By Dan Portnov In certain legal (nerd) circles, coining a phrase or term of art is one of the surest ways to achieve immortality – think Tim Wu’s first use of “network neutrality” in a 2003 journal article or Justice Felix Frankfurter’s opinion in Rochin v....
By: Sara Kropf I was perusing recent opinions from the courts of appeal for possible blog post ideas when I came across an odd-looking errata sheet. Here’s an excerpt: That’s odd, I thought. I took a look at the original opinion in the case. The First Circuit wrote an...
By: Sara Kropf A defendant has a constitutional right to prepare a defense to criminal charges. In a white-collar case, contacting potential witnesses is as important as reviewing the document trail. Why does the government feel threatened when we do our jobs? I have...
A few weeks ago, I wrote about some important discovery motions in the Massey Mine trial unfolding in the Southern District of West Virginia. The defense had a nice win recently on one of those motions. But according to a recent filing in the case, the government has...
By: Sara Kropf I have previously posted about the upcoming trial of Donald Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy Company. Mr. Blankenship was indicted on several charges, including conspiracy to violate federal mine safety standards, following a fatal explosion...
By: Sara Kropf Brady v. Maryland requires a prosecutor to disclose evidence that is favorable to the defense. Yet many critics have correctly pointed out that unless there exists a way to discipline prosecutors who willfully violate this obligation, it is an abstract...
By: Sara Kropf The conviction and sentence of a man in California were recently vacated when it was discovered that the government had improperly withheld exculpatory material from his defense team at trial. We read a lot of stories about the failures of Brady v....
By: Sara Kropf There have been a lot of reasons to find SDNY Judge Jed S. Rakoff interesting. But the most recent one--involving his resignation from a federal commission over forensic science discovery rules--is in the top 10. (Be sure to read the update below--he...
By: Sara Kropf A few days ago, I attended the excellent white collar conference sponsored by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) in Washington, DC. During one of the panels, an interesting topic arose: should criminal defendants be entitled to...