An item sometimes missed or perhaps not always explored in cases with a confession is the question of corroboration. Here is an Army case that discusses the issue quite well. The case recognizes that the amount of corroboration is small so it’s easy to gloss over the corroboration issue. Here…
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Concluding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the government to present expert evidence that a thumb print found on some of the contraband recovered by the authorities was a match to Baines’ print, we affirm the judgment…
When the Judge Is the Jury: Your goals don’t change in a bench trial, but your techniques should, August 2009 issue of the ABA Journal.
A search warrant for drugs and possible records of drug sales did not permit officers to enter defendant’s computer where the execution of the warrant produced no evidence of drug sales on the premises. (There was also a Franks violation because the officer represented a neighbor’s report of drug use…
Does the SODDI defense work? Here are some thoughts or considerations. Elizabeth R. Tenney, Hayley M.D. Cleary, Barbara A. Spellman, "This Other Dude Did It!" A Test of the Alternative Explanation Defense, 21 The Jury Expert July 2009.
Valerie Blum, Alexandra Rudolph, From the Conference Room to the Courtroom: How a Change in Setting Affects Witness Preparation, 21 The Jury Expert, July 2009.
Seventh Circuit determines that admission of an audiotape of robbery defendant beating and threatening the life of a potential witness was a “close[ ] call” but that its probative value in suggesting defendant’s guilty conscience “cannot be genuinely disputed” and that this evidence was not unfairly prejudicial despite the fact…
Confession(s) To Make: Florida Court Orders Separate Trials Of Former Football Players Based Upon Bruton Issues In Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968), the Supreme Court held that when there is a joint trial of a defendant and a co-defendant, the admission into evidence of the non-testifying co-defendant’s…
I have previously mentioned several cases affecting military justice that will be argued next term. Check the Maryland v. Shatzer SCOTUSwiki page throughout the summer for additional updates. Argument Preview The Fifth Amendment provides that “[n]o person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a…
Court martial set Monday for autistic Marine, plea bargain likely A court martial is set for [this past] Monday at Camp Pendleton for a 21-year-old Marine from Orange County accused of desertion, possession of child pornography and fraudulent enlistment. The case will likely end up in a plea bargain with…