Juror Misconduct

Gideon brings us this atrocious story out of Illinois about a juror coming forward, 15 years after his jury duty, to testify in a postconviction proceeding that he and two other jurors had believed that the defendant was innocent of the armed robbery but after deliberating for over nine hours, had changed their votes to [...]

Maybe Not the Strongest Self-Defense Case

It’s audio-video day here at Defending People. Here’s a 9-1-1 tape from the City of Pasadena, a suburb of Houston in Harris County:

Note to self: If you have time, before shooting someone in the back, to explain to the police that you understand the recent changes in the law of self-defense, then it probably isn’t [...]

Police Surveillance of a sort

Criminal defense lawyer Randy England of Jefferson City, Missouri brings us this post about Brett Darrow, a 20-year-old St. Louis kid who drives around town wired for sound and light, deliberately antagonizing cops by refusing to play along with their attempts to pry into his personal life and intimidate him. The police conduct in the [...]

Welcome Prosecutors

Defending People had a lot of traffic yesterday from Harris County computers; last night at the HCCLA Holiday Party a prosecutor asked me if I was really blogging during trial. From these two data I conclude that Harris County prosecutors are reading my blog from the office. Welcome, prosecutors! If you see any unnamed prosecutor [...]

Flight to Nowhere

So . . . the Government puts on this witness, see? And this witness, she works for Air France, right? So the Government puts her on the witness stand in a federal jury trial, and asks her about airfares. They want to know what the lowest fare from Houston to Port Harcourt was in April [...]

Give Me Cover

“I’m in trial in federal court, and I need someone to cover for me in Harris and Galveston Counties on Friday.”
If you are a criminal defense lawyer, at some point you will ask for cover. A lawyer other than the one on the case covers for the one who is by making a court appearance.
Cover [...]

Becoming a Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer II

This morning I was visiting with dinosaur-in-training Feroz F. Merchant (actually a super lawyer despite the cheesy SuperLawyer designation) about developing the trial lawyer’s art. Feroz was lamenting the many lawyers practicing criminal law who are just there for the money, and care more about their clothes than about either their clients or their art. [...]

“We Will Show that the Defendant is a Con Artist”

I don’t know what to say. This was supposed to be Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Smith’s opening statement — a time not for argument but for describing what the evidence is expected to show.
The accused is not charged with being a con artist. Rather, he’s charged with possession of cocaine, at issue is whether he [...]

Busting the Panel

What do you get when you combine my friend (and fellow dinosaur) Norm, a federal drug case, 20 minutes of lawyer-conducted voir dire, and a 35-person jury panel?
Nothing even remotely resembling a jury. Come back and try again later. With 11 people disqualified for cause, that panel is not big enough. We’ll bring in 40 [...]

Now I’m Supposed To Be the Reasonable One?

Last Monday I went to federal court to help my friend (and fellow dinosaur) Norm pick a jury on a cocaine case. Before the jury panel was brought in, the judge handled some motions in limine. She became frustrated, first with the prosecutor and then with my friend because she thought that they should both [...]

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