Mark Bennett | February 26, 2013
Grits for Breakfast asked, in a comment, “Do you find reciprocal discovery a hindrance in your federal cases? If not, what’s the difference?” Before I answer that, let me say that the federal criminal justice system should in no wise be considered a model for other jurisdictions. Federal court is a plea machine, in which […]
Mark Bennett | February 24, 2013
Texas Senate Bill 91 would provide for formal discovery in criminal cases, both from the State to the defense and from the defense to the State. Texas Defender Service, which litigates capital cases, has come out in favor of this excrescence. Their reasoning is that, since there are District Attorneys who require waivers of Brady and other rights before they show […]
Mark Bennett | February 24, 2013
According to Law Enforcement Targets’ flacks, I found while speaking with officers and trainers in the law enforcement community that there is a hesitation on the part of cops when deadly force is required on subjects with atypical age, frailty or condition (one officer explaining that he enlarged photos of his own kids to use […]
Mark Bennett | February 12, 2013
Scott Greenfield writes: [Y]ou have no idea how often someone threatens a lawsuit. As a lawyer, I’m in a better situation both to assess the merit of a claim, and if needed, to deal with it, than many other bloggers. Others are not so fortunate, leading to the misguided sense that it’s the fault of […]
Mark Bennett | February 11, 2013
Andrew Sanchez III, 60, is set to be booked in Bexar County Jail on one count of improper photography. A judge set bail at $7,500. Police said the officer assigned to the American Cheer Power Southern National Championship at the Alamodome saw Sanchez videotaping the performers around 11:30 a.m. Sunday. The officer questioned Sanchez and […]
Mark Bennett | February 10, 2013
It is almost unfathomable to me that a lawyer would give up confidential client information without a fight. Yet Sam Glover at The Lawyerist suggests that this might be an option: “If you are the sort of person who would fight such a subpoena, this would give you the option to do so.” The context: Glover is […]
Mark Bennett | February 10, 2013
Business Insider found some folks who see revenge porn not as a free-speech issue but as “a kind of high tech rape”: When we teach women not to walk alone in public after dark, not to wear particular kinds of clothing, not to engage in consensual acts like taking nude photos or making sex tapes, we’re […]
Mark Bennett | February 9, 2013
Dylan Love at Business Insider (the article contains lots of bad legal advice) writes: There is a seedy underbelly of the internet where people post nude or otherwise compromising photos of their ex-girlfriends or boyfriends for anyone to see, sometimes to get back at a lover who jilted them. These so-called “revenge porn” sites bring up a […]
Mark Bennett | February 9, 2013
A commenter on this post asks: I do have a few questions on challenges for cause. Mostly, how are they resolved? Is it entirely about negotiation to consensus and good faith, or does the judge have complete discretion? Also, what happens if you don’t have a large enough panel remaining for a strike zone of […]
Mark Bennett | February 8, 2013
Experienced trial lawyers will often tell you that “jury selection” is misnamed—it’s actually jury deselection. Different jurisdictions use different methods. In a Texas non-capital felony trial, the jury panel is ordinarily sixty people. Each juror is assigned a number. The court brings the panel in to the courtroom and lines them up on the benches in […]
Total: 825,870 Words
