Results matching “first”

Boston Bomber Suspect Could Face Death:  The Associated Press reports that suspected Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev could face the death penalty under federal prosecution. Although Massachusetts does not have the death penalty, Tsarnaev is expected to be charged federally with using weapons of mass destruction to kill people, which is a capital offense. Because of the nature of the attack, Tsarnaev will be interrogated by the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Team, a group of CIA officers who have been involved in questioning prominent terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay. The suspect will be tried in a civilian court, rather than as an enemy combatant, because he became a naturalized U.S. citizen in September 2012. According to a report by the Boston Herald, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino would support a death penalty sentence, saying that Tsarnaev "should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." Continued from this News Scan.

NC Killer's Death Penalty Trial Delayed Over Mental Evaluation:  WRAL News reports that Mario Andretti McNeill, charged with the murder, rape and kidnapping of Shaniya Davis, 5, has had his trial delayed pending questions of his mental capacity. The child's body was found on November 16, 2009 six days after her mother had reported she was missing. McNeill's capital murder trial was put on hold when defense attorney's asserted he may not have the mental capacity to proceed. Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons has postponed the trial, ordering jurors to reconvene next Monday.  The judge has ordered an independent mental evaluation for McNeill, to be conducted this week. McNeill is alleged to have taken Davis from her mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis, because the woman failed to pay a drug debt. The mother is also facing multiple charges including first-degree murder, indecent liberties with a child, and human trafficking.

It's clear by now that the Boston bombers were Islamic radicals (not Senate Republicans, with all due respect to NYT columnist Nicolas Kristof).  In an Atlantic article  --  certain to be a model for the coming defense narrative  --  they are portrayed as just, you know, ordinary guys who happened to be Muslim.  Indeed, the title of the article, by Ms. Megan Garber, is, "The Boston Bombers Were Muslim: So?"

Before taking a close look at Ms. Garber's article, let's advise The Atlantic not to put away that headline. It could come in handy so often. "The Cole Bombers Were Muslim: So?" "The Embassy Bombers Were Muslim: So?" "The First World Trade Center Bombers Were Muslim: So?" "The September 11 Bombers Were Muslim: So?" "The Madrid Bombers Were Muslim: So?" "The London Bombers Were Muslim: So?" "The Shoebomber Was Muslim: So?" The Underwear Bomber Was Muslim: So?" "The Fort Hood Shooter Was Muslim: So?" "The Beslan Child-Murderers Were Muslim: So?" "The Times Square Bomber Was Muslim: So?"

A year and a half ago, I wrote about Paul Bergrin, a prominent New Jersey defense lawyer who took seriously the creed of standing up to prosecutors' bullying and their freelance destruction of Constitutional rights.  Bergrin was having none of it.

[The first judge on the case, later removed by the Third Circuit] refused to allow the authorities to try him on any of the charges other than two murder counts, for allegedly ordering members of a Newark gang to kill Kemo DeShawn McCray, a confidential F.B.I. informant who was to serve as a crucial witness in a case against one of Mr. Bergrin's clients.

Third-Striker to be Released in Sacramento:  Suzanne Phan of ABC News reports that a judge approved the first resentencing and release of a third-striker from prison into Sacramento County on  Wednesday. Following the passage of Proposition 36, inmates serving life sentences under California's three-strikes law have been applying for re-sentencing hearings statewide. These inmates could could be granted release based on the severity of their third offense. Courts and attorneys have been reviewing cases to see which inmates still pose a threat to the public. Continued from this News Scan.

TX DA Murder Suspects Charged:  Danny Robbins of the Associated Press reports that Eric Lyle Williams, a former justice of the peace in Kaufman, Texas, and his wife have been charged with the shooting deaths of District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife, and assistant prosecutor Mark Hasse. It is alleged that Williams was the shooter, his wife the getaway driver. The McLellands were fatally shot at their home in March, two months after the murder of Hasse. Evidence linking Williams to the murders was found in a storage unit filled with weapons. Continued from this News Scan.

Boston Bombing Suspect Killed, Second Escaped:  Eileen Sullivan, Meghan Barr and Katie Zezima of the Associated Press report that one of two suspects in Boston Marathon bombing was killed during a shootout with officers. The brothers allegedly killed three and injured more than 180 on Monday. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed, while his brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, managed to escaped. The pair fatally shot a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer late Thursday night. Responding officers were then led on a car chase. The suspects had thrown explosives and fired shots out of the vehicle. A transit police officer was seriously injured during the gunfight. Continued from this blog post.

Much  --  almost surely too much  --  will be said in coming days about the Boston Marathon bombings.  A considerable portion of it will be self-congratulatory mush about how we "come together as a people" in the face of the "senseless loss," to use President Obama's exact phrase in his reaction yesterday. 

TX Ex-Justice of The Peace Suspected of Murdering DA, Wife:  FOX News and the Associated Press report that Eric Lyle Williams, a former justice of the peace in Texas, was arrested Saturday on charges of making a terrorist threat. Williams is now a prime suspect in the murders of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife. Williams, 46, was arrested after agents investigating the killings found multiple weapons and a car similar to one described leaving the neighborhood of the murders in a storage unit linked to him. An email threatening another attack against Kaufman County officials was traced back to Williams' computer. McLelland and Mark Hasse, also recently slain, were both crucial to prosecution against Williams over theft charges last year. The trial resulted in Williams losing his justice of the peace position. Williams has a reputation of making violent threats. He is known to have threatened his ex-girlfriend Janice Gray with a gun on multiple occasions. Continued from this News Scan.

Court to Review Order Blocking CA Executions:  Howard Mintz of the Mercury News reports that on Tuesday, the 1st District Court of Appeal will review a Marin County judge's 2011 order halting executions. The ruling announced that the state had failed to adequately follow the Administrative Procedures Act when revising its execution protocol.  The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation appealed the ruling.  The State Attorney General office argues CA satisfied the rules and did more than was required, including holding public hearings and considering 29,000 public comments. Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, said such administrative rules should not take precedence over enforcement of a state law such as the death penalty statute. Continued from this News Scan.

CO Teen Enters Not Guilty Plea for Murder of Girl:  Thomas Peipert of the Associated Press reports  that Austin Sigg, 18, pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and robbery on Friday. Allegedly, Sigg earlier confessed that he kidnapped, murdered, and dismembered Jessica Ridgeway, 10. Some of her remains were also found at Sigg's home. He also pleaded not guilty to attacking a 22-year-old jogger in the same neighborhood as Jessica, in May. Three counts of sexual exploitation of a child have also been entered by prosecutors based on the alleged discovery of child pornography in the investigation. Because he was 17 when the slaying occurred, he is ineligible for the death penalty. A maximum sentence would give him life in prison with possibility of parole after 40 years. Continued from this News Scan.

OK Court Set to Hear Murderer's Appeal:  Tim Talley of the Associated Press reports that Oklahoma Death Row inmate Roderick Lynn Smith will have his appeal heard on May 7. Smith was convicted of the 1993 murders of his wife Jennifer Smith and her four children.  Two of the children, Glen Carter Jr., 9, Ladarian Carter, 7, were stabbed to death. The other two, Shemeka Carter, 10, and Kanesha Carter, 6, had been strangled. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals will hear arguments that Smith's death sentence should be overturned because the jury failed to consider evidence that Smith is mentally retarded. His defense attorney alleges he was deprived of his constitutional rights because of improper jury instructions. Smith, 47, first went to death row in November 1994 when he was convicted on five counts of first degree murder. His five death sentences were overturned in 2004 by the Tenth Circuit ruling finding ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing.  Resentencing resulted in Smith receiving two death sentences for the girl's murders and LWOP for the stabbing of his step sons and wife.

CA Child Killer Suspect in Several Cold Cases: KTVU News reports that the FBI is looking for six more victims of convicted child killer Curtis Dean Anderson. In 2007, one month before he died, Anderson told investigators he had killed six other victims. Anderson had been convicted of kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Xiana Fairchild in Vallejo. He also confessed to the kidnap-murder of Amber Swartz.  From 1986 to 1999, Anderson had been arrested and released from prison 10 times. Anderson told the federal investigator he would have continued killing more women if released. The FBI is out of leads and is seeking help from the public to solve these murders.

Transient Boxer is a Suspected Serial Killer: Russell Goldman of ABC News reports that career criminal Samuel Little, 72, is being investigated as a possible serial killer. Little had been arrested in Kentucky in September for the possession of drug paraphernalia. He was extradited to Los Angeles after his DNA was linked to three 1989 unsolved murders. In all three cases, the victims were knocked out and strangled. Little's criminal record covers 56 years of crimes across 24 states. There have been a significant number of unsolved cases matching Little's method of operation in areas and at times when he resided nearby.  

Another case apparently relisted in Friday's Supreme Court conference (see post earlier today) involves instructing the jury not to draw adverse inferences from the defendant's failure to testify.

In Carter v. Kentucky, 450 U.S. 288 (1981), the Supreme Court decided that, in the guilt phase of a trial, the defendant is entitled to such an instruction on request.  Not all defendants request the instruction, though, because it highlights the fact that the defendant has not testified.  Telling people "don't pay attention to this" is a pretty good way of getting them to pay attention to something.

Does the Carter rule apply to a case where the defendant pleads guilty to the crime and admits the eligibility circumstance, so the jury is impaneled only to decide whether an admittedly death-eligible murderer should be sentenced to death?  The trial judge in the case of Robert Woodall did not think so, and neither did the Kentucky Supreme Court.  The federal district judge did, though, and a majority of a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit decided that the state court's contrary decision was contrary to clearly established Supreme Court precedent, the standard established by Congress for a lower federal court to overturn a state court decision on habeas corpus.  Judge Cook did not agree:

Elisa Nelson should be 42 years old now.  Tragically, she died at the age of 10.  Sarina Fazan reported Monday for ABC Action News in Tampa:

After more than 30 years, a Pinellas County family may finally see justice this week.  In 1980, a sexual predator on parole snatched and killed a 10-year-old girl on her way to school.

*                              *                             *

Jeff Nelson plans on attending.  He said he will speak on camera after the verdict.  And he made one statement: "Why did it take 32 years to bring a confessed murderer to justice?  Something needs to be fixed."

The US Supreme Court denied three certiorari petitions and stay requests today in cases 12-9643, 12-9671, and 12-9672.  No dissents are noted.

The first petition challenged the Supreme Court of Florida's rejection of Mann's fifth state collateral review petition.  The second petition challenged the Eleventh Circuit's rejection of Mann's method of execution challenge.  The last one challenged the Eleventh Circuit's decision in case 13-11322, which I was not able to find.

Update:  The Tampa Tribune reports:

Larry Eugene Mann has been executed for the 1980 murder of 10-year-old Elisa Nelson of Palm Harbor.

"Thank God it's over," said Katy DeCarolis, Elisa's cousin.

The WSJ has this editorial denouncing the efforts of the trial judge in the Aurora massacre case to force a Fox News reporter to disclose her source.  Someone in law enforcement, apparently, told her about the shooter's notebook.

The First Amendment is not superior to all other constitutional rights, and there are times when the right to a free press collides with the right to a fair trial. Hard calls then have to be made, especially when a journalist has information that bears on the guilt or innocence of the accused.

Nothing like that is at issue here. Ms. Winter's role is peripheral to the case against Mr. Holmes. The court has access to the notebook and has the authority over whether to admit its contents as evidence in the trial. Her confidential information concerns only who disregarded the judge's order.

The extent of First Amendment protection in this area is fuzzy, but many states, including Colorado, have state laws that go beyond constitutional requirements.  The text of CRS § 13-90-119 follows the jump.

Since the public overwhelmingly supports the death penalty, the opposition has to rely, and does rely, on deceit about their proposals for alternate punishments.  It takes many forms.  One is the promise of compelling inmate/killers to provide restitution (see Prop 34), which abolitionists know full well will never happen. Another is to pretend to seek merely a "moratorium"  -- only it's a "moratorium" with no ending date.  Probably the most common is the promise of ironclad LWOP.  Only it won't be ironclad, and it won't long be LWOP either. 

For those of us active in the death penalty debate, we have been saying for some time that the end of the death penalty would usher in the beginning of the end of LWOP. This has been the "canary in the mine shaft" warning for decades.

 

Our anti death opponents have been saying "nonsense", with as much sincerity as North Korea and Iran in curtailing their nuclear efforts.

 

We were wrong, in our prediction of timing.  The effort to end LWOP started much sooner than expected and, as predicted, is following the same game plan as the anti death penalty movement did with that sanction.

CA Jail Medical Costs Increased Under AB109:  Jennie Rodriguez-Moore of the Record News reports inmates being moved to San Joaquin County Jail as a result of Realignment are costing the county more than initially estimated. The number of inmates in need of medical service rose from 162 to 730 from the first month of Realignment through September. One inmate's medical expenses over a one month period amounted to $18,000. San Joaquin County Jail, like other California jails, was not meant to hold inmates long term. AB109 has forced jails to be filled with offenders serving lengthy sentences and  medical treatments for long term inmates are now being added to the county's costs. 26 percent of the 2,282 inmates seen on-site from October 2011 to September 2012 were AB109ers. Hospital costs for inmates reached $530,000 in the first year, $105,600 of which came from realigned inmates. Prescriptions totaled $740,208, $180,408 of that from realigned inmates. San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore hopes the Realignment jail population will level off, but says that the situation needs to be monitored.

Ex-Felons to Be Given Health Coverage Under Obamacare:  Michael Ollove of Stateline News reports that many of the almost 5 million ex-offenders and the 650,000 inmates released annually will be eligible for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act by January 2014. Arguably, this will fight the spread of chronic and infectious diseases including HIV, Hepatitis C. Inmates have a highers than average disease rate compared to the general population. Ex-cons not eligible for Medicaid due to their income levels may also still be able to get federal tax credits which they could use to pay for health insurance.

MS Murder Suspect Shoots Cop, Himself During Questioning:  Holbrook Mohr and Jeff Amy of the Associated Press report Jeremy Powell, 23, shot and killed Detective Eric Smith before turning the gun on himself Thursday in Mississippi. Powell, a murder suspect, was being questioned at police headquarters in Jackson when he wrestled Smith's gun away from him, fatally shot the detective, then took his own life. Autopsies are being performed Friday and the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

The Supreme Court's jurisprudence on lab techs and the Confrontation Clause is a mess.  The fractured opinions leave everyone scratching their heads trying to figure out what the law is.  There are huge practical problems with having the person who did the analysis testify.  First, the process is often a team effort, so there is no one person.  Second, people often quit or get laid off.  Sometimes a key person is dead by the time of the trial.

For more background, see this post from last year on Williams v. Illinois and this post from 2011 on Bullcoming v. New Mexico.

Today, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided Young v. United States, throwing out the conviction of a rapist because the supervisor, not anyone who actually worked on the lab analysis, testified at trial.  Zoe Tillman has this post at BLT.  "A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, William Miller, said via email that his office is 'reviewing the decision and has no further comment at this time.' "

The D.C. Court of Appeals is treated like a state supreme court for many purposes, including review of its decisions.  If DoJ wants to take it up, they have to file a certiorari petition with the U.S. Supreme Court.  (See 28 U.S.C. §1257(b).)

Now comes word that a recently elected West Virginia sheriff, Eugene Crum, was gunned down yesterday.  A suspect has been shot and is in the hospital.

Though there is no indication of any connection, Mr. Crum's killing comes on the heels of a Texas district attorney and his wife being shot to death in their home over the weekend, and just weeks after Colorado's corrections director [Tom Clements] also was gunned down at his home.

Reader Federalist notes in a comment that, while abolitionists do indeed lie in the death penalty debate, they're winning.

Carol McKinley and Christina Ng have this story for ABC on the Arapahoe County DA's decision to reject the plea bargain offer and seek the death penalty for James Holmes for the murder of 12 people in a theater in Aurora, Colorado last year.

Friends of Aurora shooting victims applauded prosecutors' decision today to seek the death penalty for James Holmes, with one friend saying he wanted to be in the room if Holmes is executed.

"I don't know if it's painful. I want him dead. I just want to be there in the room when he dies," Bryan Beard said outside the Colorado courthouse. "He took one of my friends from this Earth. Death equals death."

*                             *                          *

Brauchler said his office has reached out to 800 victims and that he had personally spoken with relatives of 60 victims who died and were injured.

Near the end, the story notes the victims' families are divided on the question.  Another story today (which I don't have a link to) quoted one as concerned with the 15 years of appeals.

But these cases don't have to take 15 years.  In a case with no doubt of the identity of the perpetrator, we should have all reviews done in 6 years or less.  Virginia did it with the D.C. Sniper, and cases don't come any more complex than that one.

The penalty decision in a capital case should get one full and fair review.  Any reviews after the first should be limited to issues of guilt.

Yesterday, I wrote about a defense lawyer whose pretrial spin on his client was denial of factual guilt.  That's hardly out of the ordinary; indeed it's standard practice. It's not uniform practice, however, because there are some cases  --  James Holmes, the Aurora, Colorado shooter, for example  --  where it just makes the defense seem disconnected from reality to maintain factual innocence.  Yesterday's case was like that:  A father, furious at his wife for leaving him, drove to her new house and butchered (literally) the couples' three little girls, then called his estranged wife to say, "You can come home now because I killed the kids."  To refuse to concede factual guilt on a record like that seems not just misleading but foolish.  Are you doing the client any favors?

CA Gov. Grants 65 New Pardons:  David Siders of the Sacramento Bee reports that California Gov. Jerry Brown pardoned 65 convicted criminals on the day before Easter. Those pardoned had not reoffended since their release from prison ten years ago. Most were convicted for drug or property crimes. However, one of the pardoned was a convicted murderer; two were convicted of manslaughter. The 65 are in addition to 128 pardons the governor granted last year. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had pardoned only 16 people and commuted 10 sentences while in office. Schwarzenegger's predecessor, Gray Davis, pardoned no one. KCRA News reports the pardoned can serve on a jury and purchase firearms. Governor Brown had also signed 79 pardons on Christmas Eve. Advocates for Public Safety Founder Lynne Brown said, "Now, we're pardoning murderers as well? ...When does justice for victim's take priority?"

Suspected CA Kidnapper Was Released Under Realignment:  Jason Kandel, Samantha Tata, and Christina Cocca of NBC News report that Tobias Dustin Summers, 30, is being sought by the LAPD as a suspect in the kidnapping of a 10 year old girl in the Northridge, CA area. Summers is a long time criminal who, despite a criminal record including kidnapping and assault and battery, was released from prison in July 2012 under Realignment. Jonathan Lloyd and Toni Guinyard of NBC News report that a suspected accomplice in the kidnapping, Daniel Martinez, 29, was arrested Monday. The search for Summers has expanded to the San Diego area. The kidnapped girl, who is now safe but not being named, was abducted from her bedroom at 3:00 a.m. on March 27. She was dropped off at a hospital and walked to a Starbucks where she was recognized.  Police found her barefoot with bruises and cuts on her face about 12 hours after she was kidnapped. In this Press Release, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said:

"The Governor's FAILED realignment program is a proven threat to public safety which has overwhelmed probation departments and local law enforcement agencies statewide. The Governor needs to take the proper steps and call a special session of the legislature to repeal this reckless program."

Critics Cite AB 109 Failures, Call for Repeal:  Mike Luery of KCRA News reports victim's rights advocates from across the country gathered in Rancho Cordova Friday to protest AB 109, Governor Brown's Realignment law. The law has shifted 24,000 inmates from state prisons to county jails. Local jails are often filled beyond capacity which forces the early release of criminals. Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation, says the program would more appropriately be called "felon dump" instead of realignment. Kathleen Moore, of Army of Angels, says the program should be repealed completely. Advocates maintain that, if they cannot get a repeal, they will begin gathering signatures to take the issue directly to voters.

Los Angeles Shootings May Be Connected to AB 109 Releases:  The Huffington Post reports that local police are concerned the recent upsurge in shootings in Los Angeles County may be due to Realignment. Covina Police Chief Kim Raney told reporters that the past 16 months have shown an increase in property crimes and that crimes are turning violent. In the three days before March 20, 11 shootings were reported in southern California. Raney believes the uptick in violent crime is directly connected to dangerous criminals who are no longer serving their sentences and are being released with minimal supervision under AB 109. There have been 13 bills put forward by Republicans aimed at fixing some of the problems with AB109. These measures would send some offenders back to prisons, increase parolee supervision, and strengthen penalties for sex offenders and illegal arms dealers. Bills discussed in this News Scan.

AZ Campaign Seeks to Give Free Shotguns to High Crime Areas:  The Associated Press reports a campaign has been launched in Tucson, Arizona by the Armed Citizen Project to introduce free shotguns to high crime neighborhoods. The group began a similar campaign in Texas earlier this year, where some residents have said the program has given them a renewed sense of security. Conflicting statistics and studies over whether or not gun ownership reduces crime have proved inconclusive. Continued from this News Scan.

CA Trafficking Case 1st Under Prop. 35:  Mike Landa of KNX 1070 reports that a prostitution case in Orange County will be the first under the state's recently implemented Prop 35. Chuncey Tarae Garcia, 33, has been charged with felony counts for human trafficking and forcible rape. Cierra Melissa Robinson, 27, is charged with human trafficking in the same case. The pair forced a 14-year-old out of state runaway into prostitution. Under the new human trafficking law, Garcia faces a possible maximum of 28 years to life in prison. Robinson faces a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.

The orders list is here.  The Supreme Court took up one civil case.  No action on the Phillips cross-petitions from California, noted here.

In Marshall v. Rogers, 12-382, the Ninth Circuit was reversed for failure to observe Congress's limitation on habeas corpus in the so-called "deference" provision.  The high court once again has reversed the Ninth summarily and unanimously, meaning not a single justice thought the Ninth was right, and this conclusion is so obvious as to not require full briefing or oral argument.  Here is the first paragraph:

Respondent Otis Lee Rodgers, challenging his state conviction, sought a writ of habeas corpus from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He claimed the state courts violated his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel by declining to appoint an attorney to assist in filing a motion for a new trial notwithstanding his three prior waivers of the right to counseled representation. The District Court denied respondent's petition, and he appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which granted habeas relief. 678 F. 3d 1149, 1163 (2012). Because the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that respondent's claim is supported by "clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States," 28 U. S. C. §2254(d)(1), its judgment must be reversed.

When Congress enacted §2254(d), it specifically provided that the reasonableness of the state court's resolution of an issue will be judged only by its conformity with U.S. Supreme Court precedents, not federal court of appeals precedents.  The federal courts of appeals are not "higher" courts over the state courts in the sense that their precedents are binding, and Congress acted decisively to prevent them from making their precedents binding in practice by granting habeas relief whenever a state court disagrees.  A study I did shortly before the law passed showed that, in capital cases in the Ninth Circuit, the Supreme Court ultimately resolved these disagreements in favor of the state court's decision most of the time.

But many federal judges still don't get it:

Have you ever wanted to smack some sense into Jeffrey Toobin, as his blather is passed off as "expertise"?  I have.  (See, e.g., this post.)  I wouldn't actually do it of course.  Battery is a crime, and we are anti-crime here.  But the "expert" got a whack from a piece of lighting equipment, video available here, and then said, "I'm thinking more clearly now."  One can only hope.

This may be the Year of the Snake in China, but it's the Term of the Dog in the US Supreme Court.  Last month, the high court decided unanimously in Florida v. Harris that a trained dog's alert is probable cause for possession of drugs without the strict requirements laid down by the Florida Supreme Court.  See prior post here.

Today, the other shoe dropped in another Florida case, Florida v. Jardines.  From the syllabus:

Police took a drug-sniffing dog to Jardines' front porch, where the dog gave a positive alert for narcotics.  Based on the alert, the officers obtained a warrant for a search, which revealed marijuana plants; Jardines was charged with trafficking in cannabis. The Supreme Court of Florida approved the trial court's decision to suppress the evidence, holding that the officers had engaged in a Fourth Amendment search unsupported by probable cause.

Held: The investigation of Jardines' home was a "search" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.

The opinion was written by Justice Scalia and joined by Justices Thomas, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan.  Justice Alito dissented, joined by Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Kennedy and Breyer.  This division does not follow the simplistic "liberal/conservative" lineup, but it is not particularly surprising in a Fourth Amendment case where the question is the substantive reach of the constitutional protection as distinguished from the scope of the exclusionary remedy.  This is the kind of case where we sometimes see Scalia and Thomas showing their libertarian streak and Breyer siding with the government.

In the opinions we see some interesting discussion about the Fourth Amendment and property versus privacy and the special status of the home.

I have not been shy about criticizing Eric Holder, Patrick Leahy, John Conyers and other Democrats for their feckless and often perverse views on crime and punishment.  I'm happy  --  I guess  --  to be able to spread the blame to the other side of the aisle.  First there was the "Right on Crime" movement.  Now comes "Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty" an organization that, like other abolitionist groups, (justifiably) shows reluctance to speak its true name, preferring merely to be "concerned" or to want a "dialogue" or the other of the slippery words you hear used so often.  Often, that is, when the group speaking wants no death penalty, ever, no matter what, but also wants to advertise itself as just having an open mind.

"Even in the United States where we have the best due process probably in the world, we have probably executed people wrongfully for the death penalty, then found out through DNA testing many people on death row are there inaccurately. And even Republicans have pulled back their beliefs some on death penalty."

Dana Nichols has this article on realignment in Calaveras County, California (locale of Mark Twain's first published piece of fiction).

The agencies charged with enforcing laws and supervising criminal offenders in Calaveras County aren't getting along with each other and are bungling key tasks required under California's 2011 criminal justice realignment, according to a county grand jury report.

Along with shifting a lot of incarcerated felons from state prison to county jail, the realignment bill also shifted the supervision of a lot of released felons from the state parole system to county probation offices.  Over the years, probation officers have developed a different culture from parole officers.  I'm sure this is due in large part to the differences in the criminal populations they have supervised.  The people supervised by probation officers in the past were, by definition, those that the judge thought were suitable for probation, largely based on the judge's assessment of their potential for rehabilitation.  Those who ended up being supervised by parole officers tended to be the hardened criminals.  Probation officers therefore tended to develop more of a rehabilitation viewpoint, while parole officers tended toward a viewpoint that their job was to protect the public from this still-dangerous criminal.

Suspect in CO Prison Chief's Death Killed in TX Shootout:  CBS News reports that Colorado parolee Evan Spencer Ebel, 28, was pronounced dead Friday morning after shootout with Texas police. Ebel was suspected of killing Colorado Department of Corrections Chief Tom Clements on Tuesday. He was also suspected of killing a pizza deliveryman, Nathan Leon, 27, on Sunday. Officers had attempted to pull Ebel over. He then opened fire, seriously wounding a police officer. Ebel led officers on a high-speed chase that ended when he crashed into a semi. A firefight ended only when Ebel was shot in the head. A member of the Brotherhood of Aryan Alliance prison gang, he was convicted of various other crimes since 2003, including assault on a prison guard. Investigators are looking into the possibility that Clement was killed on a hit ordered by Ebel's gang.

New Orleans Judge Says Felons Have the Right to Bear Arms:  Claire Galofaro of the Times-Picayune reports Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Darryl Derbigny ruled Louisiana's state law forbidding certain felons from possessing firearms to be incompatible with the state's constitution. The ruling follows an amendment defining the right to bear arms as fundamental for its citizens, on par with freedom of speech and religion. Public defender Jill Pasquarella defended Derbigny, saying it was irrational to ban felons from guns when convicted of non-firearms related crimes. The state Supreme Court will review the statute.

Riverside Crime Rising Under Realignment:  Alicia Robinson of the Press-Enterprise reports crime is on the rise in Riverside, California as overcrowded jails resulting from AB 109 are forcing early releases and decreased consequences. Riverside County's inmate population grew 22 percent more than had been projected in the first year under Realignment. Rising crime rates in the city over the last year are reversing a 10 year downward trend. Out of 921 parolees searched by police from January 2012 through February 2013, 207 were found violating parole. Of those, 48 were under community supervision. 402 arrests were made over the 14 month period, most of which were for suspicion of felonies. Continued from this News Scan.
 

CA Gov. Examining Realignment's Impact:  David Siders of the Sacramento Bee reports that Gov. Jerry Brown is looking into the impact of AB 109. The California governor admits the program has no clearly defined goals for its success. Republican lawmakers blame AB 109 for increasing crime rates in CA since implementation. Multiple bills are in the works by primarily Republicans, and some Democrats, aimed at curbing these effects. Bills discussed here by Bill Otis. The first of these bills, AB 2, was voted down along party lines last week. Continued in this News Scan.

Chicago Cop Who Committed Suicide Suffered from PTSD:  CBS reports that Ryan Healy, a Chicago police officer who took his own life, suffered from PTSD. Telling his family he was overwhelmed by the violence, death, and negative impact on children he saw on the job, he reported feeling increasingly hopeless before shooting himself. The Chicago Police Department is one of many that have recognized the problem of PTSD among officers. Although systems are in place to help those who ask for it, those in the law enforcement subculture often find it hard to admit needing help. More on Chicago's rising crime problem in this News Scan.

TX Police Chief Has New Strategy to Fight Crime:  Susan Schrock of the Star-Telegram reports that new Arlington Police Chief Will Johnston laid out a crime reduction strategy on Tuesday. The plan which Johnston calls "Focus on Five" will refocus geographic policing areas, utilize a multi-year approach on some crime issues, and involve the community both in person and on the Internet. The strategy comes following an overall drop in the city's crime rate coupled with a slight rise in violent crimes.

PA House Passes Victim Advocacy Parole Legislation:  Tony Romeo of CBS reports that Pennsylvania's House has passed House Bill 492, granting victims of crimes, or their representatives, the right to testify before the state Board of Probation and Parole. Mike Vereb (R-Montgomery County) is sponsoring the bill. The legislation came in response to the parole of Rafael Robb, a professor convicted of manslaughter in his wife's death. The subsequent outcry caused his parole to be revoked. The bill is expected to pass the Senate, and reach the governor this spring.

Seems like yesterday I was posting that the US Supreme Court had decided two civil cases and was hearing argument in two others, with no criminal law action.  Actually, it was yesterday.  Today is not Groundhog Day, though; it's the vernal equinox.

Over at SCOTUSblog, John Elwood has his relist watch post on Monday's orders list, which does include some criminal law action.  He notes, "the Court denied cert. without comment in Wolfenbarger v. Foster, 12-420, passing up Michigan's invitation to revisit Wiggins v. Smith in light of Harrington v. Richter.  The Court did, however, GVR in Ryan v. James, 12-11, in light of Johnson v. Williams, after taking a couple of weeks to mull it over."

In addition to the cases John notes, the Court has relisted for March 29 the cross petitions in the California capital case of Richard Louis Arnold Phillips, Nos. 12-544 and 12-5890.  The Question Presented in the state's petition (by our friend Eric Christoffersen) is, "Whether the Ninth Circuit conflicted with the 'reasonable likelihood' materiality standards of Napue v. Illinois and Brady v. Maryland by substituting a standard based on 'any conceivable, speculative possibility' of a different result."  This is the second relist.  Is a summary reversal being drafted?  The author of the Ninth Circuit opinion is identified by name in the petition.  Take a wild guess.

If Lindsay Lohan didn't exist as an emblem of the unseriousness of criminal law in California, I'd have to invent her.  I mean, willy-nilly releasing criminals under what is, with intentional obscurity, called "realignment," is one thing, but Ms. Rehab is something else.

Lindsay Lohan agreed to spend 90 days in a "locked in" drug rehab facility as part of a plea deal to settle criminal charges against her Monday.

The actress entered pleas of no contest on two misdemeanor charges relating to a traffic accident last summer, and she did not challenge the finding that she violated her shoplifting probation with those convictions.

She's spent 250 days in five rehab facilities since January 2007, including one long court-ordered stint after a failed drug test.

The actress has appeared in court at least 20 times before four Los Angeles judges who have now found her in violation of probation six times and sentenced her to a total of nine months in jail.

Lohan has spent about two weeks behind bars in six trips to the Los Angeles County jail, served 35 days under house arrest and worked about 67 days of community service at the county morgue.

Probably the most frequently alleged misconduct on the part of prosecutors is withholding exculpatory evidence in violation of Brady.  This sort of stuff makes headlines for two reasons.  First, it's a rare but grievous violation of the prosecutor's ethical duty and public trust, and has the potential to bring about the conviction of the innocent  --  a gross injustice by any measure.  Second, it can help paint a seriously misleading, broad-brush picture of prosecutor-as-thug.  We all know there are people out there with this agenda.

Calling a defense lawyer's crime "truly unconscionable," a federal judge in Washington today sentenced a longtime Washington attorney to more than five years in prison for his role in a scheme to manufacture evidence to dupe jurors in a drug trial.

The defense lawyer, Charles Daum, who had practiced law in the District of Columbia for three decades, will serve 63 months behind bars for a plot that included staged photographs and perjured testimony.

Schertler presented Daum as an honest man, a good person, who made a mistake. Schertler dedicated part of his time in court today assessing unethical police officers and prosecutors and the public perception that neither is regularly held accountable for lapses in judgment. "When was the last time you saw a prosecutor prosecuted?" Schertler asked at one point. "It doesn't happen."

Hat tip to Doug Berman at Sentencing Law & Policy for pulling the curtain back on the actual agenda of the "incarceration nation" crowd.  This is the group, generally flourishing in academia, the media and (of course) the defense bar, that has been telling us for years that prison is vastly overused in this country, and that we would be just as safe, not to mention more frugal and more humane, to use community supervision instead.  In order to sell this idea, these folks have assured us that community supervision would consist of stringent and carefully monitored oversight of offenders.

To decrease the overuse of imprisonment, sentencing and correctional practices should therefore limit, rather than expand, the use of community supervision in three important ways.

First, terms of community supervision should be imposed in fewer cases, with alternatives ranging from fines to unconditional discharge to short jail terms imposed instead. Second, conditions of probation and post-release supervision should be imposed sparingly, and only when they directly correspond to a risk of re-offense. Finally, terms of community supervision should be limited in duration, extending only long enough to facilitate a period of structured re-integration after sentencing or following a term of incarceration.

Todd Ruger has this article in the NLJ (registration required) on sequestration cuts to the judicial branch, including federal defenders.

Money for federal defender organizations would be reduced by $53 million, which "could compromise the integrity of the defender function," [AOUSC Director Thomas] Hogan wrote. Allocations for defender salaries would be reduced by 4 percent, non-salary funds by 25 percent and training funds by 50 percent. Payment of Criminal Justice Act panel attorney vouchers could be deferred for almost three weeks at the end of the fiscal year.

Well, the first thing to cut is representation not authorized by law at all.  The second thing to cut is representation authorized only by Joe Biden's drafting error.

In Cook v. FDA, presently pending in the D.C. Circuit, the Federal Public Defender for Arizona is representing murderers from several states in a suit against the Food and Drug Administration for allowing importation of thiopental.  The cases federal defenders are authorized to take on at public expense are listed in 18 U.S.C. §3006A(a)(1)&(2), and civil suits against the FDA do not come remotely within any of the categories.  It's hard to have much sympathy with an office complaining of budget cuts when that office has been making patently illegal expenditures from its existing budget.

Many years ago, then-Sen. Biden snuck a provision into a drug bill, 21 U.S.C. §848(q)(4), to provide representation in capital cases for both federal defendants and state prisoners on habeas corpus.  A provision for continued representation in such things as successive petitions and executive clemency, which only makes sense for federal defendants, was misdrafted so that it applies to state prisoners as well.  (As a matter of code maintenance, the language was later moved without substantial change to title 18, where it belongs, as 18 U.S.C. §3599.)  Now we have federal taxpayer dollars paying for representation in purely state proceedings that follow the appointment in federal habeas, including representation in state collateral reviews and clemency petitions.  Congress needs to fix this so that the continuing representation provision only applies to federal defendants.

Under the felony-murder rule, a killing occurring during the commission of specified felonies is murder without the need to show intent to kill.  For the most part, this rule just relieves the prosecution of proving intent in cases where the circumstances indicate an intentional killing, but the only witness other than perpetrator(s) is dead, and eliminating him as a witness is often the motive for the killing.  The rule is especially important in multiple perpetrator cases where each says the other did it.

Genuinely accidental killings in the perpetration of a felony are things you see more often on law school exams than in real life.  Yet we do have such a case today from the California Supreme Court, People v. Wilkins, S190713.