Shelby

Scott
Pd.5/6 IM
English 12 AP
Compiled Annotations: Quarter 2
Asimow, Michael. "Abstract." Ethical Dilemmas in Defending the
Factually Guilty. Los Angeles: USC Gould School of Law, 2009. 42-62.
Print.
This article describes the internal battle of defending a person,
knowing full well that they are guilty. Asimow describes the
defense attorneys struggle to stay intact with attorney-client
privilege, judicial-client duty, attorney-attorney duty as well as
judicial-attorney duty. Many of these bindings do not rub the same
way. For reasons in that attorneys are bound to the law and
subject to their client, many lawyers do not want to know the legal
standing of their client as guilty or not. Knowing their clients
stance makes it difficult for lawyers to abide by the law and
accommodate/ represent their client. This article is a great source
in that it blatantly states that a defense success showcases that
legal technicalities triumph over substance in court. This article
may be used as a resource for further research on criminal
defense.
Bennett, Robert S. Ethics, Zealous Advocacy, and the Criminal Defense
Attorney. Cordozo, 2001. 620-646. Print.
This article speaks to the defense attorneys facing the hard
fight between ethics and advocacy. This article focuses on the
lawyers side of the problem. As lawyers, there is a professional
responsibility to be guardians of the law as well as preservers of
society. Bennett also shines light on the fact that those who offer
zealous advocacy act in ways that are morally questionable by
using loopholes and sly speech. He talks about the importance of
speech, and how the truth may not always be at the top of the
importance scale. He even argues that the truth is sometimes
sacrificed for more important principles. He encourages
lawyers to not let your client railroad you and cause your own
integrity. This article speaks of how to get out of the fact that
your client is guilty by pinpointing the blame by discrediting an
opposing witness. Overall, Bennett encourages lawyers by saying
the most important asset one contains is their reputation as an
honest attorney who is founded on integrity. And once that
reputation is lost, it can never be regained. For a student, this
article is very necessary. It not only states the problem of ethics
versus advocacy, but it even reveals ways to get around it, while

still being truthful and founded in justice. This article is slightly

biased because it is written by an attorney while speaking about
being an attorney, not just speaking plain facts. This article may
be used as a reference, but may not be reliable enough for
research.
Brecher, Rhea Kemble. "The Sixth Amendment and the Right to
Counsel."University of Pennsylvania Law Review. N.p.: UPenn Law, n.d.
N. pag. Print.
This article discusses the extreme injustice of the state courts in
regards to the sixth amendment. The sixth amendment is the
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury..and to
have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense. Under the
constitution, it is guaranteed that the accused will have a
competent representative to provide professional assistance.
However, many state courts deny this right. This article brings up
the unfortunate truth that the defendant does not get to choose
their counsel and the unfortunate events that affect this (illness,
death, conflict of interest). This article is resourceful due to its
extensive proof in detail.
Cohen, Marjorie, and Ruth Philips. "Sample Chapter." Criminal Law:
Substantive Criminal Law And Criminal Procedure. By Steven
Semeraro. San Diego: EOLSS, 2005. N. pag. Print.
This article covers many issues dealing with criminal procedure
and verdicts. It covers many of the issues leading up to one
being determined guilty or not. There are many things to
consider in an indictment: the defendants mental state, intent
(planning, execution and outcome), and series of events of
crime. These six components determine the mental state of the
accused in regards to whether or not their charges will be
considered legit. This article brings to light just the amount of
consideration the court must take in deciding the intent and
mental state of each accused person. The article is helpful to
those trying to understand the events that take place in a
courtroom.
"Drug Courts: A Review of the Evidence." The Sentencing
Project (2007): n. pag. Print.
In this program evaluation, Interpreted time series analysis was used
to assess and measure the impact of a special drug court program in
New Jersey and the program's ability to impact upon serious court
backlogs and on case processing delay. Monthly data was analyzed
using ARIMA time series methodology over a six year time span, from
1985 through 1990. New Jersey's Criminal Justice System responded to

the rapid increase of narcotics violation arrests at the beginning of

1988 and subsequent backlogs in the courts by implementing special
trial teams designed to reduce post-indictment case backlogs. This
article sheds light on the suffering of justice that occurs when court
systems become backlogged. This article seems to be a bit biased
because the author only uses research conducted in the New Jersey
Criminal Justice System and uses his/her findings as general
information, rather than statistics specific to New Jersey.
Eisele, Thomas D., Bitter Knowledge: Socrates and Teaching by
Disillusionment, 45 MERCER LAWREVIEW 587-620 (1994).
The author gives a thorough account of his teaching philosophy
and methods. A proponent of the Socratic method, Eisele
believes that teaching disillusionment is a part of the ethics of
legal education. In other words, his premise is that learning is a
never-ending proposition and we can only hope to learn by
acknowledging our ignorance. Therefore, the good teachers
responsibility is to make students aware of this by teaching
through disillusionment or bitter knowledge. However, the lesson
is only half done at this point. The teacher must also be willing to
reciprocate by making a fair attempt at listening and trying to
understand. The author acknowledges his teaching method may
bruise egos along the way, but this is often necessary to achieve
true learning via the Socratic method. This article calls out the
traditional teaching methods used by law educators and how
these methods may be hurting the students. This article seems
to be biased because the author is not a teacher, perhaps he is
just a student communicating his ideas from personal
experience. This article is thought-provoking, at best, but is not
to be used for research.
Flowers, Roberta K. The Role of Defense Attorney: Not Just an
Advocate. Columbus: Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, 2011.
This article highlights the importance of courage in being an
attorney. This article enforces the idea that a criminal defense
attorney must have courage to represent a client, but to also act
as an officer of the court and a seeker of justice. Flowers
pinpoints the trilemma as a lawyer, specifically as an advocate
for a client, for truth and for justice. The advocate is to zealously
represent a client, within the bounds of the law, by protecting the
accused against the power of the government. The officer is to
be in harmony with the bench, by disregarding a client, if
necessary to uphold the court. As a minister of justice, an
attorney must appreciate justice and protect the system from
unjust results. These tri-partite roles demand responsibility,

courage and integrity. Flowers argues that courage is the most

important attribute of a lawyer. This is a valuable article to an
outsider because it states the obligation a lawyer has to not only
their client, but their country and the reason they became a
lawyer.
Garrett, Brandon. "Judging Innocence." JUDGING INNOCENCE (n.d.): 55141. Virginia School of Law. Web.
There is a reasonable probability that had defense counsel
offered any defense to the States DNA experts, the trial judge
would have found Petitioner not guilty. In light of the lack of
evidence against Petitioner, this is the only conclusion that can
reasonably be reached. The totality of counsels deficient
performance establishes ineffective assistance of counsel. But for
those errors, there was a reasonable probability that the
defendant would not have been convicted The evidence of
defendants guilt in this case is far from strong. This article does
not present any indication of bias due to its constant quotation of
case law and Supreme Court cases, rather than personal opinion.
The author calls out the burden that the Strickland case brings
upon judges, and how it gives them the freedom to quite literally
judge someone based on events or circumstances unrelated to
their case, its events/witnesses, and ruling.
"Gender and Racial Fairness Resource Guide | NCSC.org." Gender and
Racial Fairness Resource Guide | NCSC.org. California Judicial Council,
2012. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.
Extant research on the effects of judicial background
characteristics suggests minimal influence from the race or
gender of the sentencing judge in criminal cases. This raises at
least two possibilities: the combined influence of judicial
indoctrination and socialization into judgeship results in a group
of judges with the same ideologies; or current approaches to
identifying judge effects in criminal sentencing have flaws in
both method and concept in that it limits their ability to detect
important influences from judicial background characteristics and
more on the background and characteristics of the accused. The
current article examines this issue with data from the
Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing that also includes
information on sentencing judges and criminal court contexts. It
argues that the mode of conviction shapes sentencing discretion
in ways that systematically underestimate judge effects for
estimates of incarceration and sentence length. The empirical
results support this interpretation, especially for incarceration in
trial cases, where older, female, and minority judges are
substantially less likely to sentence offenders to jail or prison

terms. The article concludes with a discussion of future research

directions and policy implications for judge effects and disparity
in sentencing. This article rises up an argument that has never
before been explored, while still presenting no bias.
Huckabee, Harlow. "A Brief History of Insanity Defense." PBS. N.p., n.d.
Web.
This article talks about the history of the insanity plea, how it has
evolved and why it has evolved. The definition of the insanity
plea has changed many times in regards to many different
circumstances. This article highlights that of original British law
and the main change that John Hinckley brought to insanity
defense. This article was very detailed and presented an
extremely well qualified background. Unfortunately, this article
also brought to light that not every state verifies the insanity
plea and therefore trumps on the civil rights of the mentally ill.
This article, according to Beggs, does not display any bias.
Kahn, D. S. (2010). Presumed guilty until proven innocent: The burden
of proof in wrongful conviction claims under state compensation
statutes. University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, 44, 123168.
The issue of erroneous convictions in capital cases has recently
gained considerable nationwide media attention. This article
builds on prior research by examining 76 cases of inmates who
were released from death rows between 1970 and 1998 because
of doubts about their guilt. By using sources, or persons who
have extensive insider knowledge about these cases, as well as
published court opinions, it was possible to identify the causes of
the wrongful convictions as well as the significant events that led
to the discovery of the miscarriages of justice. The data indicate
that prosecutorial misconduct, perjury of witnesses, police
misconduct, and racial discrimination were influential factors that
led to the wrongful convictions. In addition, continued
investigation by the defense attorney, new witnesses coming
forward, and/or a confession from another person were the
factors most often leading to the discovery of errors. These
findings suggest that there have not been any significant
changes in causes of erroneous convictions since the
implementation of contemporary safeguards. As a result, policy
changes are suggested to decrease the chances of erroneous
executions. This article gives an action plan to the ambiguity that
is the Strickland ruling.
Kronick, Eric. "Sixth Amendment: Actual Denial." Sixth Amendment
Center. N.p., n.d. Web.

This article brings to light the injustice that is taking place across
the entire nation regarding representation the accused. In more
misdemeanor courts than not, the accused are not even offered
a representative, even though it is required under the
Constitution. This article also brings the light the fact that the
court is manipulating the accused into believing they will go to
prison if they do not follow the requests of the court. In some
court systems, the accused is allowed to have an attorney
present, but after will be sent a bill for the counsel. There is no
authority in the government to monitor this injustice or to insure
that poor people facing jail threats are adequately defended. The
article puts forth the argument that When liberty is no longer an
inalienable right government tyranny is achieved. This article
is phenomenal in presenting facts, but strikes as a little biased in
its personal point of view.
Medwed, D. S. (2012). Presentence Investigation Reports. Washington
State University Law Review. Web.
From the discretion of judges to the crowding of correctional
institutions, few criminal justice operational practices have
escaped the influence of changing public policy ideologies. Once
the basis for the argument of an individual offender's potential
for change, PSIs have been transformed as the system has
shifted to policy-based sentencing practices that place higher
value on personal accountability and uniform procedure. Social
forces that have shaped these alterations over time are explored
in this article, along with how they have progressively affected
and altered the basic functions of PSIs. Practical staff-related
consequences of these developments are discussed, along with
implications for future PSI utility and alternative research
methods for exploring its potential influence. This article
presents no bias, only stating pure facts on the decline in usage
of the presentence investigation report.
Norris, R. J., Bonventre, C. L., Redlich, A. D., & Acker, J. R. (2011). Than
that one innocent suffer: Evaluating state safeguards against wrongful
convictions. Albany Law Review, 74, 13011362.
Although an association has been established between
sentencing recommendations made by probation officers and the
actual sentences received by offenders, to date, few scholars
have examined the role of offender and officer characteristics in
these recommendations. This article uses quantitative data from
one small California jurisdiction between 2004 and 2006 to
explore the role of legal and extralegal factors in sentencing

recommendations. The minimal impact of extralegal factors is

discussed and conclusions are made about why this may be the
case. Ultimately, this research is intended to shed further light on
the sentencing process and the previously documented
sentencing disparities that exist.
"Post Conviction Remedies: Parts I & II." American Bar Association. N.p.,
n.d. Web.
This article states the proceedings, jurisdiction, scope, grounds,
requirements, and limitations for Post-Conviction. IT states just
how to properly conduct and file these appeals and how to abide
with the law while doing so. This excerpt is directly from the
America Bar Association Criminal Justice Section. This is the most
accurate and informative article on this topic out there.
Robertson, C. T. (2012). Contingent compensation of post-conviction
counsel: A modest proposal to identify meritorious claims and reduce
wasteful government spending. Maine Law Review, 64, 513529
As the discovery of wrongful convictions grows, so does concern
in the legal community about actual innocence. Though research
on miscarriages of justice has grown tremendously, most has
focused on the factors contributing to wrongful convictions, with
relatively little attention paid to the post-release struggles of
convicts. This study provides a content analysis of existing
compensation statutes for the wrongly convicted. Results show
that just more than half of American states have compensation
statutes for those convicted, and the assistance offered varies
tremendously from state to state. Assessing current statutes in
comparison to a model standard indicates that whereas some
jurisdictions provide fairly comprehensive packages, others offer
little in the way of reentry assistance. The importance of such
statutes and implications for the wrongly convicted are discussed
in this article.
Sex Offenses and Offenders. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Justice,
Office of Justice Programs., 1997. Bureau Justice Statistics. Web.
This paper examines trends in the criminal justice system's
handling of rape cases since the implementation of reforms both
nationally and in three states: California, New York and
Pennsylvania. Included in these reformulations were more refined
dependent measures of rape (age and gender specific); the
inclusion in the analysis of equivalent trends for robbery to
control for extraneous factors that may increase these
adjudication outcomes for all violent crimes; and, finally, more
liberally defined time periods which include data from the late

eighties.. When these methodological reformulations were made,

results indicated that conviction rates for rape increased over
and above increases observed for robbery in all three states.
While rates of incarceration also increased in all states for rape,
only in Pennsylvania and at the national level did these increases
exceed those observed for robbery. While proponents of rape law
reform would not necessarily characterize the picture painted by
these findings as a perfect one, this research demonstrates the
importance of utilizing more refined measures and
methodologies with which to examine trends in the adjudication
of rape since reforms.
Simon, D. (2012). In doubt: The Rulings You See Arent What You Get.
Cambridge: MA, Harvard University Press.
A criminal defendant in the United States faces a stark choice:
accept the conviction and punishment the prosecutor offers as a
plea bargain, or go to trial and risk much worse. In most cases
the defendant has an overwhelming incentive to plead guilty;
thats why very few criminal cases go to trial. Unfortunately that
incentive is similar for defendants who are in fact guilty and for
those who are not. As a result, some innocent defendants plead
guilty. Some innocent defendants who plead guilty are later
proven innocent and exonerated, but no one, not even this
author, knows just how often. This article discusses the over
post-conviction trial motions as unfair from the start, as counsel
can conduct Presentence Investigation reports, character
witnesses, and bring up prior convictions.
Smith, R. J. (2012). Recalibrating constitutional innocence protection.
Washington Law Review,87, 139204.
This article describes the nature and importance of wrongful
conviction as a criminal justice policy issue, the development of
an innocence movement to litigate on behalf of potential
exonerees and to promote policy issues, the innocence
movements policy and research agenda, and the very small
amount of criminal justice research on the issue in comparison to
legal and psychological inquiry..Research models from political
science and sociology regarding the study of public policy, social
movements, and interest groups offer themes and methods that
would allow criminal justice researchers to expand their
understanding of the criminal justice systems capacity for
reform. Network analysis and the diffusion of innovation research
are suggested as approaches to examine the context and spread
of innocence reforms. This article shows direct research on
wrongful conviction, its effects of the criminal justice system, and

states innocence reform as a solution. This article shows no bias

and is based solely on research conducted by the National
Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Suter, Erica. "ALA's and Adnan Syed." Marylandpostconviction.com.
N.p., n.d. Web.
Adnan Syeds case was made internationally known based on an
award winning podcast, Serial. Throughout the first season, the
announcers and attorneys take the listeners on a journey and
expose all of the details in Mr. Syeds case. Adnan lost his postconviction trial. This article details the next steps after the loss of
post-coviction: The Leave to Appeal option. One many people
and convicts are not informed of. This allows the convict to
appeal their appeal and force the state Supreme Court to listen
to their case. If they do not get past that round, they are
encouraged to seek out help from the individual states Justice
Bureau or Innocence Project. Based on the Beggs test, this
article does not present any bias due to its lack of personal
statements and personal gain from the article. This article is of
substance, but can only be applied after the post-conviction
hearing is denied.
"The Causes of Wrongful Conviction." - The Innocence Project. N.p., n.d.
Web. 20 Jan. 2016.
Those who have been wrongfully imprisoned face a variety of
challenges upon reentering the community, and monetary
compensation may be helpful in rebuilding ones life following a
period of incarceration. Using a sample of 396 university
students, the author investigated the role of exonerees
race/ethnicity and prior conviction history. Results suggest that
males, minority group members, and older participants tended to
rate hypothetical exonerees as more deserving of financial
compensation. Perceptions of deservingness for compensation
did not differ according to the exonerees race/ethnicity, but
exonerees who had no prior convictions were perceived as more
deserving compared with those with prior misdemeanor or felony
drug convictions. This study is completely unbiased. It actually
works to bring out the bias in the justice system.
Weaver, Russell L., Langdells Legacy: Living with the Case Method, 36
VILLANOVA LAW REVIEW 517-596 (1991).
After lengthy examinations of the case method, its history,
benefits, shortcomings, and its impact on legal education,
Weaver suggests some improvements through Educating
Students About Goals & Objectives, Classroom Reinforcement,

Encouraging Independent Thought, and Examinations. This

article is used in classrooms at Ivy and top-tier universities. This
article opens up a debate that the way things have always been
done may not be the best. Weaver debates the judicial standard
procedure and general education outlines. This article is
subjective in that it challenges a tradition, but is not of substance
with any legal regard because the article simply does not
acknowledge any support or correspondence with any other
parties.
Williams, Kenneth. "18: Strickland." Most Deserving of Death?: An
Analysis of the Supreme Court's Death Penalty Jurisprudence. Farnham,
Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2012. N. pag. Print.
This excerpt argues that Judge Marshalls dissenting opinion on
the Strickland case has exacerbated the ineffective counsel
problems. The author brings light to the disparity in the use of
Strickland as merely grounds for a ruling by an individual judge.
The article notes that the consequences of the death penalty are
far too much a burden for just one judge to bear, and that the
fate of a real humans life is in the hands of one man or woman.
This article does not show any signs of bias and is merely based
on fact. This excerpt is extremely helpful with the topic of postconviction, and goes along nicely with the main ideas among
Thurgood Marshalls dissenting opinion.
Zacharias, F. C. (2005). The Role of Prosecutors in Serving Justice After
Convictions in Juvenile Justice. Vanderbilt Law Review, 58, 171239.
Despite significant rates of psychopathology, less than 10% of
court-involved youth are connected to appropriate care on
release from detention. The majority are mandated to probation
on release, providing the juvenile probation officer (PO) a unique
opportunity to facilitate connection to mental health care..
Results supported previous research discussing the conflicting
roles in juvenile probation: law enforcement and rehabilitation. A
number of individual- and system-level factors specific to
juvenile POs improved or impaired likelihood of connection to
care. Further research should investigate how the interaction of
the individual juvenile POs law enforcement orientation, and
departmental culture and climate, affects youths connection to
mental health care. This article displays the dilemma between
giving people, even juveniles, the punishment that they deserve,
while also fostering a recognition for their mental health.
Zwanetz, David. "Maryland's Statutory Presumptions for DUI Offenses."
N.p., 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 19 Sept. 2015.

This article talks about the approach of DUI/DWI charges.

Maryland is a two-tiered state, in that being charged with a
DUI/DWI involves two charges that go hand in hand. One charge
is driving under the influence. However, the other is driving while
impaired. The difference between the two is that the a charge
must have good evidence, such as a sobriety test. The unique
fact about this is that the b charge must not involve a
breathalyzer test. This article is extremely helpful in showing its
readers the tricks in a common law that many people do not
know. When being charged, these two-tiered laws make for the
main reason people can be charged without actually being guilty.