- Here's a story out of Abilene about the local college president's daughter who married an inmate with whom she became a pen pal and the art career the couple has launched together upon his release. A little late - it would have made an excellent Valentines Day feature.
- At the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Bob Ray Sanders opines on prosecutorial misconduct, while the New York Times editorializes that "open file" polices should be mandatory for prosecutors.
- We've been discussing "courts of inquiry" on Grits related to innocence issues - most recently in the Michael Morton case - but here's a story about government officials using the same process to try to criminalize an accidental drowning that has already run its course through the civil process and was settled as a tort.
- In Montgomery County, four current and former police officers along with the Patton Village Mayor have been indicted in an alleged corruption scandal.
- In the wake of a recent Supreme Court decision,the FBI had to shut down more than 3,000 GPS trackers they'd placed on vehicles without a warrant. The decision may raise other issues: "For instance, he said, agency is now 'wrestling' with the legality of whether agents can lift up the lid of a trash can without committing trespass." (Grits votes "no.") Tom Goldstein opines on why Jones may be less of a pro-privacy decision than some thought, while Orin Kerr explains why the opinion(s) have been interpreted in so many different, often contradictory ways.
- Here's an odd little story titled "Hill country town fears police influence is out of control."
- There's an interesting New York Times article about prisons dealing with a growing number of elderly prisoners with dementia.
- One of my favorite thinkers on criminal-justice topics, Alexandra Natapoff, has an excellent new article on the mostly overlooked world of misdemeanor prosecutions.
- Teller, of Penn and Teller, reveals seven magician's principles on fooling the public (or often, convincing them to fool themselves), each of which upon reflection has parallels that explain errors that cause wrongful convictions.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Misdemeanors, the Fourth Amendment, courts of inquiry and true love
I've little extra time for much writing today but here are quite a few cool and interesting items Grits would opine about if there were more hours in the day, or fewer duties to occupy them:
Today I had conversations with both the Guadalupe County and Criminal District Attorneys offices about this court of inquiry, which may not be legal.
ReplyDeleteThe proper venue where the question of a death being accidental or criminal negligent homicide, rest with the Justice of the Peace. Only a JP can conduct an inquest, sign, or amend a death certificate.
If the senior visiting district judge, in his opinion finds the death a criminal negligent homicide, it will not affect the death certificate's accidental finding. So now, how does the DA prosecute the contradiction, determine who is the the expert that will testify at trial under the confrontation clause, or even hope to untangle this mess.
My advise to the county was, file a writ of mandamus to halt this court of inquiry until the case is submitted to Justice of the Peace for a ruling, as to whether there is enough evidence to reopen the inquest.
For this court of inquiry to be legal the judge must be looking at whether the Justice of the Peace failed his legal requirement to conduct an inquest, or allowed his office to be influenced by politics. If either is determined, then the senior visiting judge can order the JP to amend the death certificate to reflect the death as a criminal negligent homicide.
See 6-1-2009 AG Opinion GA-0718
Covington TX, Hill Country = creepy.
ReplyDeleteI bet Covington isn't all that special, however good on the folks for speaking out about it.
Banana Republic comes to mind. I think there is just as much corruption/official crime north of the Rio Grande, but gringos are not so obvious about it.
The government has become so powerful, they often now commit official crimes with impunity.
It is hard to build a house of cards when you get sloppy.