Criminal

The problem with unsure juries

Sometimes a jury isn’t convinced that a defendant is guilty, but they still kinda, sorta think he might be. Often, they have a way out: the lesser included charge.

Juries are given the option of convicting on lesser charges because, in theory, the prosecution may have convinced them that the defendant did what he was accused of, but was not able to prove all the necessary elements of the more serious charge.

Today, Paul Bell, Jr. was acquitted of rape, but convicted of sexual battery. For this to have happened, essentially the jury needs to have been convinced that the assault happened, but unconvinced that it involved any actual sexual penetration. It’s hard to escape the suspicion, however, that the jury simply didn’t know who to believe, so they split the difference.

Criminal

Court rules on warrant issue

The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled in Gilmette v. State that police do not need a warrant to search property already in their possession thanks to a lawful arrest, even if that search reveals evidence unrelated to the crime for which the person was arrested. Ruling here.

This isn’t too surprising. But it does serve as a useful reminder that once the police have your property in their custody (assuming they’ve gotten in properly and legally), then can absolutely search it, do lab tests, etc.

Roundup

Monday roundup 8/11

Couple of things to hit on today:

Rebecca Green with the J-G has a nice article about big changes in local courts as employees flee in droves to avoid expected changes to their retirement fund. This is apparently happening throughout the state, per ILB.

A lot of people are talking about the legal ramifications of the Tony Stewart-Kevin Ward accident Saturday. Here’s just one example (which I’m not necessarily endorsing). For now, it’s enough to remember that Stewart could be liable even if he didn’t have any “criminal intent.” Also, that criminal liability and civil liability have different standards. To be convicted of manslaughter, the state would have to prove either intent to injure (1st degree) or recklessness (2nd degree). To win in a civil case, Ward’s family would need only prove negligence, which is an easier standard to meet than recklessness. One last thought: New York is a “pure comparative negligence” state. That means that, even if Ward is mostly to blame, if a jury assigns any percentage of fault to Stewart, he’d be liable for that share of the damages.

In the local courts last week, one of our many outstanding bar shooting cases has made it to the end, as Senaca Lapsley was sentenced to 78 years for aggravated battery and criminal recklessness with a specification for being an habitual offender.

The death of an elderly lady whose body was discovered Friday has been ruled a homicide.

Criminal

James Brady and the delayed homicide

Of interesting note for some might be that James Brady’s death has been ruled a homicide, as the direct result of injuries he sustained when John Hinckley, Jr. shot him more than 33 years ago.  Hinckley was famously attempting to kill Ronald Reagan in an effort to impress Jodie Foster.

Traditionally, a death would be considered not a homicide if it occurred more than a year and a day after the action that was claimed to have caused it. Most states have moved away from this rule in one fashion or another.

Criminal

Michael Worthington executed

On Monday, I mentioned the Michael Worthington case. Pleading guilty to rape and murder, he was sentenced to death. The execution apparently went off without a hitch early this morning. Yesterday, the Court rejected his appeal for a stay on the standard 5-4 vote you see in this cases.

It’s not the most common thing in the world for someone to plead guilty and still receive a sentence of death. It’s also rare for someone to be executed based on factors determined by a judge rather than a jury, after Ring v. Arizona. Put simply, aggravating factors that would make someone eligible for execution must be examined by a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. It’s actually kind of a mess state-by-state, so I might try to find time to go into how it’s applied in Indiana in more detail. It doesn’t really matter in this case, though. Worthington clearly and voluntarily waived his right to a jury trial, so Ring didn’t apply.

Worthington was Missouri’s seventh executed prisoner of 2014, and 77th since the Court lifted the ban on executions in 1976 in Gregg v. Georgia. That ranks Missouri 5th overall (Missouri’s first post-Gregg execution wasn’t until 1989) and tied with Texas and Florida for the most so far this year.

Indiana has one execution technically scheduled for later this year, but the appeals process will end up pushing the date back, likely years. Thirteen other people have been sentenced to die in Indiana but do not currently have execution dates set.

Civil Rights

Big day for marriage cases

We’ll have to wait a few more weeks (Aug. 26) for the hearing on Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban with the 7th Circuit, but that doesn’t mean things aren’t happening. Target is joining the growing list of companies supporting marriage equality by filing a brief with the court. Generally, companies are lining up in favor of same-sex marriage recognition for two reasons: it’s good PR, and they believe allowing same-sex marriages in states where they do business will help them attract better employees.

Meanwhile, the 6th Circuit is looking at the bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee right now. Shortly after the hearing is over, a link to the audio will be posted on the 6th Circuit’s website.

And SCOTUSblog updated late yesterday afternoon that both Utah and Virginia officials are wasting no time asking the Supreme Court to step in. Things are moving fast. Stay tuned.

General

New Chief Justice on the way

Not a whole lot to talk about today, so head on over to the Indiana Law Blog for this nice commentary on the process for selecting the next Chief Justice of Indiana’s Supreme Court.

In short, the Chief Justice is selected by a committee of seven, made up of the current Chief Justice, three attorneys voted on by the state’s lawyers, and three non-attorneys selected by the Governor.

Civil Rights, Criminal, Environment, Health Care, Roundup

Early Monday roundup 8/4

I took an early weekend, so I have a couple of things to catch up on. Most legally important news happens before Friday, but things do still happen. I might make it a regular habit to dump the stuff that slips through the cracks over the weekend on Monday morning.

First, same-sex marriage. The plaintiffs aren’t going to be given a lot of time in the Indiana/Wisconsin consolidated case to make their arguments. Meanwhile, a county clerk in Virginia is filing for cert with the Supreme Court on the marriage ban there.

With the Seventh Circuit case moving so quickly, it seems likely that the issue of same-sex marriage is going to be decided once and for all during the next Supreme Court term.

Next, health care. The issue of health subsidies for states using the federal exchange is also being pushed forward as fast as possible. Nothing new here, but I expect the Court to take this up right away, as well.

Looking ahead. Nothing much on the SCOTUS front, as the new term doesn’t start until the very end of September.  The Indiana Supreme Court starts hearing cases again just after Labor day.

However, there will be some interesting legal topics in the news this week. Definitely pay attention to the Toledo water crisis. As of this writing, the water was officially down to safe toxin levels(!), but mayor Collins wasn’t ready to lift the advisory on account of two “too close for comfort” results. We’re going to be talking a lot about the cause of the algal bloom, which is almost certainly directly related to farm fertilizer runoff (thanks to a heavy rain season). I suspect the end result on the legal front will be either 1) Ohio enacting new regulations and farmers suing or 2) Ohio not enacting many new regulations and environmental groups suing (or 3) both).

There is also one execution to watch for this week. There were three scheduled, but two have already been stayed. Michael Worthington is set to die Wednesday in Missouri. Worthington broke into his neighbor’s house while drunk and high, strangled her unconscious, raped her, and then beat her and strangled her to death when she woke up and tried to fight him off. Interestingly, he was sentenced to death despite pleading guilty, which is not something you see every day. After Joseph Wood appeared to suffer tremendously in a prolonged death in Arizona last month, all eyes will be on Missouri. I don’t think either the public or the Supreme Court has the political desire to ban executions outright, but if states prove that they are unable to kill people without torturing them (whether or not you blame it on the European Union), that sentiment might begin to shift in both cases.