Latest Blog Posts for Michigan Criminal Appeal Blog

• Court of Appeals Invalidates Patient-to-Patient Sales Under Medical Marijuana Act
  on Aug 24, 2011 in Medical Marijuana
  Narrowly construing Michigan’s Medical Marijuana Act, the Court of Appeals just ruled that patient-to-patient transfers are not permitted. Isabella County Prosecutor v McQueen, Court of Appeals No. 108238. While I disagree with the ruling,...
• California Legislature Requires Warrant for Cell Phone Searches
  on Aug 23, 2011 in Elsewhere, But Interesting Search and Seizure
  Overturning a California Supreme Court decision to the contrary, the California Legislature has required police to get warrants supported by probable cause to search people’s cell phones. During an automobile stop, police can easily search mos...
• Sex Offenders: The Last Pariah's
  on Aug 23, 2011 in Sex Offender Registry
  The blog Congress, Courts, and Sex Offenders has an interesting editorial making the case that society’s current obsession with sex offenders is misplaced and that they have become the last pariahs. The series of ill thought out laws have actu...
• West Memphis Three to Be Freed, But State May Avoid Liability.
  on Aug 19, 2011 in None
  CNN is reporting that a deal has been struck to release the “West Memphis Three.” In 1993, these three men (Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jr., and Jason Baldwin) were convicted of murdering three boys from West Mephis Arkansas. The...
• Hats Off to the NLG: Jailhouse Lawyers Manual 5.0
  on Aug 19, 2011 in Prisons Civil Rights
  Even though US Courts say that someone with a high school education is capable of litigating a federal civil rights suit on their own with four to five hours of law library access per week, this has not been my experience. With my than twenty years...
• Attorneys Go After Judge Small's Local Sentencing Policy
  on Aug 14, 2011 in OUIL
  Judge Kimberly Small of Bloomfield Twp makes no secret that she imposes jail sentences for first time drunk drivers. She has imposed them to otherwise law abiding individuals with a single transgression. I have seen these sentences imposed on accou...
• Support Animals for Crime Victims?
  on Aug 14, 2011 in Elsewhere, But Interesting Confrontation
  This weekend, there have been articles appearing in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Times about a new trend to provide alleged child sexual abuse victims “service animals” while they testify on the stand. These animals are bei...
• Virginia Bar Says that Prosecutor Cannot Demand Waiver of IAC or Post-Conviction Challenges as a Condition of a Plea Agreement
  on Aug 2, 2011 in Elsewhere, But Interesting Plea Bargaining Ethics
  The Virginia State Bar recently issued a Legal Ethics Opinion (LEO 1857) that addresses these issues by declaring it unethical for a defense attorney to recommend these provisions, and made it unethical for a prosecutor to require waivers of post-con...
• California Considering a Ban on Jailhouse Informant Testimony
  on Jul 31, 2011 in Elsewhere, But Interesting Informants
  Jailhouse informant testimony is one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions. These individuals are often career criminals who testify that the accused admitted to a crime in jail. The informant then gets his/her sentence reduced. Prosecutor...
• Mich. Sup. Ct. Weakens Castle Doctrine
  on Jul 31, 2011 in Self Defense Jury Instructions
  Jury instructions are a jury’s “how too guide.” They tell the jurors what law to apply to given facts. Courts, however, make mistakes about jury instructions way too often. The Michigan Supreme Court in People v Richardson held t...

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