QUOTE OF THE WEEK - How "ritualistic verbal spankings" of prosecutors become "purely ceremonial."

"This court has several times used vigorous language in denouncing government counsel for such conduct as that of the [prosecutor] here. But, each time, it has said that, nevertheless, it would not reverse. Such an attitude ...

Here the Fourth Circuit affirmed a conviction despite the fact that the trial judge (Judge Simons) told the jury that he did not believe the defendant's testimony and he believed the defendant had acted illegally as a drug dealer.

During the trial of the defendant in this case on drug ...

The criminal justice system has long struggled with the concept of sanctions, or penalties imposed for some type of disobedience; and, more and more, it seems as if the imposition of sanctions depends on the target of those sanctions. Thus, for example, sanctions imposed on criminal defendants, prisoners, ex-cons and ...

By holding that there is no bright line rule that establishes ineffective assistance of counsel due to the failure of counsel to file a notice of appeal, the Sixth Circuit joined a Circuit split on that issue. By holding that there is no per se ineffective assistance of counsel due ...

Here Judge Baer refused to dismiss an action for damages under § 1983 because the New York Police Department had failed to comply with the required, but long-ignored, procedures established to give proper notice of how to retrieve property.

This decision deals with the growing and disturbing pattern of conduct ...

This case is noted as a precursor to the coming wave of computer searches that is apparently already underway. The message is clear: Beware of ever giving anyone access to your computer! The defendant, a certified public accountant, faced a common problem. His computer was running slower than usual and ...

This case brings us another example of a topic that is beginning to appear on the front pages of most American newspapers - prison brutality and bestiality. It also brings us this year's first nominee for our annual MFOBOA (Most Far-Out-But-Original Argument) Award. The defendant in this case was a ...

Like politics, the law sometimes makes strange bedfellows. In this case the Second Circuit joined the distinct minority of the First, Ninth and Tenth Circuits in holding that the Guidelines' concept of "aberrant conduct" should be determined on the basis of the "totality of circumstances" - rather than on the ...

In this case the defendant burglarized a pawn shop during which he seized some firearms. There was no allegation that he possessed any firearms when he entered the pawnshop; but his theft of the firearms was included as relevant conduct to his crime of burglary, and he received a two-level ...