Recent Articles

And You Thought You Had a Difficult Case.

Public Defender Dude
September 29, 2011 01:20

In New Orleans, they do things FAST. And some of the details tend to get blurred. Read this newspaper article from New Orleans: The gist of it is that Luhron Gorman was in New Orleans with a friend, and they were running from the police. At one point Mr. Gorman and friend went into someone...

Connick v. Thompson (2011) and Arizona v. Youngblood (1988) - Linked in Outrage

Public Defender Dude
September 01, 2011 23:40

I wanted to add an issue that I did not address in my last post about Connick v. Thompson (2011). To clarify, the facts of Connick v. Thompson are that D was convicted of an armed robbery. Later, D was prosecuted for murder, and D elected not to testify at his murder trial because of the prior...

Actually Innocent? We Don't Give a Damn.

Public Defender Dude
August 27, 2011 15:43

This is a short post. I haven't posted in a year, so a lot of things happened that I didn't comment on. Here is a big one. In Connick v. Thompson (2011), the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that even though a defendant was the victim of a prosecutor withholding exculpatory...

Another Update on William Richards, FVI00826 - Actual Innocence is a Sham

Public Defender Dude
August 25, 2011 19:59

I posted more than a year ago about an excellent granting of a habeas corpus petition by Judge Brian McCarville. The defendant is William Richards. His case number is FVI00826. The essence of the case is that he was accused of murdering his wife by bashing her head in. After three mistrials, he was...

I was fooled

Public Defender Dude
August 22, 2011 23:01

I admit it. I supported Barack Obama. I was fooled. He is a corporatist, and he does not have the interests of most Americans at heart. Don't get me wrong - I am a Democrat, a liberal, a progressive, and I can't stand any of the Republicans running. But I am really and truly disappointed in Barack...

Connect the Dots

Public Defender Dude
July 17, 2010 22:22

I haven't posted in a long time, so let me make a short post to observe a few "connect the dots" observations - I want to connect two pieces of news and sort of juxtapose them, so that people can draw their own conclusions.First, there have been numerous articles about Chief Justice George retiring...

Further Reflections on the Marijuana Legalization Initiative in California

Public Defender Dude
May 27, 2010 04:06

I posted in the wee hours (I couldn't sleep) about my beliefs about the coming marijuana legalization initiative on the November 2010 ballot. I haven't found the actual text of the initiative, or even the number just yet, but here is a link to a site called Ballotpedia, a website that seems to have...

The Marijuana Legalization Initiative on the November Ballot

Public Defender Dude
May 26, 2010 19:33

It's on the ballot for November 2010. It is a great idea, and it is a well-written initiative. The drug war has failed, [Here is the May 11, 2010 AP article: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iLZNYd6C9SGpa2oeiZIqT-HKVrCQD9FMCM103 - and here's what Grits for Breakfast, an excellent...

Update on William Richards

Public Defender Dude
May 25, 2010 05:16

I posted last year in "DNA Exoneration Close to Home." The defendant's name is William Richards. His case number is FVI00826. I have not been following the case closely. But after reading some of my posts, I realized that I wanted to know what had happened with this case. Well, I found...

Thinking about Kyles v. Whitley

Public Defender Dude
May 25, 2010 04:32

I went to a California Public Defenders Association conference this weekend. It was the first one I had been to in a long, LONG time. It was in Palm Springs, and I had a really good time. It was their 41st annual convention. The speakers were good the first day, but the next day they were AWESOME....