Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Miranda Case

Last Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a case that could affect the application of Miranda warnings.  The case is out of Florida and involves the case of Kevin Dwayne Powell. Powell was convicted of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.  After he was arrested, Powell told the police he had purchased the gun for $150 "off the street" for protection.  Before he made the confession Powell signed a Miranda waiver which did not state that he had a right to have a lawyer present with him during questioning.  The Miranda waiver only stated that he had a right to a lawyer before answering any questions.  The Florida Supreme Court overturned the conviction on the basis that the police did not adequately warn Powell that he had a right to a lawyer during questioning.  The Florida Attorney General's Office argued that the warnings given to Powell "expresses all the rights required under Miranda." Powell's lawyer argued that the warnings given to Powell gave him the impression that once the questioning started he no longer had a right to consult with an attorney.

This is the third Miranda case case argued before the Supreme Court this year.  With these cases, the Supreme Court has a chance to make significant changes to our understanding of the Miranda warnings.  All three decisions are expected to be released next year.

The case is Florida v. Powell, 08-1175.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Supreme Court Upholds Emergency Aid Exception To 4th Amendment

The Supreme Court upheld the warrantless search of a residence based on the emergency exception to the Fourth Amendment.  Brownston Michigan police were called to a residence to investigate a man acting out.  When the officer arrived he found a truck parked with it's fender damaged and a man inside the residence screaming loudly.  The man inside the house refused to allow the police into the residence without a search warrant.  The officer observed drops of blood on the hood of the truck and some clothes inside the truck.  The officer once again asked to be let into the residence and when the man inside the home did not let him in, the officer broke through the door and entered the residence.  When the officer entered, the man inside the house pointed a gun at the officer.  He was charged with assault and UUW.  The man inside the house won the case on a motion to suppress and the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the granting of the motion.  The Michigan Supreme Court heard oral arguments but never issued a decision.

This week, the United States Supreme Court overturned the Michigan courts and concluded that the officers correctly applied the emergency exception to the Fourth Amendment.  In it's decision, the United States Supreme Court defined the emergency exception as allowing "law enforcement officers to enter a home without a warrant to render emergency assistance to an injured occupant or to protect an occupant from imminent injury."  While the man inside the house was not injured, someone else may have been.  Therefore the police acted reasonably.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Federal Sentencing Case

Last Monday, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving the application of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.  The case involves an inmate out of Pennsylvania, Percy Dillon.  He was originally sentenced to 322 months in prison on crack drug charges and firearm charges.  After the Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that the Federal Sentencing Guidelines should be advisory rather than mandatory, he was re sentenced to 270 months in prison.  However, reviewing courts did not use the Federal Sentencing Guidelines as advisory, which would have lowered Dillon's sentence even more.  The central question in this case will be whether judges have to follow strict sentencing guidelines at sentence modification hearings.  Arguments will be heard next year.

The case is Dillon v. United States, 09-6338.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Florida Ethics Panel Says Lawyers And Judges Can't Be "Friends"

I ran across an interesting bit of news that I want to share with our readers.  The Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee has ruled that judges and lawyers should not be "friends" on Facebook.  This panel issued it's ruling on November 17 and warned that online "friendships" could create the impression that a lawyers "friendship" with a judge could create the impression that the lawyer may be able to influence the judges decision in a case.  However, the panel did go on to state that a judge can post comments on another judges site and that during an election, a judges website can have "fans" that includes lawyers.  It should be noted that the decision did not single out Facebook, so it would apply to other social networking sites as well.  Even though this is just a recommendation and the final decision will be made by the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida Supreme Court has usually followed the recommendations of the Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee.

It will be interesting to see if this has any national implications.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Sheriff Wants Cuts At 4 Courthouses

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has requested cuts to courtoom deputies that mean that weekend bond hearings would only be held in the Markham Courthouse and at 26th and California.  Normally, bond hearings are held every day at each of the suburban courthouses for those charged with felonies.  Dart believes that so few weekend bond hearings are held in all of the suburban courthouses, with the exception of Markham, that he wants to shut down the remaining courthouses on the weekends and only have weekend bond hearings at 26th and California and Markham.  Dart says that as few as seven or eight defendants may appear in Skokie or Rolling Meadows on a given weekend.  In the meantime, there are entire floors at the Daley Center that only have on courtroom deputy assigned.  In addition, budget constraints make it impossible for Dart to hire more employees.  If Dart's plan is adopted, then local police agencies will be forced to absorb the addtional cost of transporting prisoners to Markham or 26th Street, or holding them in their local jails until Monday mornining.  The second part of Dart's proposal would close all the courthouses by 6 p.m. during the weekday.

The final decision will be made by Chief Judge Timothy Evans.  Dart has more than 1,100 courtroom deputies to cover 357 courtrooms throughout the county.  Evans said that he will consider Dart's proposal once Dart is able to show why his current staff is unable to cover all of the courthouses.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at http://www.thelegaldefenders.com/ or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Texas Executes Mentally Impaired Man

This evening, Texas carried out it's 24th execution of the year by putting to death a man that was mentally impaired.  Bobby Wayne Woods, 44, had been convicted of murdering an 11 year old girl in 1997.  The facts of the case are pretty bad.  There was no doubt that Woods was guilty of the murder.  IQ tests administered on Woods showed that he had an IQ between the 60's and 80's.  70 is considered the threshold for mental impairment.  Woods was put to death a half an hour after the United States Supreme Court refused to halt his execution.  In addition to his mental impairment, Woods attorneys argued that he had ineffective assistance of counsel for the appeals process.  However, lawyers for the State of Texas argued that no constitutional right exists for effective assistance of counsel for appeals, thus there were no equal protection violations.

 

Tonight's execution is the last one scheduled for this year in Texas.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Feds Investigating Harvey Police Again

United States Department of Justice agents were at the Village of Harvey police station looking through documents and investigating police officers as part of an investigation into claims of excessive use of force by the Harvey police.  The Department of Justice did not give a lot of details about the investigation but the U.S. Attorney's Office is also involved in the investigation.  A spokesman for the Harvey Police claimed that the visit by the federal agents was part of "technical assistance" being given to the police but would not elaborate.

This is not the first time that federal agents have visited the Village of Harvey Police Department.  On December 9, 1998, we published a post about a search warrant that was executed by federal agents.

We will keep our readers informed of any developments.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.