From the category archives:

Evidence

When Former Lover Becomes Accuser: Civil Protection Orders in D.C.

May 19, 2010 Evidence

Your client loves a woman.  They date for two months, then the woman breaks it off. Something about jealousy and possessiveness.  Something about drinking too much.  Your client is heartbroken.

If your client is John Cusack in Say Anything, he stands outside her house with a boom box on his shoulder blasting out “In Your Eyes.” [...]

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Nightline Segment Tonight on Jeffrey MacDonald Case

May 14, 2010 Evidence

I understand from Kathryn MacDonald that ABC’s Nightline will air a segment this evening (11:30 pm EST) on the Jeffrey MacDonald case.

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4th Circuit Denies Motion to Dismiss in Jeffrey MacDonald Appeal

May 6, 2010 Evidence

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit today denied the government’s motion to dismiss the defendant’s appeal in the case of United States v. Jeffrey MacDonald. As I discussed in greater detail in an earlier post, MacDonald has always maintained that he was a victim, not the perpetrator, of the murders. MacDonald’s appeal [...]

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On Michael Malone and the Jeffrey MacDonald Case

May 2, 2010 Evidence

I have written a number of posts over the last couple of months about the Donald E. Gates case. As you will recall, Gates was convicted of a crime he did not commit and initially spent 16 years in jail in large part due to the false testimony of former FBI analyst Michael P. Malone.  [...]

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On Visiting the Supposed Crime Scene

April 23, 2010 Evidence

As a public defender, I tried to visit the crime scene as often as possible.  Although I was never able to actually break a case by doing this, that is, find that piece of evidence that would exonerate the client, the visits always provided important information. At the very least, you get a feel for [...]

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Michael P. Malone’s Other Victims

April 17, 2010 Evidence

I have written a number of entries over the last couple of months about the case of Donald E. Gates, a man who was imprisoned for 27 years for a crime the evidence now shows he did not commit.  Gates was convicted in large part on the basis of false testimony by FBI analyst Michael [...]

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A Proposal to Name D.C.’s New Crime Laboratory After Donald E. Gates

March 17, 2010 Evidence

I have been fretting about the Donald E. Gates case since I first learned about it last December.  Yesterday I got a call from Sam Harahan, another person who has obviously been thinking about it quite a bit and who came across my blog entries on the case.  Harahan helped found two organizations that focus [...]

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More Mistakes in the Donald E. Gates Case

March 14, 2010 Evidence

Last week I posted an entry about Donald E. Gates and how he served 28 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.  Gates was convicted on the basis of false testimony by FBI agent Michael P. Malone that matched a hair found on the victim’s body with a hair sample taken from Gates.  [...]

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On Forensic Science and Donald E. Gates

March 8, 2010 Evidence

Donald E. Gates served 28 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.  In 1981, Gates was convicted of raping and murdering a Georgetown University student, whose body was found in Rock Creek park with five bullet wounds to her head.  The key piece of evidence against Gates – providing what the prosecutor [...]

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Listening to the Witness on Cross-Examination

January 6, 2010 Evidence

This guy has his eye put out in an accident.  He can’t afford a glass eye, so the eye doctor puts in a fake eye made of wood instead. The guy is very self-conscious about his wood eye, but finally his friends talk him into joining them at a dance.  It is time, they say, [...]

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