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In This Episode:

I pull back the curtain on the concepts of Duress and Necessity. In Duress, the law recognizes that there are times are free will may be so compromised by threat of bodily harm or death that we should not be held criminally liable for crimes we commit while under the influence of these threats. Further and even a more radical notion, Necessity shows that there are times when the system allows our individual judgement to supersede the law when the harm we create is less than the harm we are trying to prevent under exceptional circumstances. Obviously very specific circumstances must be met to benefit from these concepts, but its important to note the fact that our criminal justice system does take context and circumstances surrounding our crimes into account when deciding not only punishment, but guilt itself.

TRIAL LAWYER MENTOR Quick Tip:

Quick Tip for establishing context in your presentation to make it more real and persuasive to your audience.

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Download AUDIO here (MP3)

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In This Episode:

I pull back the curtain on Prosecutorial Misconduct.  Recently a Texas Judge was disbarred, sentenced to 10 days in jail and 500 hours of community service for criminal contempt.  He was accused of lying to a judge in 1987 while he was a prosecutor trying the murder case of Michael Morton.  Mr. Morton spent 25 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. After DNA tests exonerated him of the crime, his lawyers obtained the original files which showed that the detective and the prosecutor had in their possession witness statements which tended to show Mr. Morton’s innocence and they failed to turn those over to the defense. Beyond that breach of ethical duty, the prosecutor was accused of lying to the Judge about the existence of these statements just before the original trial.  This is just one recent example of the system being corrupted by a corrupt prosecutor. What sets this case apart is not the egregiousness of the conduct (unfortunately such conduct is not rare) but that the prosecutor was actually punished for this conduct.

We will explore the Brady Rule and the new proposals that are being set forth to try to prevent these gross and deliberate miscarriages of justice. For a look at some other examples of prosecutorial misconduct see the following: 

The Untouchables: America’s Misbehaving Prosecutors and the System that Protects Them

LAWYERS and LAW STUDENTS:

Click here to sign up for our free newsletter where I share in depth tips and strategies for mastering the Art of the Jury Trial.

Download AUDIO here (MP3)