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Showing 1 - 15 of 1080 results

    • Content Page

    NACDL Engage & Exchange Video Discussion Series

    An ongoing interactive webinar series regularly hosted by NACDL member Mark Satawa of Satawa Law, PLLC, NACDL Senior Resource Counsel Vanessa Antoun, and NACDL Resource Counsel Johnna Carey-Park. Every Wednesday at 2 pm ET. On this page, you can register for the series, volunteer as faculty, submit feedback, and watch past videos!
    • Champion Article

    Forensic Genetic Genealogy Searches: What Defense Attorneys Need to Know

    Law enforcement has started to use genetic genealogy websites to try to identify suspects in cold cases. How does genetic genealogy work? What should defense attorneys look for if forensic genetic genealogy is used in their cases?
    • Champion Article

    Drone Crimes: A New Frontier in Criminal Defense

    The era of drone-related crime is here. Individuals have been accused of using drones to terrorize people, damage property, and stalk former love interests. What considerations are necessary for the defense lawyer representing someone charged with a crime involving a drone?
    • Champion Article

    Inside NACDL: A Long and Winding Road to an Invaluable New Resource

    A Guide to Address Risk Assessment Tools

    In the report released November 2020, NACDL provided an in-depth analysis of risk assessment instruments that demystifies the process by which they are developed and applied in practice.
    • Media

    Criminal Court Reopening in the COVID-19 Era [webinar]

    Featuring NACDL's Task Force on Criminal Court Reopening: Nina Ginsberg, Stephen Ross Johnson, Todd Pugh, and Martín Sabelli
    • Expert

    Expert Found

    NACDL lists experts referred by its members, and an expert was in your search.
    • Content Page

    Death Penalty

    “The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is, Do we deserve to kill?"

    ― Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
    • Media

    Preparing Your Client & Yourself for the Good, Bad, and Unfathomable [Engage & Exchange Series]

    Preparing Your Client & Yourself for the Good, Bad, and Unfathomable with Richard S. Jaffe and Special Guest, Randal Padgett, Death Row Exoneree [Engage & Exchange Series] 
    • Champion Article

    Inside NACDL: NACDL’s Effort to Expose and Limit the Trial Penalty

    Garners Broad Support with the Launch of a National Reform Effort

    The “trial penalty” refers to the substantial difference between the sentence offered in a plea offer prior to trial versus the longer sentence a defendant receives if convicted at trial. The manipulation of the potential penalty creates pressure to waive the right to a trial. With the launch of the Trial Penalty Report, NACDL hopes to begin a reform movement.
    • Landing Page

    Job Board

    NACDL lists employment opportunities in the profession at no cost. Fill out the form below to have your position posted.
    • Document

    No Longer the Gold Standard

    No Longer the Gold Standard: Probabilistic Genotyping is Changing the Nature of DNA Evidence in Criminal Trials, 24 Berkeley J. Crim. L. 110 (2019). By Bess Stiffelman. Academic journal article in Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law. Defense perspective on DNA and Probabilistic Genotyping. Argument that it is inconsistent with the presumption of innocence
    • Document

    Follow Up to No Longer the Gold Standard

    This is a brief response to the critique of Bess Stiffelman's previous article, No Longer the Gold Standard: Probabilistic Genotyping is Changing the Nature of DNA Evidence in Criminal Trials, 24 Berkeley J. Crim. L. 110 (2019). The critique of her article was published earlier this year in this journal. I address both criticisms and misunderstandings of her arguments in an effort to frame the concerns of the criminal defense community about the impact of probabilistic genotyping on the deliberative process.
    • Brief

    United States v. John H. Whitfield, Paul S. Minor, Walter W. Teel

    All three defendants were convicted of conspiracy (18 USC § 371); mail, wire and honest services fraud (18 USC §§ 1341, 1343, 1346); and bribery (18 USC 666). In addition, Minor was convicted of RICO (18 USC §1962). The Fifth Circuit vacated all convictions related to bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery. The court affirmed all remaining convictions. Each defendant filed a Petition for A Writ of Certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court.


    Argument: On October 4, 2010, the Supreme Court denied Minor's Petition and, in response, District Court Judge Wingate scheduled resentencing for all three defendants on November 17, 2010. Minor filed a motion to vacate with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Missippi on December 17, 2010. The Government opposed that motion on January 7, 2011.
    • Content Page

    Honest Services Fraud Filings & Decisions Bank

    The Supreme Court’s decision in Skilling v. United States fundamentally altered the landscape of 18 U.S.C. § 1346 honest services fraud prosecutions. Cases and clients at every stage of the criminal adjudication process are affected by the Skilling decision. This bank is a compilation of post-Skilling honest services fraud filings and court decisions. Materials in this bank are sorted below by case name. Each case has its own page containing basic case information and procedural history, attorneys’ names, and all the filings we have obtained from the case.
    • Brief

    United States v. Christopher Wright

    Wright and his co-defendants were indicted and tried on both conflict of interest and bribery theories of honest services fraud. The district and circuit courts both denied bail pending appeal while Skilling was pending. After Skilling the parties renewed the motion, the government did not object, and the Third Circuit ordered bail pending appeal. On appeal, the defense pursued both a judgment of acquittal and a new trial. Among other arguments, the government asserted that any errors with regard to honest services fraud should not disrupt the conviction on the traditional mail fraud count.


    Argument: On January 4, 2012, the Third Circuit vacated all counts of conviction and remanded for a new trial.  The court reasoned that all the honest services counts must be vacated even though they included a seemingly valid post-Skilling theory, because they were not limited to that theory.  The court further reasoned that the traditional mail fraud count must also be vacated due to the prejudicial spillover from the honest services fraud counts.  Notably, the court treated the Skilling issue as preserved, and thus applied harmless error rather than plain error review, even though the objections in the district court did not anticipate the precise contours of Skilling.  

    The rebuttal argument, made by lead attorney and NACDL Member Lisa Mathewson, was particularly effective at delineating the honest services fraud arguments.  The full oral argument audio can be accessed on the Third Circuit's website.

    In October 2014, the Third Circuit heard the defendants' argument that the government should be precluded from arguing the bribery theory of honest services fraud because the jury had already decided on that issue during the initial trial. The court's decision has yet to be released.