I am currently plowing through the “discovery” in a federal criminal case brought against my client here in Georgia. Discovery is the word we use to describe the evidence or exhibits that prosecutors are obligated to hand over to the defense lawyer at the beginning of a criminal case. Going…
Lots of people facing federal criminal charges are surprised by some rules that are based on decisions from the United States Supreme Court. One of the dumbest rules that confounds most regular folks is what lawyers call the “dual sovereignty exception” to the Constitutional protection against double jeopardy. Even school…
Of all the rules governing criminal cases I have learned over the past 33 years, the Brady rule is the most troubling. Brady teaches that the government violates the due process rights of a criminal Defendant if the prosecution fails to reveal exculpatory evidence to the defense. Unfortunately, it is…
In late May, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears appeals from federal cases in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, decided U.S. v. Cunningham. The Court held that the federal statute that provides for revocation of supervised release is constitutional under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments, despite its provision for…