Neuroskeptic, earlier this week, wrote this very powerful (and sad) post about the story of an anonymous man, who after several surgeries removing parts of his brain, developed sexual urges directed toward minors. He developed a case of the rare Klüver-Bucy Syndrome. KBS is a behavioral disorder that [...]
An all too common scene in trials when a jailhouse snitch testifies is the elaborate song and dance performed by said snitch and the prosecutor to convince everyone (a bit too loudly) that there is no quid pro quo.
“Did you talk to anyone from the prosecutor’s office before coming forward [...]
Or: Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to speak ill of the dead, David Martin? David Martin, of course, is the man who “represented” Cameron Todd Willingham, the possibly innocent man executed by Texas on the basis some rather dubious arson evidence.
Willingham is dead, there is a [...]
There was an odd confluence of events in Hartford Superior Court yesterday: an expert witness testified in the trial of police officer Robert Lawlor, who is accused of fatally shooting a suspect, while at the same time Dwayne Powell was in court for his second appearance in the [...]
As expected, lame-duck Governor Rell announced plans today to close the almost-out-the-door Webster Correctional Institution (hey, news sites, look! It’s possible to link to websites besides your own!) for a savings of a whopping $3.4 million a year.
Actually, I have to be honest. I’m pretty ambivalent about this [...]
You want bread? Three dollars!
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, goes the counting rhyme, the primary use of which is to select someone random to be “it” in a game. As anyone who’s ever used this rhyme knows, it’s rather easy to manipulate [...]
I can has cheezburger?
Or wine with your dine. Or “if the trytophan won’t get you, these links sure will”.
Sex offenders in CT still have no place to go. It’s Norm Pattis’ turn to rant against this. A Michigan prosecutor is [...]It seems to me that someone thought they were being artistic. The pictures, to be honest, aren’t half bad. It’s the subject matter of the pictures that is extremely questionable. Here are the worst offenders:
Family Violence Sex Crimes (a tear? really?) Rape and Sexual Assault (I mean…I [...]
Do you feel lucky?
I’m not quite sure how to introduce this story (and the case that it covers) in a pithy manner, so I’m just going to get to it: New Hampshire’s Supreme Court recently ruled that it’s okay for a police [...]
And a game it is.
Every so often, because that is the nature of the beast, a judge will ask the lawyers during a pre-trial if they’re “ready to put numbers” on it. Either today, or next time. Numbers: the sanitized way of saying “let the dance begin”. When cases are [...]
Because I got nothin’, I give you this video. Lolcat FTW.
Click here to view the embedded video.
[...]From the NYTimes comes this heartwarming story of one of the nation’s elite universities privately funding an educational program in one of CT’s toughest prisons. Starting this year, Wesleyan brings its excellent curriculum and stringent admission requirements to prison, in an effort to educate and rehabilitate inmates, [...]
In what is becoming routine, another conviction was reversed this past week in New York, this one too based on the eyewitness testimony of 5 individuals. This, though, isn’t the usual case of mistaken ID nor is it a DNA exoneration.
Convicted of murder in 1992, Fernando Bermudez has wrongly [...]
For two months now, the Ann Arbor chronicle has been publishing the Washtenaw Jail Diary, a series of chapters by a former inmate at that jail, chronicling his life behind bars and his experiences. Interestingly, the content of the chapters were originally published as tweets, but later taken down and [...]
This seems to have been a week of heavyweight fights. Last night some guy named Pacquaio rearranged the face of some dude named Cotto and earlier in the week, in the state of “even Brian Nichols didn’t get death”, aka Georgia, the well oiled machinery of state sponsored murder [...]
[Alternate post titles: So long and thanks for all the blog fodder; This just in: The Law now has a weak pulse]
So, it’s probably unnatural and unhealthy to be so giddy upon learning that Gov. Rell has decided not to seek re-election, but as most of you know, I [...]
Man is neither inherently good nor bad. I believe that we act in ways because we are, for whatever reason, compelled to do so. I believe that we, as a society, need to assign labels to define behavior, to make ourselves feel better.
As someone who stands in a room of [...]
![insp_captkirk[5]](http://apublicdefender.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/insp_captkirk5-300x220.jpg)
The Death Penalty Information Center, in keeping with its tireless mission of boldly going where no man has gone before abolishing the death penalty has yet another “why didn’t I think of that!” report out today, pointing out (yet again) the stupidity of persisting [...]
Ordinarily, on a criminal law blog, the words “is different” would usually be preceded by the word “death” and an accompanying rant about the futility of the death penalty and the special standards to be applied in deciding whether a State should be in the killing business (I do not [...]
Over the last three months or so, I’ve twice had the experience of riding the elevator with a client. There’s nothing out of the ordinary about riding the elevator with the client, but these two particular times, the proverbial bell was tolling. Both times we were on our way to [...]
After years of hearing cases in panels, the CT Supreme Court announced today that it would start acting like a Supreme Court and have all 7 justices decide each case. Instead of only a panel of 5 hearing oral argument, all 7 will be present during argument and [...]
Via an anonymous PD, here is a transcript of some truly atrocious lawyering by a public defender in Virginia. Read it for yourself.
[...]Isn’t that what they say about advertising? You repeat things three times so people get it? Either that or she misunderstood the import of King Bruce’s lesson.
[...]And down the rabbit hole we go, with United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing (aka the MLB steroid case). The decision brings fourth amendment and technology into version 2.0, otherwise called the digital age by essentially doing away with the plain view exception. This was issued a few days [...]
Just saying, that by my very rough estimation, this blog (and its predecessor versions) is about 5 years old. Man, do I have a lot of free time.
Just saying…
[...]How someone gets convicted of anything based on these facts:
On March 19, 2005, the victim had fallen asleep on the living room couch in her mother’s home. Her mother awoke her and instructed her to go upstairs to bed so that the defendant could sleep on the couch. The victim [...]
The first half of the title of this post (shamelessly plagiarized from our good friends at CapDefWeekly) should come as no surprise to anyone. Texas is a powerhouse when it comes to executions, rapidly putting people to death.
The second half of the title should also come as no surprise, though. [...]
Links to stuff I don’t care to make into full-fledged posts:
State to use stimulus for DNA testing: maybe now we’ll have to wait only 3 months for results. Study to measure effectiveness of restraining orders. Crime cameras on their way? More stories on the cost of seeking the death [...]I’m a little late in “reporting” on this, but it’s worth pointing out. The esteemed Heritage Foundation has issued a new report/study/propaganda piece/Robert Ludlum laugh-a-thon titled “Adult Times for Adult Crimes: Life Without Parole for Juvenile Killers and Violent Teens”. That title is just as long and unwieldy as [...]
This post has been a long time in the making. Over the past few months, I’ve had to deal with clients – and have observed other lawyers dealing with their clients – who have severe mental health problems. And each one of us can tell you that there’s nothing more [...]
I have tried to think of something to write about – honestly – but most of the topics out there right now are just meh, so I’m gonna take the easy way out and give you some links to click on. Some of these are stories you’ve heard about ad [...]
It seems as though Connecticut’s problems with its probate courts have been solved and they’re running all hunky-dory. How else can one explain the unsolicited comments by two probate judges (remember, these aren’t actual judges. In fact, they aren’t even lawyers. So I can’t dust off that old [...]
…radio silence to bring you this update:
In the defense interview the prosecutor and the victim advocate decided to place Stilson on top of the table during the interview. It was such a surprise to the child (and the defense attorney) to see Stilson snoozing on the [...]
Dear Governor Rell,
Hi, it’s me, Gideon. This is my second attempt at a letter to you. The last one was somewhat trivial by comparision. I hope you take the time to read this, though, as I’m sure the last one ended up quickly at the [...]
After an excruciatingly long 11-hour debate that was peppered with vacuousness, cherry-picking and childhood stories, the CT Senate finally got around to voting on whether the State should abolish the death penalty. This historic vote ended in favor of abolition, but just barely. A 19-17 vote in the wee hours [...]
There must be something about this date. May 13 is now host to two significant death penalty events in Connecticut. On May 13, 2005, the State executed Michael Ross, after about a year of wrangling on his part to make it happen. Today, the CT House of Representatives voted [...]
If there were a job where the only requirement was to give pithy (sometimes catchy, but usually poor) titles to Connecticut Supreme Court decisions, I would take that job and assign the title of this post to State v. Sanseverino (II), issued yesterday. Sanseverino II is a very curious [...]
Season 2 of Raising the Bar begins June 8 on TNT. Mark your calendars, because this can mean only one thing: the return of the weekly Raising the Bar liveblog right here at a public defender.
Article 1, Section 8 of the Connecticut Constitution states:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have a right … to be released on bail upon sufficient security… nor shall excessive bail be required…
The Eight Amendment to the United States Constitution states:
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive [...]
