The U.S. Supreme Court, in Fernandez v. California, has upheld the warrantless search of an apartment when the suspect objected, but his girlfriend (and co-occupant) consented to the search after the suspect was arrested. The court made an exception to its prior decision in Georgia v. Randolph, which held police cannot search a home when one person who lives there objects and the other consents. Factual Summary Police officers observed a suspect in a violent robbery run into an apartment
Real justice means everyone accused of a crime gets a fair process to defend against the accusations. In many cases due process happens. Our system of justice, however, requires that occurs in all cases. This isn’t exactly an onerous requirement. It starts with the truth. The truth means… …the whole truth, not a half-truth. A half-truth is a type of lie. A half-truth can make something that is merely a belief appear to be knowledge. A half-truth is a deceptive
By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Mary K. Reinhart The Republic | azcentral.com Days after a scathing report accused her of violating multiple state laws and rules, a divided Arizona Medical Board on Saturday fired longtime Executive Director Lisa Wynn during a hastily called special meeting. That meeting came after Wynn refused to step down. Board Chairman Gordi Khera called Wynn on Friday and asked for her resignation at about the same time board staff posted the unusual Saturday meeting to
Six days before his trial, Defendant moved for a continuance in order to substitute new counsel. Defendant stated: He had concerns with “his current attorney’s defense strategies and trial presentation;” He also explained to the trial court he was uncomfortable with the firm he originally had hired after being transferred between attorneys several times; He did not have the funds to retain new counsel until recently, and he had already paid a substantial consulting fee to the new attorney. The
Here are the latest posts from my DUI Blog: A Reported Result vs. A Complete Result In DUI cases, a machine called a gas chromatograph is often used to measure an alcohol concentration in a blood sample. The measurement, which the machine prints at the end of the process, is called a reported result. We are finally at the point in Arizona, where courts are starting to recognize that merely providing a reported result is not sufficient evidence. The
Stephen Lemons | New Times As Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery fights to keep Debra Milke behind bars pending a retrial on her overturned murder conviction, he also is fighting a proposed rule to the State Bar of Arizona that would require prosecutors to act on new evidence of a wrongful conviction. For the past two years, the Arizona Justice Project has petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court to change the State Bar of Arizona’s ethics rules, adding a provision based
Here is latest news article on the Milke case. It discusses the potential conflict of interest issues with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) prosecuting her case after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed her conviction. The court’s ruling was based upon MCAO’s prior violation of their duty to disclose exculpatory evidence pursuant to Brady v. Maryland. Anna Edney | Bloomberg News as reported in the Arizona Republic An Arizona woman awaiting retrial on charges she had a part
Yesterday I included the Milke case as one of my favorite Brady decisions. For the non-lawyers, Brady refers to the U.S. Supreme Court case of Brady v. Maryland which held that when the government withholds exculpatory evidence it is a violation of due process “where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment.” Think of it this way, you are charged with a crime and there is evidence that you may actually be innocent. The police, or the
Here are my seven favorite Brady decisions: 1. BRADY V. MARYLAND, 373 U.S.83 (1963) Both Brady and his co-defendant were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. After trial, the prosecutor disclosed to Brady that the co-defendant admitted to the homicide. The court held that the prosecutor’s suppression of the confession violated the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. Accordingly, the prosecutor must disclose to the defendant all material evidence that is exculpatory. What is material? Anything
This month the Arizona Court of Appeals rejected the argument that a judge does not have the discretion to hold a pretrial hearing on the reliability of scientific evidence. Since January 1, 2012 when Arizona adopted the Federal Daubert standard for safeguarding against junk science, several prosecutorial agencies have tried to persuade trial courts that things were “business as usual” despite the new rules of evidence. However, the February 5, 2013 ruling from Division One of the Arizona Court of
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