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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

No open container law again

Posted on May 07, 2008
For the fifth year in a row, the State legislature did not pass an open container law. Per CT News Junkie, the Black and Hispanic caucuses argued that the bill would just end up discriminating against minorities and give cops another excuse. So, come to CT, where you can drink and drive (just not drunk and [...

Prosecutorial sanctions: Three time?s a charm

Posted on May 06, 2008
In keeping with “Should prosecutors be held accountable” week, the 9th Circuit issued this scathing opinion, chastising two prosecutors for egregious violations: The government egregiously failed to meet its constitutional obligations under Brady and Giglio...

Can a State copyright its statutes?

Posted on May 06, 2008
Apparently, Oregon is trying. The story goes thusly: Oregon sent a cease and desist letter to Justia and Public.Resource.Org. They claimed a copyright in the “arrangement and subject matter compilation of Oregon statutory law…” Thus, Oregon is asking these sites to take down the Oregon statutes they make available for free...

Teacher gets canned

Posted on May 06, 2008
for wizardry (actually just magic). SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Teacher gets canned", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/05/06/teacher-gets-canned/" });

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Pop quiz: Reasonable expectation of privacy

Posted on May 05, 2008
Do you have a reasonable expectation of privacy in your car, which you left unlocked in the parking lot of your place of business? Would police require a warrant to open the doors to your car and look inside? Assume nothing in plain sight. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Pop quiz: Reasonable expectation of privacy", url: "http://apublicdefender...

Monday Evening Margarita

Posted on May 05, 2008
photo credit: (nutmeg) Happy Cinco de Mayo folks! Hope you all treated yourself to a cerveza today. If not, just ogle the picture in this post. Here’s what you missed while boozin’ it up in honor of the 5th of May: Norm takes umbrage at defendant’s tactics of throwing his client - New Haven detective Clarence Willoughby [...

Large Hadron Collider

Posted on May 04, 2008
ATLAS detector deconstructed, from the best science blog out there. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Large Hadron Collider", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/05/04/large-hadron-collider/" });

Sunday stupidity: Conan does call centers

Posted on May 04, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hOfSI5RdAk SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Sunday stupidity: Conan does call centers", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/05/04/sunday-stupidity-conan-does-call-centers/" });

Dallas DA wants to punish Brady violators

Posted on May 04, 2008
Looks like I wasn’t the only one who had prosecutorial ethics on my mind this past week. From Grits, Dallas DA Craig Watkins has about had it with these exonerations and wants to do something about it. His proposals are serious. “Something should be done,” said Craig Watkins, whose jurisdiction leads the nation in the number [...

Judge gets award for upholding the law

Posted on May 03, 2008
Alternative title: “Our standards are so low”. Remember David Pollitt? [Previous posts here, here, here and here] Yeah, he’s the guy whose release from prison after maxing out from his sentence had his rich neighbors in an uproar. They didn’t want him living in their cul-de-sac, so they staged protests and feverishly dialed into “Idol Governor”, [...

Forced confession results in acquittal

Posted on May 03, 2008
The Kwame Wells-Jordan trial in New Haven has had it all: false confessions, recanting co-defendants, a near-fight between the state’s star witness and the prosecutor, a cop who has since retired amidst scandal and expert testimony on false confessions...

Judge for a day - II: Escapee edition

Posted on May 02, 2008
Since the first installment of “Judge for a day” was so successful, I’ve decided to bring it back for another round. This time, ripped right from the headlines. By now, most of you have heard of Susan M. LeFevre. LeFevre, also known as Marie Walsh, was arrested in her “hometown” of Del Mar, San Diego...

Prosecutors go head to head with cops

Posted on May 01, 2008
In bar brawl. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Prosecutors go head to head with cops", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/05/01/prosecutors-go-head-to-head-with-cops/" });

Hump day is link dump day

Posted on April 30, 2008
It’s hump day. It’s been a long hump day. So here’s a link dump. People of Lesbos sue over use of the word “lesbian”. Should cops value lives of others over their own? No, no and you people have got it all wrong. Man accidentally buys son Mike’s Hard lemonade, loses kid for a week...

So much resistance to change

Posted on April 30, 2008
Cops really don’t like change, do they? One of the more noteworthy bills the legislature passed this past session was the one re-classifying 16 and 17 year olds as juveniles, as opposed to “youthful offenders”. Why does this bother the cops? Because it means they won’t be able to talk to these teens without a parent [...

Kool-Aid drinker

Posted on April 29, 2008
Western Justice, self-proclaimed small town prosecutor, quotes Alan Dershowitz in asking whether criminal defense attorneys are “lie promoters“. But let’s say their client comes in, and tells them everything that happened–down to the very last detail, and those details are essentially–I’m guilty, I did it, and everything in the police reports is true...

Not enough

Posted on April 29, 2008
minority judges in CT. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Not enough", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/29/not-enough/" });

Gov. considering veto of crim justice bill

Posted on April 29, 2008
Well, well. Now that the budget has tanked and we might not even have a surplus, the Governor announced that she is considering vetoing the recently passed criminal justice bill. Gov. M. Jodi Rell said today that the state’s worsening financial condition may lead her to veto high-profile criminal-justice legislation passed in reaction to last year’s [...

Monday Morning Jumpstart: Anniversary edition

Posted on April 28, 2008
photo credit: Sluggo Slightly over one year ago, I debuted the Monday Morning Jumpstart (and it typical Gideon fashion, it was posted that evening). Look how it started out! Just four links. Ah, the innocent days. Anyway, before we jump into this week’s…jumpstart…...

New blawg

Posted on April 27, 2008
From a former public defender, now doing something else in the law, entitled flotant. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "New blawg", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/27/new-blawg-4/" });

Sunday Stupidity: The real Wayne Brady edition

Posted on April 27, 2008
From the Chappelle Show, an “instant classic”. WARNING: Adult language. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiT3YnB0P60 SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Sunday Stupidity: The real Wayne Brady edition", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/27/sunday-stupidity-the-real-wayne-brady-edition/" });

Romeo, Romeo: The age of consent

Posted on April 27, 2008
There is an interesting series of posts over at the Volokh Conspiracy (I know, I know), in which minds far greater than mine tackle the question of age of consent laws and the reasons for choosing the prevalent age cutoff. Eugene “Gene” Volokh starts it off by wondering: Ah, one might say, but perhaps the 30-year-olds are [...

Slow posting

Posted on April 26, 2008
Sorry folks, posting may be rather slow for a day or so. I’m having some internet issues. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Slow posting", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/26/slow-posting/" });

Connecticut criminal justice system reformed?

Posted on April 24, 2008
The question mark is because I can’t tell from this piece what the heck actually happened. Shoddy, shoddy writing. Under pressure to respond after two deadly home invasions in the past nine months, the state Senate voted early this morning to strengthen the state’s criminal law and allocate $10 million for enhanced crime-fighting...

Wesley Snipes

Posted on April 24, 2008
gets three years in jail. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Wesley Snipes", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/24/wesley-snipes/" });

Cops coming round on videotaped interrogations

Posted on April 24, 2008
You must’ve heard the phrase “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it”. Some police departments have now tried it and may be sorry they knocked it. The Day has this article on the pilot program to videotape interrogations and the surprising (to some) results...

Colliding galaxies

Posted on April 24, 2008
A front row seat. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Colliding galaxies", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/24/colliding-galaxies/" });

CT news roundup

Posted on April 23, 2008
There’s a link dump coming later this evening, but for now here are some interesting CT stories: Crime and Punishment in CT, NYT. State’s surplus almost wiped out, WFSB. Affidavit reveals more about home invasion, WFSB. Move to allow 17-year olds to vote in primaries moves to Senate, Stamford Advocate...

Link dump

Posted on April 23, 2008
see more crazy cat pics Lots more cool stuff for you to read, if you so choose: Seeking Justice seeks to explain the Cynthia Sommers arsenic murder non-prosecution. Orin Kerr gives his initial thoughts on Virginia v. Moore. Western Justice gets a CI’s former phone number...

8 laws followed

Posted on April 23, 2008
by all comic book movies. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "8 laws followed", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/04/23/8-laws-followed/" });

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