Criminal Defense
Justice delayed is better than justice denied, even when delayed for three decades
Congratulations to Donald Gates for finally being released from decades in prison over a murder he did not commit. Thank you to former D.C. Superior Court Fred Ugast — who presided over Mr. Gates’s trial — for granting this release, and for urging an investigation into...
Supreme Court improperly gives short-shrift to trial judge’s essential function in eyeballing witnesses at a suppression hearing
Appellate judges repeatedly refuse to disturb trial judges’ sound discretion in assessing witness credibility in denying a criminal defendant’s motion to suppress evidence. Consequently, appellate judges should also refuse to disturb trial judge’s sound discretion in assessing witness credibility in granting a criminal defendant’s motion to...
If so many eyewitnesses really “will never forget that face,” then why do so many people mistake Albert Einstein’s face for Marilyn Monroe’s?
Unfortunately, countless innocent people are wrongfully convicted on the testimony of an eyewitness saying "I will never forget that face" when the witness never had a chance to process the image of the suspect’s face and other features in the first place, when the visual...
Fourth Circuit enforces minor participant departure for allegedly low-producing drug conspiracy gopher
To those who have expended substantial energy and frustration finding, hiring, training and retaining good employees, imagine how much tougher it is for criminal enterprises to find good help, considering that they cannot exactly advertise job openings on CraigsList. Enter Malcolm Dawson, who plead guilty to a...
Slaying Prostitution Prosecutions when Sting Police Engage in Sexual Contact
In 1995, Howard County, Maryland, prosecutors dismissal a shameful sting prosecution against some workers at a massage parlor who some undercover police permitted not only to masturbate them, but apparently to do it to completion, which means such police truly were mixing business with misplaced pleasure (for...
A mere hunch does not permit a frisk nor a search
Praised be Virginia’s Court of Appeals for last week further distinguishing the factors separating a mere hunch — which does not justify a police frisk or search — from a Terry  frisk based on reasonable articulable suspicion to believe the suspect is armed and dangerous....
Virginia Rushed through John Allen Muhammad’s Execution, and the Supreme Court Allowed it
Death penalty: Always unjust Virginia executed John Allen Muhammad before he was to have completed his first round of federal habeas corpus appeals. Concurring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens — joined by Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor — underlined the importance of completing the first round...
Defending rogue cops in criminal court
Photo from website of U.S. District Court (W.D. Mi.). On the one hand, IÂ believe strongly in providing an aggressive defense to everyone suspected of a crime. On the other hand, rogue cops who commit crimes shielded by their badges certainly would present a challenge to...
When may a court order a criminal defendant drugged to be competent to stand trial?
Bill of Rights. (From the public domain.) When may a court order a criminal defendant drugged to be competent to stand trial? In the Fourth Circuit, the prosecution must justify such an order by clear and convincing evidence. U.S. v. Barbara Michelle Bush, ___ F.3d ___...
For the zillionth time, silence is golden with the police
Bill of Rights. (From the public domain.) Do you have a burning desire to talk to the police, even though doing so with real cops might get you arrested and prosecuted? If so, go watch Cops and talk to the television screen instead. For a decade,...