Court Watch

Maurice Possley, Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize To Speak at Vanguard Event

In November, California voters will be asked to decide whether to keep the death penalty in place or convert the sentences to life without parole.  Proponents of the effort to repeal the state’s death penalty point to the fact that the state has only executed 13 people since the death penalty was reinstated at a cost of $184 million per year, according to a recent study.

by Ramon Solis –

The Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling determined that mandatory life without possibility of parole for minors in homicide-related cases is unconstitutional.

The ruling was based off the precedent of two now concluded court cases. In each case a fourteen-year-old was convicted of homicide. The first case found Arkansas native Kuntrell Jackson guilty of a convenience store murder in 1999, even though he decided to stay outside while the murder took place. The other case found an Alabama boy named Evan Miller guilty after beating a 52-year-old neighbor and setting fire to his home. The neighbor then died of smoke inhalation.

One of the problems facing those who believe that the problem of wrongful convictions is far deeper that statistics currently available would indicate, is the dearth of reliable longitudinal data.

However, a new study that involved the DNA testing of hundreds of old Virginia homicide and sexual assault cases supports the exoneration of at least 38 suspects, according to a study released Monday by a national policy group that examined the test results.

The Three Strikes Reform ballot initiative will not fix all of the problems associated with the three strikes law.  What it will do is fix the problem of people charged with minor crimes such as stealing a package of shredded cheese, then facing a 25 year to life sentence.

In 2010, the Yolo County District Attorney’s office, led by Deputy DA Clinton Parish, sought to put Robert Ferguson, charged with the theft of a package of shredded cheese, into prison for life under California’s three strikes law.

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of attending the Justice Summit put on by the Public Defender’s Office in San Francisco.  They had three panels, and one of the most interesting spoke to alternative approaches to gang prevention efforts.

One of the most compelling speeches was the “keynote” by UCLA Professor Jorja Leap, author of Jumped In: What Gangs Taught Me About Violence, Drugs, Love and Redemption.

One race that clearly lacked drama was the race for Yolo County Judge, where Judge Dan Maguire easily retained his seat defeating Deputy District Attorney Clinton Parish.  With the latest update from the Yolo County Clerk Recorder’s Office, Judge Dan Maguire holds an overwhelming 55.4% lead in the election for Yolo County Superior Court Judge. Judge Dan Maguire currently has 20,543 votes (77.2%) compared to Clint Parish who has 6,054 votes (22.8%).

The atmosphere was a bit different than the typical day in Yolo County.  Judge David Reed’s department six was packed full of 12 defendants, five attorneys, and countless supporters, to the point where the court’s capacity was maxed and throngs of supporters overflowed into the lobby, where some briefly verbally skirmished with private security personnel who staff the exterior portions of the courthouse.

The launching of the National Registry of Exonerations, a new joint project of the University of Michigan Law School and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, actually reminds us of just how little we actually know about wrongful convictions, where and when they occur, and how many have occurred.

What we do know ought to alarm and frighten people far more than they are.  The reason we are not utterly alarmed on a global scale is that we are comforted by the relatively small number of false convictions.

Brian Banks was a star linebacker that every major college program in the country wanted to have play for them.  However, it was all taken from him when he was accused of rape and his lawyer convinced him to take a plea bargain even though there was no physical evidence of the crime.

Without that plea bargain, California Innocence Project Director Justin Brooks wrote last month, “he might have spend the rest of his life in prison even though the case was built on the shaky testimony of his alleged victim, a fellow high school student.”