I Do Declare: Submission of Defendant’s Affidavits/Declarations in Support of Suppression Motions
by Bill Easton A defendant who files a suppression motion often faces a common dilemma in both state and federal court. Judges commonly insist on the submission of a defendant’s affidavit or declaration before granting an evidentiary hearing in many instances, especially in the context of claims rooted in the Fourth Amendment. In many of these cases, the judge is wrong, and defense counsel should litigate the necessity and content of the affidavit before...
read moreMotion to dismiss the indictment based on denial of the defendant’s right to testify before the grand jury; revisited
The October 17th News Picks email update to New York State Defender Association members (a great organization and valuable source for criminal law developments, $75/year for attorneys, $15/year for students, a bargain at twice the price) included a summary of People v Chappelle, 2014 WL 5285479 [3rd Dept 10/16/14], an important case from the Third Department. Mr. Chappelle was arraigned without counsel. The next day, the prosecution’s notice of the right to testify before...
read moreIs sum and substance good enough for Grand Jury testimony?
The prosecution’s new penchant for videotaping confessions/interrogations raises the following issue. The facts are generally straight forward. The defendant is arrested, detained and interrogated by police investigators. The entire interrogation is video and audio recorded. He starts off denying everything then gradually lets some information slip out, then before you know it he cracks like an egg and admits everything. The tapes vary in length, but generally are 6 – 10 hours long. Lots...
read moreOvercriminalized: America’s use of incarceration as a response to mental illness, substance abuse, and homelessness
This series of short YouTube videos by Brave New Films examines the overuse of incarceration and, in the case of the mentally ill, force – too often deadly physical force – as a means to control those who are unable to toe the imaginary line of the social compact, thereby frightening the rule-bound and risk-averse. The first video, for example, examines the social and economic benefits to utilizing officers and agencies trained in crisis...
read moreFamily Court: An under utilized resource for the criminal defense attorney
Family court proceedings can be the ultimate source of discovery for the criminal defense attorney. Where a child neglect/abuse petition is filed in family court against a parent of a child or a “person legally responsible” for a child, there is often a companion criminal case. The allegations in both venues are often identical. Despite this, criminal defense attorneys (in my experience) seldom contact a client’s family court attorney or observe the family court...
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