|
24 Aug
|
Posted by Mollo Law Firm
|
From app.com, August 24, 2011
New Jersey’s highest court ordered changes today to the way eyewitness identifications are used in court, saying the current system is not reliable enough, fails to deter police misconduct and overstates jurors’ ability to evaluate the evidence.
Currently, a defendant has the burden of proving there was undue suggestion during the identification process. That won’t change. But the court has ordered that when a defendant can show some evidence of suggestiveness by police, a pretrial hearing must be held to explore it.
The court also requires a system be developed to better explain to juries the potential flaws with eyewitness identifications.
The case is being closely watched because New Jersey has long been at the forefront in identification standards. In 2001, the state became the first to establish guidelines for lineups designed to prevent mistaken suspect identifications. Other states followed suit.
The new rules, once they are devised, will apply to future cases and two cases that prompted the ruling.
In one case, an eyewitness lineup that included Larry Henderson of Camden led to his conviction in 2004 on manslaughter charges. Henderson’s attorneys argued he was misidentified after police did not follow proper identification guidelines.
Henderson’s case prompted the New Jersey Supreme Court to order a review of the procedures used by police when they ask witnesses to identify suspects.
A test used by courts in 48 states and the federal system to assess the reliability of witness identification is flawed and inadequate, the yearlong review found.
Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, a New York legal center specializing in overturning wrongful convictions, and one of several attorneys for O.J. Simpson during his 1995 murder trial, presented testimony during the hearings that called for stricter standards.
The Supreme Court’s ultimate ruling is expected to influence courts in places besides New Jersey because the review was so comprehensive, Scheck has said.
Nationally, more than two-thirds of the 254 prisoners who have been exonerated by DNA since 1989 were sent to prison based on witness misidentification, according to the Innocence Project. It’s the most common element in a wrongful conviction, the center said.
Three of the five exoneration cases in New Jersey involved misidentification, according to the Innocence Project.
The Mollo Law Firm, criminal defense lawyers, has experience handling criminal offenses at throughout New Jersey, including charges of theft, drug possession, DWI, assault, shoplifting and all other criminal and traffic matters. If you have any questions please contact our office at (732) 747-1844 or e-mail Al Mollo directly at amollo@mollolawfirm.com. You may also visit our website at www.mollolawfirm.com. Thank you.
| Category: Criminal Law | Tag: criminal attorney, eyewitness, lawyer, New Jersey, Supreme Court, trial |
|
15 Jul
|
Posted by Mollo Law Firm
|
WASHINGTON, July 6, 2011 — Most people learning of the “not guilty” verdict in the highly publicized Casey Anthony murder trial thought the outcome was unjust and unfair, but not all.
Some, like former criminal prosecutor and current trial attorney Debbie Hines, expected that the young Orlando, Florida mother, accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008 and then partying afterwards, would be set free. Yesterday, a jury found Casey Anthony guilty of misleading the police but not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter, or aggravated child abuse.
“It was a classic textbook case of reasonable doubt,” Hines said. She was quite surprised to discover after learning of the verdict that she was in the minority who thought the case was fairly decided. Hines, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who has defended clients in criminal cases, said she found herself in demand over her differing viewpoint on the case. She was called in to appear on several local shows, appearing on the local CBS affiliate WUSA9 before settling down to pen her thoughts in a post on her blog, Legal Speaks:
“There were enough holes for the jury to see through the prosecution’s case. There was more than enough reasonable doubt to go around. The jury only needed one reasonable doubt and the defense gave them many more doubts based on reason. …
“When I prosecuted, I always asked that the verdict be fair and just. And if it was fair and just based solely on the evidence and nothing else, I was satisfied, even with a not guilty verdict. … The prosecution had a good victim in Caylee but a poor or weak circumstantial case. Hence, the jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of murder of her daughter, Caylee.
“In the words of the late attorney Johnnie Cochran, if the evidence doesn’t fit, you must acquit. And in the Casey Anthony case, the evidence didn’t match up to a murder conviction. It was a just and fair verdict.”
Indeed, many people found the verdict reminiscent of the outcome of the OJ Simpson murder trial. In that 1995 case, the Heisman Trophy winner was acquitted of the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The Casey Anthony case had an equally sympathetic victim and broke the hearts of many parents.
In the end, no matter how much people wanted a guilty verdict for Casey Anthony, the prosecutors did not meet their burden. It’s a bitter pill to swallow. Court watchers who are parents, and even those who are not, invested a lot of energy in this case. They don’t have to agree that it was decided wrongly or rightly, but the fact remains that a little girl’s life was snuffed out and no verdict will bring her back. Instead, we are left with an empty feeling wondering whether justice was indeed served, or denied.
Read more Politics of Raising Children in The Communities at the Washington Times. Follow Jeneba Ghatt at @JenebaSpeaks. Her work can also be read at JenebaSpeaksm BlackWeb 2.0 and Politic365. She also co-hosts a Blog Talk Radio show called Right of Black which tackles current events and politics from a perspective not often seen in the mainstream media.
| Category: Casey Anthony Trial | Tag: Casey Anthony, murder trial, not guilty, outcome, trial, unfair |
