Trial Skills

Timothy Smith is an avid fisherman and software engineer who lives in Mobile, Alabama near the Gulf Coast.  He discovered that a private company named Strikezones, headquartered in the Northern District of Florida, was selling geographic coordinates of artificial reefs that individuals create to attract fish.  Irritated that Strikezones was profiting from the work of private reef builders, Smith used some software to secretly obtain tranches of coordinates from Strikezone’s website and made them available to requesters on social media.

Harahan, La. police captain is written up for numerous infractions including false statements and conduct unbecoming, and the district attorney places the captain on the "Giglio list" of liars and bad cops, an averred death knell for his career. Cop: I need to appeal so I can get off the Giglio list but the DA gives me no process, violating my Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. District court: Agreed. The cop's claim can proceed because cop has an interest in working his occupation and being on the list jeopardizes that. Fifth Circuit: Working an occupation? How is that a liberty?

Detroit man spends more than 20 years in prison for a 12-year-old girl's murder—a crime he did not commit. Indeed, another man's fingerprints are on the murder weapon, and the defendant's confession (which got the cause of death wrong) followed a detective's telling him he could go home after signing it. Once he's released, he sues the city and involved officials who, as you might expect, assert qualified immunity.

Man is convicted of sex crimes in Indian country against an Indian victim under statute that applies if either the perpetrator or victim is an Indian—but does not apply if both are. Man: The feds didn't show I am not an Indian. Feds: That's your fault for not objecting to the jury instructions. Tenth Circuit: That's your fault for not proving an essential element of the crime. Convictions reversed.

The case is United States v. Simpkins, No. 22-7048 (10th Cir. Jan. 24, 2024).

Is it okay for a criminal-defense counsel to tell his (Black) client that if he goes to trial, the jury "would be culled of any minorities" and he'd be tried before an all-white jury? Tenth Circuit: No, it is definitely not okay. And given that misrepresentation about the right to a fair and impartial trial, the client's resulting guilty plea can't be said to have been knowing and voluntary. He gets to withdraw his guilty plea.

A prosecutor’s cross-examination and closing argument laced with homophobic invective constitute misconduct but fall short of warranting a new trial for the defendant, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Thursday (

The Second Circuit referred a New York attorney for punishment Tuesday for submitting a brief citing a fake case generated by ChatGPT and not checking over the brief to catch the mistake (view full article)

The lawyer was referred to the Second Circuit's grievance panel.

Federal prosecutors in New York on Wednesday announced the arrest of the first five people to face criminal charges arising out of an ongoing investigation into the widespread theft of $1 million worth of checks since 2021 intended for court-appointed lawyers (view press release).

“Black drivers have a problem in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond Police Department (‘RPD’) officers stop Black drivers five times more frequently than white drivers.” 

These are the opening lines in United States v. Kieth Moore, No. 3:21-cr-00042 (E.D.V.A. Feb. 12, 2024), dismissing an indictment for felon-in-possession of a firearm after finding that Mr. Moore had proven selective prosecution involving RPD traffic stops. 

As we commemorate Black History Month, it is crucial to reflect on landmark legal cases that have significantly contributed to the ongoing struggle for racial justice. One such pivotal case is Batson v. Kentucky.

At James K. Batson's 1982 state-court trial for burglary and receiving stolen property, the prosecution used “peremptory strikes” to remove four possible jurors who, like Batson, were black. The resulting all-white jury convicted Batson; he received a 20-year sentence.