Criminal Procedure

1959 ABA Journal Criminal Procedure articles.

Experts see these problems with felony-records case against Trump over hush-money payments

The prosecution of former President Donald Trump could pose even more problems than that of former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, a former Democratic presidential candidate. Experts saw these potential problems with the prosecution.

Mar 31, 2023 11:24 AM CDT

What will the grand jury indictment mean for Trump?

Former President Donald Trump’s reported indictment in the Stormy Daniels hush-money case raises questions about the impact on his new presidential campaign and the likelihood of a conviction.

Mar 30, 2023 5:23 PM CDT

Alex Murdaugh and whether to testify in your own defense

“At the end of the day, I do believe juries want to see someone get on the stand and say, ‘I didn’t do it.’ But at what cost?” writes ABA Journal columnist and Oklahoma lawyer Adam Banner.

Mar 23, 2023 9:30 AM CDT

Georgia lawyer who bragged of shutting down ‘stolen election shenanigans’ is found guilty in Jan. 6 case

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., found a Georgia criminal defense lawyer guilty of several charges Monday for entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and pounding on doors with other rioters before making it to outside the office of Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mar 21, 2023 9:21 AM CDT

Is this a court of record or ‘Nothing But Trouble’?

I’ve always been a fan of those movies that are so bad they’re good. They come in various forms. Sometimes it’s your standard low-budget “B-movie” that owes its appeal to the fact that, despite its low budget, a great deal of effort was put into the production only to yield a subpar result. The 2003 film The Room starring Tommy Wiseau and Juliette Danielle is a great example (and a must-watch for any fan of this genre).

Mar 15, 2023 2:09 PM CDT

Southern Poverty Law Center attorney charged with domestic terrorism was legal observer at demonstration

A lawyer with the Southern Poverty Law Center who was accused of being one of 23 “agitators” during an Atlanta demonstration was actually a legal observer, according to the group and his defense lawyer.

Mar 8, 2023 9:14 AM CST

ABA partners with law schools to advance new approaches to policing and public safety

Kendall Anderson, a 3L at the Syracuse University College of Law, is a fellow in the third class of the Legal Education Police Practices Consortium. He plans to study cases in which police stops end in physical altercations. “I’ll try to get insight from officers as to the training they do that is preparing and equipping them to be able to handle those situations better.”

Mar 7, 2023 11:43 AM CST

First lawyer who advised Jan. 6 witness Cassidy Hutchinson should face ethics probe, group tells regulators

A group called Lawyers Defending American Democracy is asking ethics officials to investigate the lawyer who originally represented Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide who testified before the Jan. 6, 2021, committee about events regarding the U.S. Capitol attack.

Mar 6, 2023 3:51 PM CST

Once-prominent lawyer Murdaugh gets life in prison for murders of wife and son

Disbarred lawyer Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison Friday, a day after jurors found him guilty of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son Paul at the family’s South Carolina hunting property in June 2021.

Mar 3, 2023 10:39 AM CST

Trump doesn’t have absolute immunity from civil suits stemming from Jan. 6 Capitol riot, DOJ says

Former President Donald Trump isn’t shielded from liability in civil lawsuits stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot if his speech before the event “encouraged imminent private violent action and was likely to produce such action,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a brief filed with a federal appeals court.

Mar 3, 2023 9:32 AM CST

Federal judge faces probe after he orders handcuffing of 13-year-old girl in gallery in ‘scared straight’ approach

A federal judge faces an ethics probe initiated by the judiciary after a transcript indicated that he ordered the handcuffing of a 13-year-old girl during a probation revocation hearing for her father. The allegations are against Judge Roger Benitez.

Mar 1, 2023 11:15 AM CST

‘Rust’ and a look at criminal liability on movie sets

No profession is free from potential tragedy. It can come in various shapes and sizes to some degree or another, but the notion of someone dying while on a typical job is far from the realm of expectations. While these tragedies are always, well, tragic, death seems to hit on a different level when it happens in what should be a somewhat controlled environment. In that circumstance, as opposed to repercussions stemming from recklessness or a total disregard for safety, it is even more devastating when the death happens in the public eye for all the world to analyze.

Feb 27, 2023 8:41 AM CST

Even Death Can Be Political: An interview with forensic pathologist Michael Baden

It was May 29, 2020. Michael Baden, like most Americans, was holed up at home. For days, he had seen images on television of a lifeless George Floyd, his neck pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.

Feb 23, 2023 12:05 PM CST

Florida man impersonates general counsel, law firm partner in fake Epstein probe

A Florida man posed as a general counsel and another senior-level executive at two financial firms in Manhattan, New York City, and directed personnel to pay for fake internal investigations that were supposed to determine whether there were ties between people in those firms and deceased multimillionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein, federal prosecutors have alleged in a criminal complaint that was unsealed last week.

Feb 23, 2023 9:37 AM CST

ABA task force issues 14 guiding principles to improve plea bargaining system

An ABA task force that spent three years examining problems in plea bargaining has released recommendations that judges, lawyers, lawmakers and other stakeholders can follow to create a fairer, more transparent process.

Feb 22, 2023 9:48 AM CST

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