Charging R/D/O: Alleging the Duty the Officer Was Discharging
I was teaching a class about charging documents recently when the conversation turned to the rule that a charge of resisting, delaying, or obstructing a public officer in violation of […]
May 4, 2017
Federal Judge Prohibits Money Bail for Indigent Defendants Charged Only with Misdemeanors
The decision, handed down April 28, 2017, comes out of Harris County, home to Houston, Texas. If you decide to read the opinion, ODonnell v. Harris County, be prepared to […]
May 1, 2017
Should Prosecutors Consider Collateral Consequences?
Prosecutors have wide discretion to decide how to charge defendants. In exercising that discretion, a prosecutor certainly may consider the sentence associated with each possible charge, and may choose to […]
April 21, 2017
New Deferral Program for Unauthorized Immigrants Charged with NOL
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a Stanford University study suggesting that granting driver’s licenses to unauthorized immigrants improves overall traffic safety. That approach is not an option in […]
April 18, 2017
Walker, Jacobs, and the Importance of Preserving the Record
Two weeks ago, the SOG hosted over 50 public defenders, contract attorneys, and private assigned counsel at its annual Felony Defender training. The training provides guidance to lawyers transitioning to […]
April 17, 2017
Insanity, Clinical Standards, and Expert Testimony
In Moore v. Texas, which I discussed here, the Supreme Court of the United States held that courts must rely on current clinical standards when determining whether a defendant is […]
April 4, 2017
How O.J. Got the Fuhrman Tapes (and You Can Get Out-of-State Materials)
Almost everyone knows about the trial of O.J. Simpson for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Many people also know about a key piece of evidence introduced […]
March 21, 2017
Mistrial Leads to Double Jeopardy Violation in State v. Schalow
In State v. Schalow (Dec. 20, 2016), the trial court’s error in declaring a mistrial led to a successful claim of double jeopardy by the defendant and allowed him to […]
March 15, 2017
Harmless Error and Jury Unanimity in DWI Cases
Shortly after I published last week’s post on State v. Babich, an astute reader asked about the court’s harmless error analysis. How, he inquired, could the improper admission of expert […]
March 13, 2017
Prying Open the Jury Room: Supreme Court Creates an Exception to the No-Impeachment Rule for Racial Bias
[Editor’s note: Today’s post was written by Alyson Grine and Emily Coward. Until last year, Alyson was the Defender Educator at the School of Government. She is now an Assistant Professor […]
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