Notes from practice · D.C. Superior Court
Thorne v. U.S.: No penalty to defendant for exercise of constitutional rights
Jamison Koehler
/
06/03/2012
/
The defendant should not have been penalized at sentencing for having exercised his constitutional right to cross-examine the government’s witness at trial....
“Don’t Editorialize”
Many police officers have a tendency to editorialize on the witness stand. It is not that the driver reached for the glove compartment after being...
Aborted Guilty Pleas and Superhuman Judges
The disciplined judicial mind should not be subjected to any unnecessary strain;…the most austere intellect has a subconscious. How great is this language? Although the...
Do Your Job, Mr. Prosecutor. And Turn Over the Evidence.
Jamison Koehler
/
05/04/2012
/
The prosecutor has acknowledged that he should have turned over certain information to defense attorneys. That is what he says today. The case was back...
Checking The Rules. Checking Them Twice.
Jamison Koehler
/
04/26/2012
/
One of the things I miss most about working at the public defender’s office was the ability to get immediate feedback from colleagues on an...
Morgan v. U.S.: Inconsistent Evidence at Trial and “Show Cause” Hearing
One of the things that surprised me when I first began to practice criminal law was the notion that you could be acquitted of a...
Simms v. U.S.: On the Pre-Trial Presumption of Prosecutorial Vindictiveness
Was the government’s addition of the new charge an effort to punish Simms for exercising his right to seek additional discovery through compulsory process?...
Open Guilty Plea = Bad Case + Fair Judge + Unreasonable Prosecutor
When faced with a really bad case, one option is to work out a favorable plea agreement with the government to try to mitigate consequences...
Entrapment in D.C.: The Legality of Recent Decoy Operations
Jamison Koehler
/
03/11/2012
/
Your client is heading home, minding his own business, when he comes across what appears to be a homeless man sleeping on a bench at...
On the Criminal Defenses of “Justification” and “Excuse”
Jamison Koehler
/
02/21/2012
/
How can you not love the criminal defenses? With the government burdened with proving every element of an offense beyond a reasonable doubt, one...
Withdrawing a Guilty Plea
It is never easy to plead guilty. As the cliché goes, if you plead guilty, there is a 100% chance that you will be...
Coles v. U.S.: The Right to a “Meaningful Degree” of Cross-Examination
Jamison Koehler
/
02/07/2012
/
Although the ability to cross-examine a witness is a critical component of the Sixth Amendment right to confront your accusers in a criminal case,...
On Trial Transcripts: Only the Stenographer Knows for Sure
Reviewing the transcript from a hearing or trial you have done can sometimes be a humbling experience. What you may have remembered as a...
Cross-Examining a Prosecutor
I have been called to testify in a criminal case. A couple of weeks ago I represented a woman seeking a civil protection order...
Confrontation Clause Be Damned: D.C. Continues to Use Surrogate Witnesses in DUI Cases
Jamison Koehler
/
01/13/2012
/
Michael Bruckheim was scheduled to cross-examine Lucas Zarwell, the chief forensic toxicologist in D.C., and a group of DUI lawyers had gathered outside Room...