and then thing got really bad. (The picture on the right is of a different “knock and announce” raid by the Marshals and local police).

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Caretaker Charged With Drinking $102,400 of Vintage Whiskey Is Awaiting Trial . . . And A Liver Transplant

250px-Woman's_Christian_Temperance_Union_CartoonThere is an interesting property case out of Pittsburgh this week. Patricia Hill, owner of the South Broadway Manor Bed and Breakfast, has charged that her former tenant drank 52 bottles of vintage whiskey valued that he was supposed to safeguard. Hill found 104 bottles of pre-prohibition Old Farm Pure Rye Whiskey when she bought the historic mansion. She is accusing her caretaker, John Saunders, 62, of drinking the booze but he denied it. However, police say that a DNA test found his DNA on the empty bottles. The consumed whiskey was valued at $102,400 or roughly $2000 a bottle.

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Animals, Bizarre, Criminal law

Florida Gators Linebacker Antonio Morrison Arrested For Barking At Police Dog

Capture_34109Florida starting linebacker Antonio Morrison has been suspended from the team after he was arrested for barking at a police dog. That’s right, the 19-year-old was arrested for walking up to a police dog and barking at him. Gainesville police then added a second, and equally dubious charge, of resisting arrest without violence. Morrison came up with a novel defense: he insisted that the dog barked at him first.

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Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Media, Politics, Society

Seeing Justice Through Tokyo Rose Colored Glasses

Submitted by Darren Smith, Guest Blogger

Iva_Toguri_mug_shotDoes the US Government have rose colored glasses when it looks at itself administering justice for an individual after the demands of the public to instigate a prosecution are satisfied by an individual going to prison? One may look at a bit of history to see this more clearly. A chapter would be read by some in the case of Iva Toguri. Another might be that of George Zimmerman.
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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Justice, Media, Military, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

What Happened to Michael Hastings?

Submitted By: Mike Spindell, Guest Blogger

Michael_Hastings_election_night_2012As erudite and informed as I pretend to be, the fact is that there is much that is important that I either miss, or fail to see any significance in. The death of investigative reporter Michael Hastings showed me that because my first reaction to the news flash was “who is Michael Hastings?” Reading further into the story I discovered that he was the reporter who brought down General William McChrystal and that he was considered to be one of America’s premier investigative journalists. As I read that original story, the thought occurred to me that possibly Hastings’s death in an auto “accident” was not simply a case of reckless driving, but I initially dismissed that as merely the operation of my cynical mindset.  Nevertheless, the thought nagged at the back of my consciousness and then I saw a story on http://whowhatwhy.com/ , my favorite investigative website, run by the renowned Russ Baker. The stories title: “The Michael Hastings Wreck-Video Evidence Offers a few Clues”     http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/07/14/the-michael-hastings-wreck-video-evidence-offers-a-few-clues/

For my own benefit and perhaps yours, I’ve done a little research into who Michael Hastings was and what he did that deserves attention. I explore the possibility that his death was no accident. I admit that I have no proof beyond speculation. Hopefully I can give you enough information to make your own judgments. In a world where American Presidents openly arrogate to themselves the right to kill people deemed enemies of the United States, all things suddenly become possible. When the basic right of habeas corpus can be denied to American citizens, based upon unproven allegations of their being threats to this country, isn’t it possible for those with the power to detain and to eliminate individuals, to make decisions as to someone’s existence doing harm to this country? Finally, doesn’t this unconstitutional expansion of powers give individuals with government connections the leeway to take revenge on those who expose them? While I’m not privy to knowledge of the actions of those in power and can claim no inside information, I certainly can speculate based on the experience of my lifetime. This then is my speculation about the death and life of Michael Hastings in the context of current life in these United States. Continue reading “What Happened to Michael Hastings?” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society

The Stand Your Ground Law And The Zimmerman Trial

President_Barack_ObamaLast night, I appeared again (here and here) on the PBS Newshour to discuss President Barack Obama’s comments about the Zimmerman trial.  While I usually do not intrude on our weekend guest bloggers, I have received a few emails about a comment that I made about the Stand Your Ground law.  I was commenting on the President’s statement that we need to reexamine the Stand Your Ground law and noted that the law was not in play at the trial.  This led to a few emails objecting that I had ignored the jury instructions that they claim imposed the standard of the SYG law on the jury. I disagree and wanted to briefly explain.  Most were civil and insightful and I thought, after our exchange, it would be good to post a brief discussion on this insular issue from the trial.  There are important things to discuss in the aftermath of the verdict, as the President said, but we should be clear about our view of the underlying legal standards and trial record.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Science, Society

American Juries: Seekers of Truth or Mere Consensus? Part I

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

rodney_matthews_alice in wonderland_the knave on trial

”Write that down,” the King said to the jury, and the jury eagerly wrote down all three dates on their slates, and then added them up, and reduced the answer to shillings and pence.”

~Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Few institutions of the English speaking peoples are held in the same esteem as juries in criminal cases. A full three quarters of those polled in the U.S. would want their case decided by a jury rather than a judge. Three in five Australians believe their jury system is working well. In the UK, juries enjoy support from 72% of the population and the same percentage rate the right to trial by jury as one of the most important in society. Compare that to the U.S. Congress’ approval rating of 15% or the President’s rating of 43% and you can see that in America we love juries.

And why shouldn’t we? After all, it was Jefferson who reminded none other than that firebrand of the Revolution, Thomas Payne, in 1789, that “trial by jury [is] the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.” Jefferson words surely were on the mind of Justice Byron “Whizzer” White when he wrote, “The purpose of a jury is to guard against the exercise of arbitrary power — to make available the commonsense judgment of the community as a hedge against the overzealous or mistaken prosecutor and in preference to the professional or perhaps overconditioned or biased response of a judge.”

But do modern juries live up to the billing? Are they the bulwarks of democracy seeking only truth or sad victims of a process designed to produce groupthink results due to systemic flaws? Are they staunch individuals committed to their position and determined to fight to the last man to prove it, or are they susceptible to influences both in and out of the deliberation room which have little or nothing to do with evidence and logic. In essence, are they seekers of truth or merely consensus?

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Congress, Criminal law, International

Two Strikes And You’re In? New Immigration Bill Leads To Questions Over Treatment Of Cases With Two Prior Forged Passports

190px-Us-passport190px-Us-passportThere has been considerable criticism of the fact that the massive new immigration bill seems to be something of a mystery to even sponsors who have indicated that they have either not read it entirely or even know many of its provisions. This seems a new fact of life for Congress — something we saw with the Patriot Act where many members admitted they never read before voting to curtail civil liberties. There remains a huge debate in the country over the fairness of allowing millions to apply for citizenship after knowingly entering the country illegally while others wait in other countries. Others insist that this is dealing with a difficult problem in a humane way and is good for the economy and good for the GOP. Putting aside those sweeping issues, I was struck by one provision of the law that deals with people who have forged two passports or sold false passports.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Portland: A Citizen Can Be Handcuffed, Locked Into Car, And Driven To A Different Location But Still Not Be “Under Arrest”

220px-Don't_jay_walk_1937The Portland police and City Attorney are making an argument in federal court this month that gives another glimpse into the increasing claims of authority of police in our society. Scott Miller was stopped for jaywalking by Officer Dean Halley in 2010 and admitted that he committed the common violation of pedestrians. The officer however proceeded to handcuff him, tell him “you’re under arrest,” throw him into the back of a cruiser and then drove him a block away. He was in custody for about 30 minutes, but Deputy City Attorney William Manlove is arguing that citizens cannot sue because such acts do not constitute an actual arrest. They are something between a chat and custody, but not an arrest for purposes of legal action.

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Criminal law, International, Politics, Society

Chinese Law Professor Condemned After Suggesting Rape Of Bar Hostess Is Less Serious Than A Girl From A Good Family

li-shuangjiang-li-tianyiMy friend and colleague, Professor Don Clarke, does terrific work over at his Chinese Law Blog and has an extraordinary story this morning. A Chinese Law Professor is in hot water after making a series of statements about rape that truly shock the conscience. Tsinghua Law prof Yi Yanyou comments on the rape case of Li Tianyi, the son of a famous singer who is accused of raping a bar hostess. Yi pointed out that raping a bar hostess is not as bad as a real rape of a nice girl from a nice family. The response was predicable and justified. What is astonishing is that Yi doubled down on his theory of different categories of rape victims when people objected.

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Criminal law, International, Uncategorized

Romanian Thieves May Have Burned Seven Masterpieces As Police Closed In

130717-romanian-museum-hmed1-330p.380220px-Large_bonfireThere is an interesting forensic challenge in a Romanian criminal case as well as an unspeakable destruction of art by a band of thieves.  Police have found a furnace with ashes containing paint, nails, and canvas that a mother says is the remains of seven multimillion-dollar paintings — including a Matisse, a Picasso and a Monet. She says that the paintings were destroyed as police started asking questions about the gang of thieves from a museum, including her son.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Society

Canadians Charge Website Operator With Obscenity Over Publication of Murder Video

Unknownjun_lin.jpg.size.medium2.promoWe have interesting case this week out of Canada that raises the limits of free speech and the use of decency or morality laws. The Canadians have criminally charged the owner of a website for the posting of a horrific video showing the murder of an individual by Luka Magnotta (left) and then sexual relations with the corpse of Jun Lin (right). The concern is that the site owner is being charged with “corrupting morals” a largely undefined crime and has traditionally been used to impose and enforce the moral values of the majority on people who do not share them. It is the natural extension of laws prohibiting the publication or possession of obscene materials, a long controversy in this country as well.
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Academia, Criminal law, International, Politics, Torts

Headmistress Flees After 22 Children Die From Poisoned Lunch At India School

11945111-poison-symbolThere is an unspeakable tragedy in India that again shows the lack of deterrence and regulation in that country over food safety, a problem also prevalent in other countries like China. Twenty-two children are dead after lunch in their school in Chhapra. The food was obviously poisoned and officials believe that the culprit was a pesticide. Two of the children of the headmistress, Meena Devi, were also sickened. She is now reportedly on the run with two other teachers.

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