Jefferson Memorial

Dorsey v. U.S.: “I Want to Speak to a Lawyer”

Jamison KoehlerCriminal Procedure, Opinions/Cases

Although you might think that invoking your right to remain silent and invoking your right to a lawyer would have the same legal effect, you would be mistaken.  In fact, if ever forced to choose, you should always ask for a lawyer. Police can resume interrogation after a period of time when you invoke your right to remain silent. But …

U.S. Capitol building

Michigan v. Long Is Ripe for Reversal

Jamison KoehlerCriminal Procedure, Opinions/Cases

Courts seem to be bending over backwards to avoid basing decisions on Arizona v. Gant. In an opinion issued last month by the D.C. Court of Appeals, for example, the defendant was pulled over for a minor traffic offense. The defendant was ordered out of the van and frisked, with the officer finding no weapons. The officer then handcuffed the defendant …

U.S. Capitol Building

Interpreting “Joint Constructive Possession” in Tamara Smith v. U.S.

Jamison KoehlerCriminal Procedure, Legal Concepts/Principles, Opinions/Cases

If constructive possession is a legal fiction, then joint constructive possession is a double legal fiction. It is not only that you do not actually possess the article in question (and by actual possession, I mean physical occupancy or control over the property). It is that other people – it could be one person, it could be four other people …

D.C. skyline

Lazo v. U.S.: A Court’s Duty To Investigate a Jencks Act Violation

Jamison KoehlerCriminal Procedure, Evidence, Opinions/Cases

The Jencks Act was a nasty little surprise when I began to practice in D.C. It was not that I didn’t appreciate getting the information. It was that I was used to getting this information much earlier in the process in Pennsylvania. The Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C § 3500, requires the prosecution to turn over to the defense any “statement” of a witness …

Once Again, No Consequences for Prosecutorial Misconduct

Jamison KoehlerCriminal Procedure, Legal Concepts/Principles, Opinions/Cases

On the morning of trial, the prosecutor finds out that the testimony provided by a police officer at the preliminary hearing was inaccurate. Although the prosecutor himself is not planning to call this particular police officer to testify at trial, he knows that the defense attorney is. So what does prosecutor do?  Does he immediately contact the defense attorney to …

U.S. Capitol building

Enforcing Brady v. Maryland: Toward An “Open File” Discovery Requirement

Jamison KoehlerCriminal Procedure, Legal Concepts/Principles, Opinions/Cases

A constitutional right without any way of enforcing that constitutional right is hardly any right at all.  That’s a pretty accurate description of the government’s obligations under the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution and Brady v. Maryland to turn over exculpatory information to the defense. Relying almost entirely on the goodwill and integrity of the individual prosecutor assigned …

D.C. skyline

Interpreting Arizona v. Gant’s “Reasonable Belief” Standard for Warrantless Car Searches

Jamison KoehlerCriminal Procedure, Opinions/Cases

In Arizona v. Gant, the U.S. Supreme Court helped slow a continuing trend in the chipping away of Fourth Amendment protections. For years, most jurisdictions allowed police officers to search any car whose occupants had been arrested, even when the traditional justifications for the warrantless car search –officer safety and preservation of evidence – were absent.  Typical of the resulting practice …