Forensic and Ethics Final

what is a mistake?

a wrong response that if you thought about, you would realize it was wrong

what is an error?

a wrong response because you have no knowledge about what the right answer is

what is Brady V. Maryland?

(basis of exculpatory evidence)
The supreme court held that the prosecution's suppression of evidence violates the Due process clause of the 14th amendment.
Brady sentenced to death, government disclosed from co-defendant that cobberated what Brady said

what is the writ habeas corpus?

the great writ, protection if we are incarcerated. Demand to now why we are being prosecuted.

Jack T. Camp

US district court judge in Georgia
took senior judge status, so was still taking cases while "retired". Enamored with FBI informant, went to drug deal her her and brought a gun. Convicted for unlawful possession of controlled substance, unlawful conversion of government property,

Alcee Hastings

District court judge in FL
charged with accepting bribes as a judge, acquitted because co-defendant would not testify. Lied to investigators. Impeached and still able to run for other federal court positions. Ran for congress.
perjury and bribery

John Tuller

FA county officer
Testified in mark wallers court case. Tuller Misrepresented his credentials on his CV. Claimed he went to certain trainings ( did not exist/ were not held on said dates he gave). Claimed to be a blood spatter specialist and a member of the blood pattern analysis. Membership had lapsed

Jeffrey Wiegand

Blew the whistle on Brown and Williamson for hiding the negative effects of tobacco. Indicated that Big tobacco knew that their product were addictive and dangerous. Was ultimately fired and big tobacco companies had to pay for tobacco education.

Mark Felt

The deputy director of the FBI... Aka " Deep Throat". A whistleblower on the watergate investigation to journalists. How high did the criminality of watergate go. Fed info to woodward and brownstein

Cheryl Eckard

(whistleblower)
Galaxis, Klein, and,Smith
Went to do quality control on manufacturing plants located in Puerto Rico for pharmaceuticals .Reported her findings to the company, but company did not make changes. Litigation with the FDA, and Cheryl got a portion of money.

Mickey Sherman

Represented Michael Skakel, accused of not representing him to his best ability. Leading case of Strickland V. Washington for ineffective council.
A couple years later the court case came back on a Habeus Corpus for ineffective counsel

Sharron Watkins

worked for enron oil and gas and oil producer in Houston. Has an executive position, went to CEO with issues for accounting practices and procedures.Someone in the department was cooking in the books. Sherron was then placed in the basement for her whistleblowing.

Elizabeth Coast

Reported her neighbor sexually assaulted her as a child. After his conviction, she admitted she had lied. She had told her the mother the lie and mom pushed her to go to the police. She was charged with perjury.

Holmer Cummings

when a priest was shot in the head in 1924 with a pistol, Harold israel ID'd by several witnesses running from scene. Confessed under interrogation. Homer cummings, the prosecutor found the witnesses unreliable, israel was pushover, and gun and bullet analysis did not match.

Michael Nifong

Durham, NC ( Duke Lacrosse players)
Pursued sexual assault charges falsely made by Crystal Magnum, working as stripper for Duke University Lacrosse team. Was very open with the media, berating the boys for not speaking with PD which was their right and failing to mention the SANE kit which pointed to their innocence.

Samuel Kent

Judge in Texas
sexually assaulted the female employees of the court. He lied to federal investigators, but then plead guilty.
First judge to be convicted of these types of charges

Mark Ciavarella

Pennsylvania
Kids for cash - juvenile detention
receiving large amounts of money for sending kids to prison. Juveniles who wouldn't usually be sent to the detention center. 4,000 cases vacated by the supreme court

Stephanie Crowe

12 year old found stabbed to death
brother was accused of the crime. When pressured by police, he confessed and was charged. This was later overturned as a false confession. wh

what does the stephanie crowe case represent?

1. tunnel vision
2. noble cause corruption

Melandez-Diaz V. Commonwealth

The principle that a certificate of analysis can act as expert testimony was challenged, as a defendant should have the right to examine the expert witness. AKA the right to confrontation (6th amendment right )

strickland v. washington

supreme court ruled that: defendant in capital cases have a right to representation that meets an " objected standard of reasonableness.

what are the two prongs involved in strickland v. washington

1. whether representation was unreasonable in light of prevailing professional norms ( what is the standard ineffective council)
2. whether there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of the proceeding would have been different had representation been effective ( does one affect the outcome)

what does exculpatory show?

1. mitigation of sentence
2. Guilt/innocence of defendant

McMartin Preschool case

Preschool who was believed to be sexually abusing children and satanic ritual abuse. Based primarily on testimoney of judy johnson about her 3yr old son. PD sent out notice to parents on suspected abuse before through investigation.
Social worker , key mcfarland used anatomically correct dolls and over suggestion lead to what kids said No one charged

Adversarial allegiance

The tendency for forensic experts to be biased toward the side ( defence or prosecution) that hired them.

what are the specific types of judicial misconduct?

- discourtesy of intemperance
- bias or prejudice
- impairing examination of witnesses
- improper comments on evidence
- partiality and prejudging
- receiving evidence out of court
- covering waiver of a right
-coercing settlement
- ex parte communications
- coercing or improperly communicating with the jury
- public comments about pending matters

what are the duties of a defense attorney?

- conduct an appropriate factual investigation of the case in general
- request all disclosable materials from government or third parties
- interview governments forensic experts
-check the experts cv
- determine if the government experts are certified (proficient)
- go to the crime scene with expert - if necessary
-inspect gov lab
- determine if lab accredited
-consult independent experts if necessary
-conduct independent testing of gov forensic evidence or previously untested evidence
-conduct independent mental or physical exam of defendant
- file appropriate motions to enforce disclosure or exclude evidence

what are the ethical problems with whistleblowing?

- retaliation from higher ups
-certain amount of peril, run the risk of getting caught in the criminal prosecution
-backlach from co-workers

Habeas corpus - " the great writt"

" bring me the body, show me the body"
request/ petition, file motion to be brought into court to know why they're being incarcerated

what are the cultures of traditional journalism?

- accuracy
- pre-publication verification
-balance
- impartiality
- gate-keeping

what are the ethical concerns with the media?

-accuracy
- unbiased
- impartial
-balanced

Commonwealth V. Mark Lawlor

Lawlor put on death row after being convicted of the rape and murder of Genevieve Orange. Tuller testified as expert witness but lacked the credentials he claimed.

who was harold israel?

(1903- 1964) was an itinerant former serviceman wrongly accused of murdering a priest in Bridgeport, connecticut in 1924. The chargers were eventually dropped by prosecutor

who was michael skakel?

Convicted of murdering 15-yr old Martha Moxley. Trial completed in 02, michael finally convicted of the murder. Claimed to be innocent asked for a retrial in 2013, after conviction was reinstated in 2016. New trial ordered by Connecticut Supreme Court

Jonathan Montgomery

Elizabeth paige coast accused montgomery of having molested her when she was 10 and he was 14. Made up the charges against him. lied because she wanted to deflect her parents anger when they caught her surfing pornographic sites on the internet.