The Sixth Amendment provides that “[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.” A defendant, however, can waive his right to a jury trial, pursuant to Rule 23(a) of the Fed.R.Crim.P., but the government must consent and the ...

One of the most significant debates generated by the Supreme Court’s ruling in U.S. v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005) is whether or not that decision mandates any changes in the Guidelines’ artificial rule that, when sentencing a defendant, the court must take into account not only the conduct for ...

In 2003, the ACLU filed this lawsuit on behalf of the Muslim Community Association of Ann Arbor and five other non-profit groups, charging that Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act (18 U.S.C. § 1861(c)(1)) (a) violates the Fourth Amendment by authorizing the FBI to execute searches without criminal or ...

Here the Court reversed a drug conviction and remanded for a Franks hearing after concluding that the district court had erred when it allowed the Government to bolster the magistrate's probable cause determination through post-hoc filings.

This decision is noted for it helpful guidance to the rules governing how courts ...

Here a divided panel from the Sixth Circuit held that a three year old boy’s claims of sexual abuse, as reported by his mother, were not sufficient to establish probable cause to arrest the suspected molester; and it therefore vacated his conviction.

In this case, the Sixth Circuit addressed the ...

In this case, the Court was asked to decide whether there exists an "innocent possession" defense that would excuse a defendant for being a felon in possession of a firearm if he had obtained it innocently and his possession was transitory. To date, such a defense has been recognized only ...