Criminal Defense
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...
Good luck keeping your jurors off the Internet about your case
Bill of Rights. (From the public domain.) In her wonderfully compassionate way, the amazing SunWolf emphasizes that jurors generally are going to bring their usual behaviors from their daily lives into the deliberation room regardless of the judges’ warnings to tell them to change behaviors that...
Cops: Stop shredding the Constitution with hunches
Cops must stop shredding the Constitution with hunches, particularly because they are not Quasimodo. Praised be Maryland’s highest court for recognizing that the cops had no more than a hunch of criminal activity afoot when witnessing a car drive around a parking lot, and then signaling...
When cops break the law in seeking convictions
Where do so many judges and jurors get the false notion that cops always tell the truth? Cops are but humans, so they are as prone to prevaricate as any non-cop. Praised be my fellow criminal defense brother Paul Mack — from neighboring Howard County...
Inadmissible hearsay remains inadmissible even if to explain a cop’s reasons for being on the scene
Inadmissible hearsay remains inadmissible even if to explain a cop’s reasons for being on the scene. At best for the prosecution, let the parties stipulate for the cop to testify simply that s/he was on patrol. Praised be Maryland’s highest court for unanimously getting this issue...
Supreme Court to consider Constitutional limits on life sentences for juveniles
On May 4, 2009, the United States Supreme Court decided to address the Constitutional limits on imposing life sentences on juveniles. So long as the court addresses the Eight Amendment issues in the twin cases — which is likely — the court’s resulting opinions likely...
Cops: Even conservative courts are limiting your searching authority
Neither the Fourth Circuit nor the Virginia appellate courts are known as liberal hotbeds. That makes this week all the more sweet with the following two Fourth Amendment appellate victories from those courts: Neely v. U.S., ___ F.3d ___ (4th Cir., April 29, 2009), confirms that...
Justice Department moves on eliminating 100:1 cocaine powder: crack disparity
The Justice Department is moving further towards eliminating the 100:1 cocaine powder: crack disparity. On April 29, the Justice Department’s criminal division chief, Lanny A. Breuer, presented this written statement to the Senate on the matter. Breuer’s statement talks of the creation of a Justice Department-created...