Tag Archives | Court

Aurora Shooter Could Be Given ‘Truth Serum’ To Establish His Insanity

By on March 15, 2013 in News 29

Instances of the age-old sodium pentothal technique in the criminal justice system is exceedingly rare. Could its possible use to get inside the mind of this high-profile mass killer kick off a trend? Via the New York Times:

The defendant in the Aurora theater shooting can be given “truth serum” if he pleads not guilty by reason of insanity, the judge in the case said Monday. James E. Holmes also could be given a polygraph examination as part of an evaluation to determine if he was legally insane at the time of the July 20 shootings.

Judge William Sylvester approved the use of a “narcoanalytic interview,” a decades-old process in which patients are given drugs to reduce their inhibitions. The prospect of such an interview alarmed defense lawyers, who filed documents opposing the technique. Mr. Holmes, 25, is charged with killing 12 people and wounding 70 at a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.”

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Audio Recording Of Bradley Manning Speaking At Military Tribunal Leaked

By on March 14, 2013 in News 18

Despite a strict ban on recordings and transcripts at the secretive proceedings, the Freedom of Press Foundation has gotten a hold of a covertly-made tape of Manning’s full speech to the court explaining his motivation for leaking classified government materials. He remarks:

“I am the type of person who likes to know how things work. And, as an analyst, this means I always want to figure out the truth. Unlike other analysts within the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, I was not satisfied with just scratching the surface and producing canned or cookie cutter assessments. I wanted to know why something was the way it was, and what we could to correct or mitigate a situation.”

“I began to become depressed with the situation that we [the U.S. military] found ourselves increasingly mired in year after year…we became obsessed with capturing and killing human targets on lists…[I wanted] society to reevaluate the need or even the desire to even to engage in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations that ignore the complex dynamics of the people living in the effected environment everyday.”

“I knew that if I continued to assist the Baghdad Federal Police in identifying the political opponents of Prime Minister al-Maliki, those people would be arrested and in the custody of the Special Unit of the Baghdad Federal Police and very likely tortured and not seen again for a very long time – if ever.”

“I read more of the diplomatic cables published on the Department of State Net Centric Diplomacy.

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Why Police Officers Lie Under Oath

By on February 7, 2013 in News 12

Police lie in court with impunity, yet juries almost always take their word over defendants’.  The New York Times writes:

In this era of mass incarceration, the police shouldn’t be trusted any more than any other witness, perhaps less so.

That may sound harsh, but numerous law enforcement officials have put the matter more bluntly. Peter Keane, a former San Francisco Police commissioner, wrote an article in The San Francisco Chronicle decrying a police culture that treats lying as the norm:

“Police officer perjury in court to justify illegal dope searches is commonplace. One of the dirty little not-so-secret secrets of the criminal justice system is undercover narcotics officers intentionally lying under oath…it is the routine way of doing business in courtrooms everywhere in America.”

The New York City Police Department is not exempt from this critique. In 2011, hundreds of drug cases were dismissed after several police officers were accused of mishandling evidence.

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Putting Animals On Trial For Their Crimes

By on September 16, 2012 in News 16

May we hold animals accountable for their actions in a court of law? Via Maisonneuve, Drew Nelles on the surprisingly widespread historical practice, including the lynching of an elephant, the excommunication of a swarm of locusts, and much more:

“If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten,” reads Exodus 21:28. Note that the ox is executed by stoning, much like an adulterer or Sabbath-breaker would have been.

Exodus 21:28 is a biblical law like any other, and as with similar Old Testament passages about slavery and sodomy, these few short words inspired hundreds of years of human behaviour that now appear horrifying. In Medieval Europe, they gave rise to the animal trial: the practice of dragging a creature accused of committing a crime—like killing a child or destroying a crop—before an actual court of law, and subsequently executing, exiling or absolving it.

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Dog Helps Teenage Rape Victim Testify Sparking Debate Over Use Of Canines In Courtrooms

By on August 9, 2011 in News 3

776px-FEMA_-_20641_-_Photograph_by_Robert_Kaufmann_taken_on_12-20-2005_in_LouisianaShould dogs be allowed in courtrooms to comfort the victims? The New York Times reports:

Rosie, the first judicially approved courtroom dog in New York, was in the witness box here nuzzling a 15-year-old girl who was testifying that her father had raped and impregnated her. Rosie sat by the teenager’s feet. At particularly bad moments, she leaned in.

When the trial ended in June with the father’s conviction, the teenager “was most grateful to Rosie above all,” said David A. Crenshaw, a psychologist who works with the teenager.

“She just kept hugging Rosie,” he continued.

Now an appeal planned by the defense lawyers is placing Rosie at the heart of a legal debate that will test whether there will be more Rosies in courtrooms in New York and, possibly, other states.

Rosie is a golden retriever therapy dog who specializes in comforting people when they are under stress. Both prosecutors and defense lawyers have described her as adorable, though she has been known to slobber.

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Professor Faces Trial For Distributing Jury Nullification Pamphlets

By on March 11, 2011 in News 90

JURY1-popupNew York has arrested and brought charges against an eccentric retired chemistry professor who frequently stands outside of federal court and informs passersby about ‘jury nullification’, a controversial practice in which jurors disregard laws they disagree with. Is Julian P. Heicklen a hooligan or hero? Either way, he’s extremely cranky, the New York Times found:

Since 2009, Mr. Heicklen has stood there and at courthouse entrances elsewhere and handed out pamphlets encouraging jurors to ignore the law if they disagree with it, and to render verdicts based on conscience.

That concept, called jury nullification, is highly controversial, and courts are hostile to it. But federal prosecutors have now taken the unusual step of having Mr. Heicklen indicted on a charge that his distributing of such pamphlets at the courthouse entrance violates a law against jury tampering.

Mr. Heicklen was arraigned on Friday in a somewhat contentious hearing before Judge Kimba M.

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Montana Jurors Stage ‘Marijuana Mutiny’

By on January 4, 2011 in News 18

AFC_Missoula_Montana When draconian drug laws linger on the books, it may be up to juries to rebel by refusing to convict people of crimes such as marijuana possession — a Missoula, MT jury did just that. The New York Times reports:

Marijuana fans are calling it the Mutiny in Montana.

It all began last Thursday, when a group of prospective jurors in Missoula were seated for a two-day trial of a repeat offender by the name of Teuray Cornell, whom the local police had arrested and charged with sellingmarijuana, a felony, and possession of a small amount of the drug, a misdemeanor.

To seat a 12-person jury, Judge Robert L. Deschamps III of Missoula County District Court had called a passel of Montanans to serve, and 27 had arrived at court on Dec. 16. So far, so good.

But after the charges were read, one of the jurors raised a hand. “She said, ‘I’ve got a real problem with these marijuana cases,’ ” Judge Deschamps recalled on Wednesday.

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Agnostic Father Stripped Of Custody Of Kids

By on December 4, 2010 in News 59

The court system has spoken, and it says, if you’re not Christian, you’re not fit to be a parent. A divorced veteran in Indiana says he lost custody of his children, with a judge’s ruling explaining, “the father did not participate in the same religious training as the mother…father was agnostic.”

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Brain-Injured Woman Gains Right To Testify

By on October 1, 2010 in News 0

A woman obtained brain injuries when being hit with a puck at a hockey game. It’s been fourteen years, but finally she has been allowed to testify in court. Some thought that the injury may have skewed her memory. If she can still remember that she’s holding a grudge after fourteen years, I’m sure she remembers why. From The Chronicle Herald:

A Debert woman left severely disabled after a puck hit her in the head while she was watching a hockey game at the local arena 14 years ago will be allowed to testify when her negligence lawsuit goes to trial in November.

Justice Kevin Coady, in a ruling that Nova Scotia Supreme Court released Thursday, rejected a motion by the operator of the West Colchester Arena in Debert that would have kept Louitta Fisher from testifying.

Murray Ritch, lawyer for the West Colchester Recreation Association, argued at a Sept.

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