Criminal Defense
More on the risks of viewing child pornography online without trying to save the images
On November 16, 2006, I blogged about a Pennsylvania Superior Court opinion that the crime of possessing child pornography from an online source (as opposed to a statute prohibiting the mere viewing of child pornography) requires that the defendant know that the image is actually being saved...
The First Amendment trumps Virginia’s unconstitutional harassment statute
Virginia has an unconstitutionally vague and overbroad harassment statute, which provides:  "§ 18.2-186.4. It shall be unlawful for any person, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass another person, to publish the person’s name or photograph along with identifying information as defined in clauses...
Limit junk science testimony
Too many trial judges allow pseudo-expert cops to testify as expert witnesses on such topics as illegal drug sales and gang activity. Here is a Second Circuit case that at least puts brakes on testimony that masquerades as coming from the expert realm, but instead...
Fourth Circuit denies en banc review in the Whorley obscenity case
Bill of Rights (From public domain.) On March 9, 2009, I blogged about the Fourth Circuit’s decision upholding a conviction and steep sentence on counts for obscenity and child pornography in the form of Japanese anime drawings and allegedly obscene e-mails. U.S. v. Whorley, 550 F.3d...
Supreme Court tells judges to follow its rulings
Bill of Rights (From public domain.) Five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004). For testimonial evidence, Crawford scrapped the rule of Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56 (1980), that the Sixth Amendment right to confront one’s accusers does not preclude...
New drug conspiracy opinion from Fourth Circuit
Bill of Rights. (From the public domain.) On June 17, 2009, the Fourth Circuit issued an opinion in a drug conspiracy case, addressing the following particularly important issues, in U.S. v. Marc Jeffers. ___ F.3d ___ (4th Cir., June 17, 2009): – The Fourth Circuit rejected Jeffers’s...
Fight repeat offender sentencing tooth and nail
Bill of Rights. (From the public domain.) Although a relative warned me, when I considered law school, that many lawyers are dissatisfied by the tediousness of practicing law, an essential part of practicing criminal defense — if not all litigation battle — is to meticulously obtain,...
The sometimes long and prickly road of probation
NOTE: Underdog’s June 2 blog entry is being posted late. Stay tuned for a resumption of regular daily postings. Criminal defendants sometimes focus on their time out of jail versus in jail, and not enough time on the often onerous and even draconian deprivations of...
4th Circuit: Trial courts may not presume reasonableness of Guidelines sentences
Bill of Rights. Yesterday, the Fourth Circuit confirmed that trial courts may not presume reasonableness of Guidelines sentences: While an appellate court reviewing a sentence may presume that the sentence within a properly calculated Guidelines range is reasonable, see United States v. Go, 517 F.3d 216, 218 (4th...
Getting convicted for assault without even raising a hand or fist
In the courts where I practice criminal defense, even giving an unwanted hug is an assault. That is additional testimony to the wisdom of bowing to others to greet them, apart from the reduced risk of catching swine flu (or mucus, if the person recently...