Aly Palmer, a reporter with the Fulton Daily Report, read the exchanges of the last few days and reported on it at the ATLaw Blog. Michael Mears, an Associate Professor at the John Marshall School of Law and the man who was GPDSC’s very first Executive Directer when it was created, wrote a very thoughtful… Continue Reading
Category Archives: News
Subscribe to News RSS FeedMy Reply to the Circuit Public Defender
Posted in Attorney-Client Relationship, News, Opinions and Analysis, UncategorizedTo catch you up to speed, I recently blogged about GPDSC’s recent argument to the Supreme Court of Georgia that public defenders should have the right to represent clients in the same circuit public defender’s office even when there is a conflict in the representation. Mr. Samuel Merritt, a Circuit Public Defender disagreed. I posted… Continue Reading
Great Day for 4th Amendment With Unexpected Heroes
Posted in NewsYesterday, was was the best day the Fourth Amendment has had in a decade. And, while Libertarians might not be surprised who the two heroes were, others might be taken aback. In one Fourth Amendment story, the hero was Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. And in the other, the hero was tea party Junior Kentucky Senator… Continue Reading
The Implications of the New SCOTUS Eyewitness Case on Georgia Cases
Posted in News, Opinions and AnalysisAdam Liptak of the New York Times reports that the Supreme Court has held that courts are not required to conduct pre-trial hearings to determine whether the circumstances of an eyewitness identification were so unreliable that the jury shouldn’t hear about the lineup. The Court has held that, only in instances of police misconduct in… Continue Reading
Even More Reasons to Run From GPDSC and a Modest Proposal
Posted in Attorney-Client Relationship, News, Opinions and AnalysisA blog post I wrote a week ago about GPDSC’s alliance with the Attorney General’s Office to oppose the Georgia Bar’s formal advisory opinion regarding imputed conflicts for indigent defendants inspired a few comments over on my Facebook page. A friend of mine who is a former assistant public defender commented: The absence of conflict-free… Continue Reading
Judicial Funding Likely to Increase in 2012
Posted in NewsGreg Bluestein, with the Associated Press, reports that the Judiciary could see more funding in 2012. The report echoes some of the discussion at the Appellate Practice Section luncheon several days ago. Mr. Bluestein reports that “[t]he judicial branch’s budget situation was so dire in 2009 that Georgia’s top judges considered whether to take emergency… Continue Reading
Attorney General and Public Defenders Team Up to Support Double Standards for Poor People
Posted in Attorney-Client Relationship, NewsThe writer Jerry Pournelle postulated The Iron Law of Bureaucracy. It goes like this. In a bureacratic organization, there are two types of people. First, there are the people who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Second, there are those dedicated to the organization itself. According to Pournelle, “in every case the second… Continue Reading
Judges at Appellate Practice Section Luncheon Laud New Governor’s Support of Judiciary
Posted in News, UncategorizedThe Appellate Practice Section of the State Bar of Georgia convened as part of the Georgia Bar’s mid-year meeting. In spite of the fact that many participants came over from the swearing-in of Judge Boggs to the Court of Appeals, the luncheon was lively and well-attended. Originally intended to be a candidates’s forum for candidates… Continue Reading
The Top 2 Georgia Legal Stories of 2011 and the 1 Lesson They Teach
Posted in NewsThis post was intended to be a top 10 list. Then it was intended to be a top 5 list. But as I look back at 2011, there are really only two big stories that stand out. Actually, there are two stories and one lesson. The stories are the JQC’s investigation of Judge Amanda Williams… Continue Reading
Amanda Knox, the Appeals Process, and Moneyball
Posted in News, Opinions and Analysis, Preservation of Error, UncategorizedToday, my recent post on Amanda Knox was quoted by Ronald V. Miller in his Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. He picks up on my point about the Knox case and other high-profile cases with an unexpected result. For clients and potential clients, such cases reinforce the often mistaken idea that, if you keep on slugging until… Continue Reading
Managing Expectations in the Wake of the Amanda Knox Win
Posted in News, Opinions and AnalysisI’ve already been asked about it several times. For the criminal trial lawyer, the Casey Anthony verdict was the result that made it difficult to counsel clients on whether to accept a negotiate plea rather than risk a trial against an overwhelming case. Several colleagues have told me that clients have balked in the face… Continue Reading
Granted Petitions on Criminal Cases for the Month of September
Posted in News, Opinions and Analysis, Supreme Court of Georgia, UncategorizedThe Supreme Court has granted two petitions for certiorari and one application for discretionary appeal so far this month. Below is an overview of each case Bunn v. State In its Order granting Cert., from September 6, 2011, the Court notes that it is particularly concerned with the following issue: Does the Child Hearsay Statute… Continue Reading
New UGA Law Review Article Takes Georgia to Task for the Way We Handle IAC Claims
Posted in Attorney-Client Relationship, Motion for New Trial, News, Opinions and Analysis, UncategorizedI returned from vacation pleased to find in my in basket at the office a copy of Ryan C. Tuck’s article from the Georgia Law Review on the confusing state of the law as it relates to ineffective assistance of counsel in Georgia. The article is titled “Ineffective-Assistance-of-Counsel Blues: Navigating the Muddy Waters of Georgia… Continue Reading
Uniform Rule on Electronic Court Filing: A Step in the Right Direction For Georgia
Posted in News, Supreme Court of Georgia, WritingYesterday, I noticed that there is a proposed rule from the State Bar of Georgia to provide for electronic filing in Georgia courts. Of course, it’s just a proposed rule (PDF). And what comes of it may be simply a model rule for trial courts to follow if they choose to allow electronic filing. But… Continue Reading
E-Filing is the Talk of the Georgia Bar Meeting
Posted in News, Record on Appeal, Supreme Court of GeorgiaTwo days at the annual meeting of the State Bar of Georgia in Myrtle Beach have given me enough material for a week of blogging. For today, the big news is that the Supreme Court will mandate e-filing for all attorneys before the end of the summer and will create a system for submission of… Continue Reading
Third Circuit: Mere Physical Proximity of Guns to Drugs Not Enough for Sentencing Enhancement
Posted in 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, NewsCaroline Vodzak reports at Vodzaklegal that the Third Circuit has found that mere spatial proximity of guns to drugs is not sufficient to enhance a defendant’s sentence of drug possession without a specific finding of fact that the gun “facilitated or had the potential for facilitating the possession of drugs.” Mr. West was caught in… Continue Reading
Georgia’s New Evidence Code: How & Why We Changed
Posted in NewsGeorgia is getting a much-needed change to its evidence code, and Colin Miller’s Law Prof Blog has the post I’ve been wanting to read about it. Professor Miller does two things really well in his post. First, he points out that Georgia is finally catching up with the rest of the nation as we… Continue Reading
Excellent Oral Argument on Lawyer Disqualification
Posted in News, Oral ArgumentI’ve been following this case closely because the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the Appellant. In a nutshell, the trial court disqualified the former DeKalb School Superintendant’s law firm where there actually was no conflic; rather, there was the speculative potential for a conflict where the clients… Continue Reading
How Can You Defend These People?
Posted in Attorney-Client Relationship, NewsI’ve watched with interest the news regarding former Solicitor General Paul Clement’s resignation from King & Spalding, after the firm moved to withdraw from its representation of House Republicans in defense of the federal statute that prohibits same sex marriage. Every criminal defense lawyer should learn as much as possible about this story and save… Continue Reading
Your Opportunity to Ask Appellate Judges About Writing Better Briefs
Posted in NewsOn February 25, 2011, the Georgia Appellate Practice Section will host a CLE on Appellate Practice at the State Bar of Georgia. The event has something to offer lawyers who practice before Georgia appellate courts, whether the lawyer is a seasoned appellate practitioner or only handles the occasional appeal. The event will cover all the major… Continue Reading
Judge McFadden Speaks on Getting Elected and Getting Started
Posted in NewsApproximately 16 attendees made the snow-ladened trek to the appellate practice section luncheon Nashville, Tennessee, held in conjunction with the State Bar of Georgia’s mid-year meeting. The Honorable Christopher McFadden, newly elected to the Georgia Court of Appeals, gave a fascinating talk on the process of campaigning for the appellate bench, the process of… Continue Reading
Is the Exclusionary Rule the New Hot Appellate Issue in Georgia?
Posted in News, Supreme Court of GeorgiaIf any case qualifies as an old chestnut, it would be Mapp v. Ohio, the landmark case that provided that evidence gathered in violation of a suspect’s Fourth Amendment rights should be excluded from use at trial. Restricting the use of illegally-gathered evidence is the punishment for the illegal conduct. If there’s a case that… Continue Reading
Rob Teilhet Resigns as Head of Georgia Public Defender Standards Council
Posted in NewsRob Teilhet has tendered his resignation as head of GPDSC after only three months in office. Peach Pundit reports on the resignation in a blog post yesterday. I thought his days might be numbered when I met him last month. He came to a conference of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and spoke… Continue Reading
Nahmias and McFadden Win Election to Georgia Supreme Court and Georgia Court of Appeals
Posted in Georgia Court of Appeals, News, Supreme Court of GeorgiaJustice David Nahmias and Judge-Elect Christopher McFadden have been elected respectively to the Supreme Court of Georgia and Georgia Court of Appeals. Both won by wide margins. Georgia votes made the right choice in both elections. Justice Nahmias is likely to continue to do excellent work on the Court. I look forward to his well-reasoned… Continue Reading
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