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“We must be in heaven, man! There is always a little bit of heaven in a disaster area” – The persuasive power of laughter
Those who actually attended Woodstock know full well how overcrowded a be-in it was. In the middle of it all, a partially-toothless (from being beaten at demonstrations?) Hugh Romney announced to the crowd: “What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000… We...
Winning requires battle, dirty hands and beyond, and transcending unfairness
In my second semester of law school, my eyes glazed over about the trade-school-sounding aspect of our moot court instructor’s intensely instructing us on the minutiae of using the right color for our appellate legal brief covers – blue for the appellant and red for...
When a capital conviction is reversed over the wrongful striking of one potential juror
On July 14, 2011, I blogged about Norfolk federal trial Judge Raymond A.] Jackson’s reversal of Justin Michael Wolfe’s capital conviction, primarily due to his finding of serious failures of the prosecution to disclose exculpatory/Brady evidence. It is ironic that a case opinion as important as this...
Jon Katz discusses an extradition to the U.S., today on BBC TV
Camera image from U.S. Geological Survey website. Today, I appeared around 2:30 p.m. EDT, pre-recorded, on BBC TV Channel 1’s South East Today, on the Christopher Tappin extradition case that I have discussed here and here. The interview at BBC’s Washington, D.C., bureau was about...
Fourth Circuit: Virginia 251 marijuana dispositions are not always convictions for immigration purposes
Today, the Fourth Circuit ruled that a marijuana disposition under Va. Code § 18.2-251 (also known as 251, which I fully discuss here) is not always a conviction for immigration purposes. Crespo v. Holder, 631 F.3d 130 (4th Cir., Jan. 11, 2011) . Crespo says: “We thus start...
The Constitution substantially limits the “lawful orders” police may make
Bill of Rights. (From the public domain.) Thanks to a listserv member for citing to a 1965 Supreme Court decision that underlines the unconstitutional overbreadth of statutes criminalizing one’s not obeying a "lawful order" of a police officer, where the statute does nothing to narrow such orders...
The risk of a drug arrest and search even when the cops don’t see what is being transferred hand-to-hand
This week, Virginia’s intermediate appellate court detailed the totality of circumstances to consider in determining whether probable cause exists to arrest and search for drugs, after witnessing a hand-to-hand transaction. Powell v. Virginia, ___ Va. App. ___ (Nov. 3, 2010). The court’s reasons for finding probable cause to search Powell are...
When is offsite criminal activity sufficient to permit a warrant to search one’s home?
Bill of Rights. (From the public domain.) Search warrants of people’s homes often are issued as a result of alleged criminal activity that takes place far from the suspect’s home. When is alleged offsite criminal activity sufficient to permit a warrant to search one’s home? In such...
Protect your rights against document subpoenas by clamming up always
Computer hard drive. (Image from Pacific Northwest Laboratory’s website). This past Saturday, we took our boy to the Thomas train fiesta at the Baltimore Railroad museum. For his peers, this is akin my excitement at the prospect of seeing the Police perform live once again. Among...
The jury watches everything the client and the lawyer do
Courthouses and courthouse procedures expose parties and their lawyers to being seen and heard by the juries doing things they do not intend to be seen and heard doing, including conversation in restrooms, criminal defendants in chains before being brought to the courtroom, and parties...