Cert petitions involving evidentiary issues, more
by: Ryan • June 20, 2012 • no comments
The last few editions of SCOTUSblog's Petitions to Watch have included few cert petitions applicable to criminal cases. (FYI: at SCOTUS, it's a petition for cert; at the Oregon Supreme Court, it's a petition for review.)
That changed this week. There appears to be some great stuff. Will SCOTUS grant review of any of them? And frankly, would we want it to?
Regardless, lots of good stuff to cut-n-paste, for the attorney whose research time is strictly limited. And you'll also find a reference to a 7th Circuit opinion that will surprise you. Petitions, reply briefs, etc., for all the cases listed below can be found here.
Contents |
Hassoun v. United States
Docket: 11-1198 Issue(s): (1) Whether Federal Rule of Evidence 701 permits a lay witness with no percipient knowledge of conversations to offer "opinions" as to a speaker's supposed meaning of words used in those conversations; and (2) whether the terrorism sentencing enhancement may be imposed in the absence of the statutorily-required finding that the defendant's motive is to intimidate, coerce, or retaliate against government conduct.
(Issue (1) was particularly interesting to me, because the same issue nearly came up in a case I had involving jail calls and the detective's "interpretation" of what the two people on the phone were talking about.)
Jayyousi v. United States
Docket: 11-1194 Issue(s): Whether, consistent with the ruling below and that of four other circuits, and contrary to the rule in five circuits, lay opinion testimony satisfies Federal Rules of Evidence 701(a) and (b) -- which require that lay opinion testimony be "rationally based on the witness's perception" and that it be "helpful" to the factfinder's determination -- where the witness has no first-hand knowledge of the underlying events about which the witness opines.
(You already know I think defense attorneys should be working harder to keep out the opinions of police officers. Sounds like there might be federal case law referenced in this petition which could help.)
Herring v. Florida
Docket: 11-1158 Issue(s): Whether the Florida Supreme Court's refusal to permit consideration of the standard error of measurement in its determination of mental retardation in capital cases violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, which forbid the execution of a mentally retarded person under Atkins v. Virginia.
Micci v. Aleman
Docket: 11-1062 Issue(s): (1) Whether the Seventh Circuit correctly held, on a question that has fractured the circuits, that police may be civilly liable for the use of a suspect's custodial statement, obtained either in violation of Miranda v. Arizona or as a result of coercion, where the statement was introduced to charge the suspect but the charges were dismissed prior to trial; and (2) whether the Seventh Circuit correctly held - seemingly for the first time by any federal appellate court - that a police officer unconstitutionally coerced a suspect's statements by using the routine interview technique of lying to the suspect about the strength of the case against him.
(The first issue should be of interest to those of you who handle civil suits arising out of false arrest-type cases, but issue (2): wow!)
