Can the Holy Spirit Participate in Jury Deliberations?
Not just any old holy spirit, but the Holy Spirit.
Legal System
Defendant Votes on His Own Indictment
Grand jury proceedings are secret, so I guess we’ll never know which way he voted.
Way Less Than You Need to Know About the Civil- and Common-Law Systems
But more than you probably need to know about raccoon law.
Court: Not Prejudicial to Feign Sleep During Defense Argument
Prosecutor also allegedly pointed at defendant and mouthed “HE DID IT” while defense counsel wasn’t looking.
Jury Laughs at Hot-Yoga Guy
Which, just FYI, is not a good sign if you weren’t joking.
Some Judges Show Up for Jury Duty. Some Don’t. And Some Lawyer Up.
"Some" is probably the wrong word in that last sentence, because I'd be surprised if this has ever happened before. But it did happen recently in the federal District of Kansas, according to this order by Judge Eric Melgren (thanks, Matt). Judge…
Judge Caught Driving Defendant’s Car Says He Was “Just Looking After It”
Things haven't gone too well for Eike Batista over the past few years. Once the richest man in Brazil and among the top ten in the world (he supposedly made it to eighth place), with a net worth of about…
Jury Finds for Rick Springfield in Buttocks-Assault Case
A jury in Syracuse needed just 61 minutes to deliberate on this one, making it all the more puzzling to me why Rick Springfield’s attorneys thought they needed a mistrial the first time around. As you may recall, Vicki Calcagno…
“The Singing Was Quite Beautiful But Was Preventing Me From Hearing the Evidence”
Singing in court is rarely appropriate, even if you have a good voice.
The Defendant Seems to Have Left, Your Honor
Here's a criminal-defense strategy you might not have considered: just get up and walk out. They certainly won't be expecting that. And probably for that reason, it's worked at least three times. At least temporarily. The first example I know of was…