|
|
|
Table of Contents
Volume 5, Issue 7
|
Best of the Rest:
Brain Damage Made Mom Murder
Counsel Didn't Argue Intoxicants, Organic Brain Injury Fueled Her Temper
Mother, convicted of murdering her son’s girlfriend, contends that the state’s blood-spatter expert lied about his qualifications. The federal court agrees. Defendant further argues that her ineffective counsel should have explained to the jury her organic brain damage, and her propensity for “violent impulses” that intoxicants exacerbated.
Best of the Rest:
Another Expert Might Smoke Out Suicide
Murder Defendant Says Counsel's Investigation Inadequate
Don Kluck fought with his girlfriend after she took some liquor money from his pocket. The next morning, she was dead from a gunshot wound. Kluck claims counsel should have hired another, better expert to show the victim killed herself.
Best of the Rest:
Don't Say Rape Triggered PTSD
Expert May Corroborate, Not Implicate
Did prejudicial error occur when a clinical psychologist, testifying for the state, indicated that the defendant’s actions were the “triggering event” for the victim’s post traumatic stress disorder?
Current Then . . . Topical Now:
Bad Bump to Schizophrenia
A Comp Debate
A truck hood flew open, and the mechanic fell to the ground and struck his head. Did the injury cause his psychosis?
Editorial:
Lose Brain, Save Life
Regardless of the outcome of Supreme Court rulings, retardation is sure to be the rage in capital defense examinations. Beware the fun with numbers.
Recent Cases:
Startled Vietnam Vet Mauls Antagonizer
Prosecution Objects to Expert on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
In Vietnam, Thomas Mizell checked for explosives. Twenty-seven years later, Mizell exploded at a man who seemed determined to light the veteran's fuse. The court determines whether expert testimony on post traumatic stress disorder is admissible in Mizell's self-defense argument.
Recent Cases:
Tape Sounds Bad, but Still Admissible
Defendant Says Voice Isn't His, Wants Jury to Compare
A concealed tape recorder rolled as the undercover drug operation busted Maurice Taylor. The audio quality was poor. The trial court let the jury hear the arrest tape anyway. The court did not permit them to compare it with the defendant’s live or subsequently recorded voice. The defendant shouts foul.
Recent Cases:
Malingerer, or Forsaken Client?
When Untreated Schizophrenic Client Won't Cooperate, Is Ineffective Counsel to Blame?
The independent psychologist warned Keith Brian Taylor’s attorneys that Taylor’s mental health would decline unless doctors treated him. He further warned that the prosecution would take advantage of Taylor’s inability to assist his defense.
Recent Cases:
When Fire Conceals Death's Cause
Charred Corpse Still Yields Clues that Murder Preceded Blaze
The state’s medical examiner testified that the victim died an unnatural death, before a house fire burned her corpse. But the examiner could not determine the cause of the unnatural death. The state wants the examiner to testify about possible causes whose manifestations the fire would have incinerated along with the victim’s skin.
Recent Cases:
Court Repudiates Sole Witness's Finding
Expert Said No Rational Understanding, but Court Held Defendant Competent
Dr. Stenslie testified that the defendant was incompetent to stand trial. He was “paranoid,” and had only a factual—not rational—understanding of the proceedings against him. The trial court held him competent anyway. Defendant appeals to the Supreme Court of New Hampshire.
Recent Cases:
No Expert for Emotional Indigent
Court Refuses to Appoint Psychiatrist, Psychologist for Affirmative Defense
On trial for murder and sexual assault, Kippy Joe Hill wanted an expert to help prove that the victim’s irascibility, combined with Hill’s mental predisposition, drove him to kill her. Can an expert speak from the stand? Can her corpse, from the grave?
Recent Cases:
Competent to Go Down's?
Credibility and Consent Battle over Retarded Victim
Defendant invited her to his bakery. Soon, though, he was kneading her back in his house. Did the woman with Down’s Syndrome knowingly permit the sexual encounter that ensued? What could an expert offer about her ability to consent, and her credibility, anyway?
Recent Cases:
Incest Recidivism Stats Relevant?
Numbers Say Few Repeat if Treated. Judge Won't Let Jury Hear It.
Defendant admitted that he sexually assaulted his granddaughter, and had molested his daughter twenty years before. He is eligible for probation. Counsel seeks to introduce evidence that statistically few incest offenders recidivate. Is what other offenders do relevant?
Recent Cases:
No Pardon, but Abusive Past Helps
Fed Sentencing Should Consider Extraordinary Circumstances
To get even with a thief, Armondo Walter forged a menacing letter in the thief’s name and sent it to President Clinton. Walter pleaded guilty, but at sentencing asked the district court to consider his history as an abuse victim. The court held to the Guidelines.
Recent Cases:
“Telepath's” Psychiatrist Lacked Clairvoyance
Foreseeable that Walk-In Patient Would Go on Murder Spree?
Law student Wendell Justin Williamson disrupted his classes to announce that he was telepathic. But he seemed harmless enough. Should his student services psychiatrist have foreseen that Williamson might go on a murderous rampage?
Recent Cases:
Scorned Doctor's Syringe Infects Lover
Phylogenetic Analysis Illuminates Shot in Dark's HIV Source
Louisiana alleged that Dr. Richard Schmidt attempted to murder his ex-lover with a stealthy, late-night shot from a hypo of HIV-infected blood. Other than the victim?s own testimony, the only evidence was circumstantial. The experts spoke of the ?relatedness? of the victim?s HIV to one of the defendant?s patients.
Recent Cases:
Looks, Smells Like Urine— What Proof?
Novel Case Explores Untested Water
When a prisoner attacks a guard with urine, the guard knows it’s urine. But is that proof enough for a felony harassment conviction?
Recent Cases:
Tell Jury Who Hired Expert?
He's a Paid Witness, Prosecution Elicits. But Court Won't Let Defense Ask Who Employed Him.
When J. H. Hudson, Sr., appealed his convictions for malice murder and aggravated assault, the Georgia Supreme Court divided over two issues. Could Hudson’s counsel elicit from an expert defense witness that the state paid the witness’s bill? And could the prosecution, in closing, liken Hudson to such notorious villains as Charles Manson, David Berkowitz, and Jeffrey Dahmer?
|
|
|
|
