DNA Evidence and Fewer Death Sentences: At Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman posted an article in Friday's Christian Science Monitor hypothesizing that DNA evidence might be the reason fewer prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. The article, by Mark Guarino, comments that prosecutor use of the death penalty might be declining because prosecutors are hesitant to seek a death sentence in cases that might later be upended by DNA evidence. According to Guarino and the Innocence Project of Florida, 17 death penalty convictions have been overturned since 1989. This could be one reason for the decline, or there could be, as Berman suggests, more to the "dynamic story" of declining use. There certainly is. While DNA evidence might be reason to dismiss old convictions, it does not stop prosecutors from testing and using DNA evidence for death eligible crimes committed today. For example, last week two separate juries found two men guilty of murdering an 18-year-old girl near Lake Elsinore, CA. The Riverside District Attorney is seeking the death penalty, and DNA evidence played a part in the case against Jeffree Jay Buettner. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department Cold Case Unit is also using DNA to solve cold cases.
Will the Supreme Court Overrule Heller? That's what David Kopel appeared to wonder on Volokh Conspiracy yesterday. Kopel's quick post reports that last Thursday, December 17, Justice Ginsburg spoke on the value of dissenting opinions at a luncheon of the Harvard Club of Washington, D.C. According to Kopel's source, Justice Ginsburg said that sometimes a dissent can become the majority of a "future, wiser court," and mentioned the in District of Columbia v. Heller as an example.
Accepting a Plea Agreement: On Wall Street Journal's Law Blog, Ashby Jones writes that Wall Street Journal reporters John Emshwiller and Nathan Koppel have been exploring whether too many defendants are being pressured to accept plea deals. The investigation follows a judge's decision to void a guilty plea in the Broadcom backdating criminal trial. Jones reports that Judge Carney dismissed the criminal complaint charging former Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli with lying to the SEC "even though Samueli had stood before him in 2008 and pleaded guilty to that very crime." The Law Blog post speculates Samueli probably pleaded guilty because he was afraid he'd get stuck with a long prison sentence if he went to trial and lost. While many fear this outcome, pleas like Samueli's are rare. As Jones notes, "it is widely agreed that the vast majority of those who pleaded are in fact guilty[,]" and often it is defense lawyers, rather than prosecutors, who exert pressure to sign guilty pleas.
The Murder Business: How the Media Turns Crime Into Entertainment and Subverts Justice: On Women in Crime Ink, Laura James reviews Mark Fuhrman's new book and surprisingly finds herself "agreeing with many of his points."
Will the Supreme Court Overrule Heller? That's what David Kopel appeared to wonder on Volokh Conspiracy yesterday. Kopel's quick post reports that last Thursday, December 17, Justice Ginsburg spoke on the value of dissenting opinions at a luncheon of the Harvard Club of Washington, D.C. According to Kopel's source, Justice Ginsburg said that sometimes a dissent can become the majority of a "future, wiser court," and mentioned the in District of Columbia v. Heller as an example.
Accepting a Plea Agreement: On Wall Street Journal's Law Blog, Ashby Jones writes that Wall Street Journal reporters John Emshwiller and Nathan Koppel have been exploring whether too many defendants are being pressured to accept plea deals. The investigation follows a judge's decision to void a guilty plea in the Broadcom backdating criminal trial. Jones reports that Judge Carney dismissed the criminal complaint charging former Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli with lying to the SEC "even though Samueli had stood before him in 2008 and pleaded guilty to that very crime." The Law Blog post speculates Samueli probably pleaded guilty because he was afraid he'd get stuck with a long prison sentence if he went to trial and lost. While many fear this outcome, pleas like Samueli's are rare. As Jones notes, "it is widely agreed that the vast majority of those who pleaded are in fact guilty[,]" and often it is defense lawyers, rather than prosecutors, who exert pressure to sign guilty pleas.
The Murder Business: How the Media Turns Crime Into Entertainment and Subverts Justice: On Women in Crime Ink, Laura James reviews Mark Fuhrman's new book and surprisingly finds herself "agreeing with many of his points."
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