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
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
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
In my experience most prosecutors play by the rules. They know their ethical duties and abide by them. However, I, along with many of my colleagues, have observed a growing number of prosecutors that have no problem stepping over the ethics line. The issue seems more to do with ignorance than intent. For the most part, the public is unaware of this growing problem. It is only when the misconduct is so outrageous and the victim has the means to
On July 28, 2010 the federal district court issued an injunction to part of the highly publicized and talked about immigration bill in Arizona, known through-out the country as SB 1070. Practically speaking, this means that part of the bill is not enforceable until the appellate courts determine its constitutionality. Judge Susan Bolton had to read the bill piece by piece and line by line using the appropriate legal standards, statutes, and case law, to determine which provisions of the
Drug sniffing dogs – you see them at the airport, the bus station, and on television. They serve an important purpose for law enforcement and the public. That is, they smell drugs when humans cannot. Moreover, the dogs do it in a manner that is not invasive to the people being search. However, there are some rules, like the 4th Amendment to constitution, that restrict how these dogs can be used. For example, law enforcement can’t just bust down your
We should all be able to agree if you are charged with a crime, you should get a fair trial. An obvious prerequisite to a fair trial is that the jurors at least understand everything going on in the courtroom. That is, a juror should, at a minimum, be able to comprehend all evidence presented and understand the rules (i.e. the jury instructions) provided by the judge. What if a juror says to the judge, “I can’t read English” Upon
Asset forfeiture occurs when the government claims someone has profited from criminal activity. The government will then attempt to seize the proceeds of that criminal conduct. However, law enforcement often seizes money and property well beyond what the law allows. Common scenarios include a person who was not involved in a crime yet has their property taken; or when there has been a minor crime, but there is substantial overreaching by the government in what they take from the person.
There are many crimes in Arizona that result in a person serving a term of jail. A term of jail can devastate a person’s career. However, there are two programs that will allow a person to continue working while a person is serving a term of jail. Furthermore, these programs DO NOT extend the time a person spends in custody. Under both the Work Furlough and Work Release programs, a person may continue working and fulfill the requirements of their
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