Criminal Law
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No lie: Polygraph still around
It’s been derided by skeptics, banned from countless courtrooms and relegated to prank questions on reality television – but the polygraph just won’t go away.
Although inadmissible in most courts, polygraph test results are still being used by criminal defense lawyers and even some civil attorneys to leverage out-of-court settlements.
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May 5, 2008
High Court drunken driving case will have broad impact
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling addressing the definition of driving while intoxicated for purposes of federal sentencing is expected to have a broad impact on criminal cases, but also leaves open many questions, criminal lawyers tell Lawyers USA.
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May 5, 2008
High Court: evidence from improper arrest is admissible
Evidence seized when an officer made an arrest is admissible even though only a citation should have been issued, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.
Anytime there's probable cause, "the arrest is constitutionally reasonable," the Court said.
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May 5, 2008
Does killing a witness kill Confrontation Clause rights?
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether a defendant on trial for murder can seek to exclude the statements of the victim, claiming her unavailablity at trial violates his right to cross-examine her under the Confrontation Clause.
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May 5, 2008
Border search of laptop doesn’t require reasonable suspicion
Customs officials at an international airport may examine the contents of a passenger’s laptop computer and electronic storage devices without reasonable suspicion, the 9th Circuit has ruled.
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April 16, 2008
Justices consider death penalty for child rape
On the same day it handed down a decision upholding Kentucky’s use of a three-drug combination for lethal injections, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in another capital punishment case. The issue: whether a Louisiana law allowing the death penalty for child rape constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
The case involves a man convicted of brutally raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter and sentenced under a state statute that allows the death penalty for the crime of aggravated rape when the victim is under age 12.
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May 5, 2008
High court rejects challenge to lethal injections
Kentucky’s three drug lethal injection death penalty procedure complies with the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.
