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Public Defense

A Public Defender

Criminal law news from Connecticut and around the country.
By Gideon

Post Frequency: 10.1/day

Last Entry: March 31, 2011 at 12:17:35

Judge for a day

Posted on April 23, 2008
Here’s a fun little game. I give you a scenario, you tell me what the sentence should be. Defendant is accused of sexually assaulting and kidnapping (as in restraining) his friend’s girlfriend. This is a classic he said/she said case. He says she consented, she says she did not...

Monday Evening Sunbathing

Posted on April 21, 2008
It is a warm 74 degrees as I type this. I love summer. Sorry there was no Jumpstart this morning, but I had to be in early. Here’s what I would have posted, if I had the time: Susan Cartier Liebel asks if we’re workaholics and reminds us to enjoy life...

The internet is all about

Posted on April 21, 2008
“my”. The NYT reports. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The internet is all about", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/21/the-internet-is-all-about/" });

Preempting habeas

Posted on April 21, 2008
Everyone that practices criminal law is probably aware of the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel and the (usually) appropriate venue for seeking relief for a violation of that right: a petition for writ of habeas corpus. This remedy, however, is difficult to obtain and is backward-looking in nature...

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Sunday stupidity: News bloopers edition

Posted on April 20, 2008
Some silly TV news bloopers for you to enjoy. Some of the bloopers contain adult content, so be careful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUM-mR_VbBA SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Sunday stupidity: News bloopers edition", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/20/sunday-stupidity-news-bloopers-edition/" });

How rock stars

Posted on April 20, 2008
got their stage names. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "How rock stars", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/20/how-rock-stars/" });

Proposal to commute all sentences

Posted on April 19, 2008
of death to life, in Pakistan. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Proposal to commute all sentences", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/19/proposal-to-commute-all-sentences/" });

8 simple rules?

Posted on April 19, 2008
Scott has shamed me into posting. Again. He has two posts on things that should always happen and things that should never happen. He asks us to think of it as a legal Rorschach test. All people who believe that convicting innocent people is an acceptable necessity of an imperfect system should nominate one member of [...

Those attentive attendants

Posted on April 18, 2008
Keeping us safe in the air. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Those attentive attendants", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/18/those-attentive-attendants/" });

New blogs

Posted on April 18, 2008
Two new blogs on the scene: Judgment Day and Exposed. Check ‘em out! Both have been added to the blogroll. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "New blogs", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/18/new-blogs-2/" });

Asides

Posted on April 17, 2008
I’m adding a new feature today, one that I’ve wanted to for a long time. Since this is still my personal blog, and there are stories of interest out there that are not law-related, I’ve created a category called asides, wherein I will post links to stuff that interests me...

Black hole woke up

Posted on April 17, 2008
for feeding in the 18th century SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Black hole woke up", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/17/black-hole-woke-up/" });

Oh, those crazy interns

Posted on April 16, 2008
This is some of the oddest “testimony” before a legislative committee. From CT News Junkie: ?From liquor and smoking in a state facility, from sex in actual offices to kickbacks from lobbyists?? [Michael] Marsulo said. More than one legislator joked that they would like to know where the sex is happening so they could get some and [...

Ethical violations: A reluctance to report

Posted on April 14, 2008
In the comments to my post about prosecutorial immunity yesterday, John raised an interesting point. He writes: At the VERY least, why do we not see prosecutors grieved, disciplined, reprimanded, made to take remedial ethics classes, etc. when THEY do something unethical? Is it our fault? Should we (defense attorneys) be filing grievances against prosecutors who [...

Good facts beat good law

Posted on April 14, 2008
Doug at Not Guilty asks practitioners whether they’d prefer good facts or good law in a case. The answer, I think, is clear. Good facts (almost) always trump good law. Putting aside the question of whether there actually is such a thing as “good law” for defendants, if the facts are not on your side, your [...

CT odds and ends

Posted on April 14, 2008
Some interesting CT stories from today that I’m really just too lazy to make into full-fledged posts. First, New Haven public defender Tom Ullmann gives the New Haven police department a piece of his mind and takes a few swings at the State’s Attorney’s office too: Defense attorney Thomas Ullmann has charged that some members of the [...

Videotaped interrogations pilot program to start soon

Posted on April 14, 2008
At the end of June, four police departments in CT will begin to videotape interrogations of suspects of violent felonies. Supporters think such a policy should have been required in Connecticut years ago, especially in light of two high-profile cases in which police were accused of coercing confessions...

Monday Morning Jumpstart: It?s still darn cold edition

Posted on April 14, 2008
When will it get warm in the mornings? Let’s hope it is soon. I can’t take this cold weather much longer. Here are some posts and stories to keep you distracted while that raindrop melts: Talkleft has the latest shaming punishment from Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio...

Sunday Stupidity: Top Gear edition

Posted on April 13, 2008
You really should be watching Top Gear. It might be the funniest show on TV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWbiLpogzCc SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Sunday Stupidity: Top Gear edition", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/13/sunday-stupidity-top-gear-edition/" });

Removing prosecutorial immunity

Posted on April 13, 2008
As highlighted in this L.A. Times article and this Scotusblog summary, the Justices will announce tomorrow whether cert will be granted in Goldstein v. Van de Kamp [9th Cir. decision here]. Goldstein was released from prison after serving 24 years for a crime he did not commit...

Unemployable

Posted on April 12, 2008
During my first year in law school, I wanted to be an International Human Rights lawyer. Seriously. Then, for reasons that may be explained another day, I decided I wanted to practice criminal law. Specifically, I wanted to be a public defender. So I set about doing that...

Link love

Posted on April 12, 2008
Scott, Dan Hull and Kevin have been talking up the need for us blawgers in the US to be more social. So I’m taking it to heart. Here’s a brand new blog, written by an old hand. Norm Pattis has started “Stupid Prosecution Tricks“...

Link dump

Posted on April 11, 2008
ACLU presses for death row inmates’ rights. Apparently, there’s a wave of sexual offenders preying on nursing home residents. Not. State ethics bill “implodes“. Bill introduced in Congress to impose sanctions on countries that don’t take back illegal immigrants...

The right to choose what (or who) you photograph

Posted on April 11, 2008
I know I write almost exclusively about criminal law, but I have spent the past hour reading 7 posts at Volokh on the application of the First Amendment and the issue is just too fascinating not to share. It reads like a law school hypothetical. The entire thread of posts is collected here (oldest to [...

Every law school class had one of these guys

Posted on April 10, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gMtSf2vbZs SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Every law school class had one of these guys", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/10/we-all-knew-this-guy/" });

Second Chance in Connecticut?

Posted on April 09, 2008
I have long supported greater prisoner re-entry and rehabilitation programs (as you all may know), so I was happy to see that President Bush will sign the Second Chance Act today. In a sharp change in attitudes about incarceration, many states and private groups have recently experimented with ?re-entry? programs to help released prisoners fit back [...

Innocents on Death Row: Who?s counting?

Posted on April 09, 2008
John Holdridge, who argued State v. Courchesne last month before the (CT) Supreme Court, has this opinion piece at HuffPo, arguing that the number of exonerations from death row make a strong case for a moratorium on the death penalty. One of the primary reasons is the recent explosion in the number of death-row exonerations, which [...

Chief Justice reflects on first year at helm

Posted on April 09, 2008
Wow, it’s already been a year since the CT Supreme Court got a new Chief Justice. In an interview with WFSB, Justice Rogers reflects on a year at the head of the Court. Part of her agenda for the past year has been courthouse security: As she met with judges during her first year in the state’s [...

Texas polygamist raid based on defective warrant?

Posted on April 09, 2008
Grits is all over the story that the search warrant and accompanying affidavit used to enter and search the polygamist compound headed by the now convicted Warren Jeffs may be illegal. For starters, the initial warrant named the wrong person. Dale Barlow, the 50-year old man who an anonymous phone call accused of marrying and assaulting [...

Testing

Posted on April 07, 2008
Testing Claim Code SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Testing", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/07/testing/" });

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