The Second Circuit revisits the concept of curtilage for Fourth Amendment purposes
The recent Second Circuit decision in Harris v. O’Hare, 2014 WL 5471749 [2nd Cir. 2014], decided on October 30th, addresses and expands upon the concept of curtilage, a topic infrequently addressed in judicial opinions (common though it may be in dinner party and happy hour conversation). The Court’s examination of curtilage was important in Harris (and may be useful in other cases) because it delineates an area in which an individual enjoys an expectation...
read moreWhy Innocent People Plead Guilty
Roughly 10% of those defendants who were later exonerated by DNA evidence through the efforts of the Innocence Project pled guilty to a crime they did not commit. What would lead a person to do that? Hon. Jed S. Rakoff, United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York examines that question in the above-entitled thought-provoking article (found here) in the November 20, 2014 issue of the New York Review of...
read moreI 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...
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