News that the Supreme Court reversed the conviction of a former client of mine was a delightful surprise. He was convicted of sexually abusing a young child. At trial, we won acquittals of the most serious charges, but the jury convicted on two counts, enough to yield a six-year sentence on judgment day.
At trial, I objected to everything save the sight of my own shadow. My adversary, Danbury’s sharmese Hodge, and I went toe-to-toe on the tender years exception to the hearsay rule, the scope of the constancy of accusation doctrine, the extent to which there is...
November 18, 2013
"The lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."
Oh, that it were true, that there were a shepherd to stand beside me in the well of this court, when I want so much, so often, and with such desperation. I have become the good shepherd to the man beside me. He has placed his entire trust in me, and I, I am left alone with nothing but my wits as the maelstrom descends.
"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters."
What green pasture? What still water? This courtroom is as still as death, and when it is not still, the waters roil, yielding...
November 17, 2013
How many innocent men and women are sitting in prison? No one knows, exactly, and few care. A person who’s been found guilty by a jury had their trial, right? And if they’ve lost their appeal, well, doesn’t that settle it once and for all?
We know better, of course. The Innocence Project has helped to prove that. Scores of men have been released from prison after DNA evidence conclusively proved their innocence. Many of these men were convicted on the basis of eyewitness testimony.
But what about those who pleaded guilty in open court? Don’t they deserve...
November 14, 2013
It’s been awhile since I’ve written about my dogs, Odysseus and Penelope, but I swear they have been giving me tutorials in the law, teaching me about loyalty and zealous advocacy, the two most important qualities any criminal defense lawyer must have. I’ve learned more about lawyering from my dogs than I have from any book.
They are wonderful companions, and true friends. They turn nine this month. They are both part of the same litter, a frolicking and rambunctious pac of six border collies born on or about one Thanksgiving Day in Pennsylvania.
We settled on...
November 7, 2013
November 6, 2013
St. Augustine reports the following conversation between Alexander the Great, who struggled to drive pirates from the Mediterranean Sea, and a...
November 1, 2013
Expert testimony, we are taught, is intended to assist juries in deciding difficult factual issues. We permit the opinion testimony of folks who...
November 1, 2013
Word of a new trial for Michael Skakel, a distant member of the Kennedy clan, spread quickly through the Connecticut bar. Some folks gloated over the...
October 24, 2013
Those skeptical about the efficacy of habeas corpus petitions in the State of Connecticut will be watching the Michael Skakel case carefully. Judge...
October 24, 2013
Keep an eye on the case of State v. Lishan Wang, soon to be argued in the Connecticut Supreme Court. It has the potential to force significant and...
October 17, 2013
It’s hard to understand why some folks are outraged by the decision of the Connecticut Board of Pardon and Parole to grant clemency to Bonnie...