Notes from practice · D.C. Superior Court
Still Brady v. Maryland
The prosecutor can hardly blame me for being skeptical. I ask her about one of the counts that was dropped from the complaint, and she...
Clark v. U.S.: The Government’s Violation of a Plea Agreement
The defendant is charged with armed robbery. He and the government reach agreement on a plea deal in which the government agrees to ask for...
In Re S.W.: Context is Critical When Proving Criminal Threat
I have never been a fan of D.C.’s “threats to do bodily harm” statute. For one thing, it criminalizes behavior that is already covered under...
In Re W.R.: Warrantless Search During a Custodial Arrest
Jejomar Untalan has been busy. I reported last week on his successful appeal in In re S.B. This week the D.C. Court of Appeals issued...
California v. Hodari D: A Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Complaint
California v. Hodari D, 499 U.S. 621 (1991), is a lousy opinion. It used to be that a person was seized for Fourth Amendment purposes...
SCOTUS on Flight: Alberty v. United States
“[I]t is a matter of common knowledge that men who are entirely innocent do sometimes fly from the scene of a crime through fear of...
Thorne v. U.S.: No penalty to defendant for exercise of constitutional rights
Jamison Koehler
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06/03/2012
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The defendant should not have been penalized at sentencing for having exercised his constitutional right to cross-examine the government’s witness at trial....
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...
Dawkins v. United States: How Far Must A Party Go To Preserve Issue For Appeal?
In an opinion issued last week, Dawkins v. United States, 41 A.3d 1265 (D.C. 2012), the D.C. Court of Appeals addressed the issue of how...
The ABCs of “Character Evidence” in a D.C. Criminal Case
Over 65 years ago, Justice Robert H. Jackson, writing for the U.S. Supreme Court in Michelson v. United States, 335 U.S. 469 (1948), complained about...
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?...
Coles v. U.S.: The Right to a “Meaningful Degree” of Cross-Examination
Jamison Koehler
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02/07/2012
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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,...
Terry v. Ohio as a Seinfeld Episode
I have often said that you can explain everything in life through a Seinfeld episode. And while there is no single case that does...
Why I Hate D.C.’s “Threats to do Bodily Harm” Statute
Your client is 19 years old. She weighs 105 pounds and stands under five feet tall. Having been arrested for a minor offense, she...