Under the law, the statute of limitations prohibits prosecutors from charging someone for a crime they allegedly committed more than a specified number of years ago. Criminal statute of limitations ensure that criminal trials are based on the most reliable evidence available considering evidence can deteriorate with the passage of time. Witness testimony can get… Read More »
Insanity Defense
While Wisconsin has an insanity defense, there are five states that do not, including Kansas, which abolished the insanity defense years ago. In the case Kayler vs Kansas, the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to consider if the constitution allows a state to abolish the insanity defense, which, depending on the result, may prompt other… Read More »
Proving Consent in Sexual Assault Cases
Recently, the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates rejected a resolution to endorse the Affirmative Consent Standard, which called for state legislatures to “define consent in sexual assault cases as the assent of a person competent to give consent…and provide that consent is expressed by word or action in the context of all circumstances”. The… Read More »
Concerns Regarding Private Prisons & Capitalization of Incarceration
A recent article published by the Sentencing Project speaks to how the 1980’s War on Drugs resulted in harsher sentencing policies - including mandatory minimums - that gave way to a burgeoning prison population across the nation. To ease the burden placed on the public sector, for-profit private prisons started operating in many states and… Read More »
Facial Recognition Technology Used as Evidence in a Crime
Law enforcement has a new tool in their crime fighting kit: facial recognition technology (FRT). Although it is unknown how many police departments use the FRT, it is a growing trend with some departments already using it without the public’s knowledge, sometimes to catch people in the crowd who may have outstanding warrants. While some… Read More »
What is a Presentencing Investigation PSI?
A presentence investigation, or PSI as it is often called, is an in-depth report about a defendant that judges look at before sentencing. Few have heard about PSIs as they are meant to be private because they can contain sensitive information about a defendant ranging from personal circumstances to previous brushes with the law. A… Read More »
Eyewitness Identifications Come Under Fire
Among the tools of the trade for solving a crime, police may rely on a combination of witness accounts, surveillance video, DNA evidence, and tracking technology in cell phones and computers. The use of mugshots from previous arrests may also be utilized by some police departments, but the practice has come under fire because it… Read More »
Mental Illness Often Disregarded When Punishing Crimes
As our understanding of neuroscience expands, so to does our understanding of criminal behavior and the need for changes in how society punishes crimes. Increasingly, scientists are uncovering a strong connection between human actions and behavior and the neural/chemical processes that take place in the brain. This issue raises important questions regarding culpability and the… Read More »
Latest Technologies Used as Evidence in Criminal Cases
Advanced technologies have provided law enforcement many tools to investigate crimes, among them video surveillance, GPS devices, cellphones and even Fitbits that were originally intended as a fitness and health motivator for users. A comparatively newer technology, Fitbit has been crucial to a solving a number of crimes, including homicides where Fitbit timeline and location… Read More »
I’ve Done Nothing Wrong But the Police Want to Question Me
Because someone is innocent, they may wave their Fifth Amendment right to silence, talking to police before requesting and having a lawyer be present at their questioning. This willingness to be cooperative is seldom a good idea because it can put innocents at risk of being charged for a crime. This is largely because innocence… Read More »