tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post4313914267131190977..comments2024-03-15T05:45:01.402-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: ME testimony false according to science but not Texas law, or, Elsa Alcala's first solo dance earns spotlightGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-90020555715046953472011-07-21T08:49:04.908-05:002011-07-21T08:49:04.908-05:00she delivered a favorable and fair opinion in one ...she delivered a favorable and fair opinion in one of my appellate cases while she was on the court in houston. the state was shocked beyond belief that she actually followed the law and was going to make the trial judge and pros follow the law too...the words "reverse and remand for a new trial" are heard so rarely for defendants even in cases where they are obviously deserved.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-71989981505271037522011-07-21T08:21:59.345-05:002011-07-21T08:21:59.345-05:00I just read about, and heard Geraldo on Fox this m...I just read about, and heard Geraldo on Fox this morning, talking about prosecutorial misconduct in the Anthony case. Geraldo was saying it would have been a slam dunk for overturning a conviction. I'm not so sure that's true in Florida, but it definitely wouldn't have been true in Texas. <br /><br />Lying cops, cheating prosecutors, bad forensics, unreliable ME testimony....yet, there are those who say our system is working great and there is no need for reform. If Rick Perry can't see such an obvious problem in his own state, that is the badly broken criminal justice system, why would anyone want him to be president?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-65262365464768701182011-07-20T12:14:21.596-05:002011-07-20T12:14:21.596-05:0011:25, I agree it was a gutsy opinion, but I'm...11:25, I agree it was a gutsy opinion, but I'm not completely surprised. Having <a href="http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2011/06/meet-elsa-alcala-newest-texas-court-of.html" rel="nofollow">recently read</a> dozens of her criminal opinions from the First Court of Appeals, my sense was that as an intermediate court judge she was almost hyper-conscious of the bounds of stare decisis in her opinions, following bad CCA rulings, e.g., to the letter.<br /><br />Notice her disagreement with Cochran hinged on the fact that she didn't think SCOTUS rulings let the CCA split hairs the way the court's conservative wing preferred to just to avoid the implications of the explicit misconduct findings by the trial court. The other eight members of the CCA were all perfectly willing to sweep that aspect of the case under the rug.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-6111066637269401472011-07-20T11:25:59.479-05:002011-07-20T11:25:59.479-05:00This is a gutsy opinion by Judge Alcala, and--havi...This is a gutsy opinion by Judge Alcala, and--having seen her on the bench many times--I'll be honest, I didn't think she had it in her. I'm glad to be wrong on this one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-77449754422011003172011-07-20T10:21:00.194-05:002011-07-20T10:21:00.194-05:00Herein lies, probably, the single biggest problem ...Herein lies, probably, the single biggest problem with the CCA. They are not effective arbitrators of fact because of their obvious bias. As I have suggested before, this conduct allows judges to rule with impunity because they have little or no fear of being overturned.<br /><br />This, in turn, allows for some incredibly shady practices in our courts and by law enforcement which in the end is part of the reason we have so many DNA and non-DNA exonerations.Hook Em Hornshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04660612847019528535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-13197025976325362452011-07-20T07:23:53.652-05:002011-07-20T07:23:53.652-05:00SW, beyond a reasonable doubt is the standard for ...SW, beyond a reasonable doubt is the standard for conviction. The standard for overturning it through habeas is that no reasonable juror could have convicted - a much higher threshold - though frankly in this case IMO that should have gotten them there, too.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-51163327014616724432011-07-20T00:30:35.032-05:002011-07-20T00:30:35.032-05:00I don't really understand. If the original pro...I don't really understand. If the original prosecution was found to have NOT proved guilt beyond reasonable doubt (which is what they have to do here), then surely the defendent was not proved guilty and should be released?<br /><br />Doesn't the court have to find guilt beyond reasonable doubt in Texas?sunray's wenchhttp://lookingforthecabinbythelake.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-72514754800673100752011-07-19T21:59:58.449-05:002011-07-19T21:59:58.449-05:00Dr.Moore left an impact in Harris county that dest...Dr.Moore left an impact in Harris county that destroyed an unimaginable amount of lives. Yet, when she left there she was hired next door in Montgomery county. <br /><br />There will always be a county willing to hire her, too. She's one who will come to the conclusions that she is told to by detectives working the case, then swear to her findings in court.<br /><br />Once again I must state that these abuses will never stop until these corrupt ME's are held accountable and sent to prison themselves. <br /><br />Anyone kept a running score on the number of cases where Moore was later proven wrong or to have committed perjury? I think I stopped at 8, but I'm sure I didn't see them all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-29728645282169120122011-07-19T21:14:46.030-05:002011-07-19T21:14:46.030-05:00I still don't understand what difference HB 22...I still don't understand what difference HB 220 would have made. If anything, this case shows that it is not necessary as the courts will consider at changes in science or research. In the case of a successor writ, has the Court ever rejected a claim of new scientific developments as a reason to file a successive writ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-16177407087680262352011-07-19T16:22:27.319-05:002011-07-19T16:22:27.319-05:00Excellent post, Grits. Hip! Hip! Hurrah! for Judg...Excellent post, Grits. Hip! Hip! Hurrah! for Judge Alcala.<br /><br />I wonder, as I do almost every time I read an opinion by the majority CCA, or read about the majority's most recent outrage, about what warped the personalities, intellectual honesty, and world view of those people. I agree completely with your characterization of the majority. Some of them would have been right at home in the upper reaches of the Soviet government.<br /><br />It is refreshing to read an opinion which must just piss-off the totalitarians on the CCA, and which does so not by resort to hyperbole, false reasoning, or political ideology, but by no-nonsense, straight-forward legal scholarship and faultless reasoning. Judge Alcala may turn out to be the most scholarly, erudite, and intellectually honest CCA judge since Sam Houston Clinton.Dorannoreply@blogger.com