July/August 2014
Find out why a balance of skilled oration and compelling visuals is essential when making arguments before the modern jury.
Articles in this Issue
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Celebrating Liberty’s Last Champions: Guardians of The Constitution
NACDL Immediate Past President Jerry J. Cox handed out two awards on August 1, 2014, at the Foundation for Criminal Justice gala in Philadelphia, Pa. Texas attorney Cynthia Eva Hujar Orr received the Robert C. Heeney Award, and New York attorney Rick Jones received the Champion of Justice Award.
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Championing Liberty: NACDL Members Travel to Liberia For Criminal Defense Training
In June 2014, NACDL members traveled to the Liberian town of Kakata to conduct a criminal defense training workshop with Liberian public defenders.
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Closing Arguments: Powerful Visuals Pack a Punch
A balance of skilled oration and compelling visuals is essential when selling an argument to contemporary, tech-savvy jurors. If an attorney uses only auditory communication, 83 percent of the jury members are not being effectively addressed.
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Federal Defenders Give W. Fred Turner Award to Dale Baich
The National Association of Federal Defenders created an award in 2013 to recognize exceptional performances by defender staff despite the severe limitations imposed by funding shortfalls.
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From the President: The Life of Riley
Instantaneous electronic answers can reveal information that is so private that no one, and certainly not the government, should have access without a search warrant. This is what we know as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Riley v. California.
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Indigent Defense: The Rock Does Not Have to Roll
An Internet meme recently passed around by public defenders shows six panels with different photos and captions. The title “Public Defender” appears in large letters above the six panels. The first panel shows a huge high-capacity monster dump truck with this caption: “What my clients think I do.” The next panel — showing a gang of gun-wielding people who seem to be kidnapping a judge — is accompanied by this caption: “What prosecutors think I do.” In the third panel one sees a wine bottle and a glass of red wine: “What judges think I do.” The fourth panel depicts jail inmates going into a prison, through a revolving gate, and coming right back out: “What voters think I do.” The fifth panel shows a clip from To Kill a Mockingbird with Atticus Finch (actor Gregory Peck) sitting in the courtroom defending the falsely accused Tom Robinson (actor Brock Peters): “What I think I do.” The final panel shows Sisyphus rolling his mythical boulder up the mountain and is accompanied by this caption: “What I really do.”1
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NACDL Interns and Law Fellows Advance the Cause of Justice (Inside NACDL)
NACDL has been fortunate to have brilliant and engaging students from across the country serve as interns, law clerks, and Summer Law Fellows.
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NACDL News: 2014-15 Officers and Newly Elected Board of Directors Members
NACDL announced its new officers and directors at its Annual Board and Membership Meeting in Philadelphia, Pa., on Aug. 2, 2014.
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NACDL News: Attorney General Eric Holder Addresses Criminal Defense Bar on Sentencing Reform
On Aug. 1, at NACDL’s 57th Annual Meeting, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. delivered important remarks concerning criminal justice reform and the important role played by the criminal defense bar in ensuring the promise of a fairer and more humane criminal justice system.
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NACDL News: Clemency Project 2014 Receives More Than 20,000 Prisoner Surveys
More than 20,000 federal prisoners, seeking pro bono representation in the clemency process, have returned surveys to Clemency Project 2014.
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NACDL News: Cynthia Orr Receives 2014 Heeney Award
NACDL Past President Jerry J. Cox presented attorney Cynthia Eva Hujar Orr with one of the Association’s most prestigious honors, the Robert C. Heeney Award.
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NACDL News: Grotesque Spectacle in Arizona Demands Immediate End to The Death Penalty in America
On July 23, the state of Arizona executed Joseph Rudolph Wood. Later, it was reported that the execution of Wood took nearly two hours, with Wood gasping for more than an hour and a half after the lethal drugs were injected into him.
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NACDL News: Longtime NACDL Member Cheryl Krause Confirmed to Court of Appeals
<p>Philadelphia-based attorney Cheryl Krause was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on July 7 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She had been nominated by President Barack Obama in February. Krause, who was most recently a partner at the law firm Dechert LLP, joined NACDL in 2003 and served on the Association’s White Collar Crime Committee.</p>
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NACDL News: Maureen Cain Receives Champion of State Criminal Justice Reform Award
Maureen Cain, policy director of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, received the Champion of State Criminal Justice Reform Awardon July 31 at NACDL’s 13th Annual State Criminal Justice Network conference in Philadelphia.
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NACDL News: NACDL Leadership Testifies at Congressional Overcriminalization Hearing
NACDL Second Vice President Rick Jones explains the steps lawmakers should take to restore the rights of individuals who have a conviction.
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NACDL News: NACDL Report Addresses Need To Maintain Privacy Protections For Digital Evidence
At its 2014 Spring Meeting in Las Vegas, NACDL’s Board of Directors approved a white paper on law enforcement searches of digital evidence.
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NACDL News: NACDL-Cardozo Law National Forensic College Sponsors Training
NACDL News: NACDL-Cardozo Law National Forensic College Sponsors Training Ivan J. Dominguez and Isaac Kramer NACDL News July/August 2014 13 Innocence Project Co-Founder Barry Scheck speaks during a training session at the NACDL-Cardozo Law National Forensic College. Public defenders
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NACDL News: Past President Jerry J. Cox Receives Kentucky Bar Association Award
NACDL Past President Jerry J. Cox receives the Kentucky Bar Association’s Distinguished Lawyer Award from KBA President Thomas L. Rouse.
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NACDL News: Rick Jones Receives Champion of Justice Award
Attorney Rick Jones received the NACDL Champion of Justice Award on Aug. 1. Past President Jerry J. Cox presented the award at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia during the Foundation for Criminal Justice’s gala.
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NACDL News: Senate Confirms Pamela Harris As Fourth Circuit Judge
On July 28, the Senate confirmed Professor Pamela Harris, a former national co-chair of NACDL’s Amicus Curiae Committee, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
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NACDL News: The Fourth Amendment Lives Another Day: A Win for Digital Privacy in the U.S. Supreme Co
In a single unanimous ruling on June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court held in both Riley v. California (No. 13-132) and United States v. Wurie (No. 13-212) that even in the context of an arrest, absent exigent circumstances, a warrant is required for police to search the contents of electronic devices such as a cellphone or smartphone.
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NACDL News: Theodore Simon Sworn In as NACDL President
Proud son Asher Simon (left) administers the oath of office to NACDL President Theodore Simon.
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NACDL News: U.S. Sentencing Commission Votes to Cut Federal Prison Terms for Drug Offenses
On July 18, the U.S. Sentencing Commission took a significant step, long urged by NACDL and numerous allied organizations in the criminal justice community, to cut federal prison terms for drug offenses.
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Proceeding Vaguely: Obstruction of a Pending Proceeding Under 18 U.S.C. § 1505
Prosecutions involving obstruction of agency proceedings under 18 U.S.C. § 1505 are challenging to defend because there is no firm answer as to what constitutes a “proceeding.” Does a mere police investigation constitute a proceeding? Rulemaking activities? Preliminary hearings? If the circuit courts of appeals are unable to cogently define what a proceeding is, and if precedents can be found to support almost any definition, then it is blatantly unfair to expect a criminal defendant to know whether the activity he is obstructing is a proceeding rather than a mere police investigation. The legislative history does not support the government’s practice of using this statute to penalize obstruction of routine criminal investigations.
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Roland B. Molineux and His Illegitimate Offspring: The History and Mystery of 404(b)
For over a half-century, the rule concerning the admission of “other bad acts” evidence has been misapplied by a majority of state and federal courts. What originated as a rule to protect the fairness of a trial against the accused has evolved into a rule that admits propensity evidence against a defendant. Criminal defense attorneys must know how to properly argue against the admissibility of other bad acts when those acts do not fit within any of the exceptions.
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Silence When Questioned By Police: Evidentiary and Constitutional Confusion
The authors address defense evidentiary and due process arguments not addressed in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Salinas v. Texas (2013) decision.