The NMCCA has issued an unpublished opinion in United States v. Belcher. This case has lessons for the defense and the prosecution. It appears the defense offered a PTA for nine months and included offers to testify against co-conspirators. The PTAO languished. Then, “a second trial counsel contacted the appellant’s…
Two Supreme Court grants of certiorari should be of interest to MJ practitioners. Here are links to SCOTUSBLog for the case materials. Missouri v. Frye Issue: Can a defendant who validly pleads guilty assert a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel by alleging that, but for counsel’s error in failing…
Here SignOn San Diego reports the unusual situation of public release of pretrial agreement “discussions.” The Coast Guardsman piloting the boat that killed 8-year-old Anthony DeWeese might have served a year or less in prison if his lawyers had pursued a plea deal dangled by the prosecution. It is unclear…
In a court-martial under the court-martial UCMJ setting, can a PTA bind the prosecution/convening authority to something he or she has no control over — generally the conditions of confinement. There’s a teachable moment here for the court-martial practitioner. Air Force Times reports: The attorney for a former al-Qaida cook…
United States v. Sagona, sentenced at court-martial on 8 May 2008, appeal decided 30 September 2010. The issue was IAC of trial defense counsel who allegedly failed to investigate and advise on a potential defense of immunity. R.C.M. 704 covers the issues of immunity, tempered by case law. Basically only…
Just the other day, alerted by SCOTUSBlog I posted Jones v. Williams as a case to watch at SCOTUS. The issue once again: Issue: Whether the Tenth Circuit violated 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1) by granting habeas relief for ineffective assistance of counsel during plea bargain negotiations to a defendant who…
SCOTUSBlog has the 3 June 2010 petitions to watch at SCOTUS. Here is an interesting one. Title: Jones v. Williams Docket: 09-948 Issue: Whether the Tenth Circuit violated 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1) by granting habeas relief for ineffective assistance of counsel during plea bargain negotiations to a defendant who was…
Prof. Colin Miller posts: Somewhat similar to its federal counterpart, Indiana Rule of Evidence 410 provides in relevant part that Evidence of a plea of guilty or admission of the charge which was later withdrawn, or a plea of nolo contendere, or of an offer so to plead to the…
There has been quite a bit of discussion recently of waiving appellate review as part of a pretrial agreement. Here is a timely article from the ABA about this important topic (thanks to Sentencing Law & Policy for the link). Ellis & Bussert, Stemming the Tide of Postconviction Waivers, 25…
New York Post reports that: If she can’t have justice for her slain soldier husband, she’d at least like a Purple Heart. New York widow Barbara Allen is battling the National Guard for withholding the military honor from her husband, who was killed in 2005 while serving in Iraq. The…