by Bert | Aug 9, 2019 | Missouri
“The facts presented by the underlying crime are appalling and horrifying.” That is a line not from the Missouri Supreme Court’s majority opinion affirming the death sentence of Craig Wood, but instead from the dissent. And it is undeniably true. The evidence that Mr....
by Bert | Apr 13, 2018 | Kansas
It is rare to see a court forcefully and thoroughly shame a prosecutor; even in instances of egregious misconduct, courts often avoid naming the lawyers responsible, silently observing an unspoken code that has long shielded prosecutors from meaningful scrutiny....
by Bert | Feb 21, 2018 | Ohio
In October of 2017, the Ohio Supreme Court overturned the conviction and death sentence of Joseph L. Thomas. Thomas had been convicted of the murder of Annie McSween, who was killed in November of 2010. The issue that captured the court’s attention—the State’s...
by Bert | Jan 10, 2018 | Washington
An appellate court in Washington reversed a murder conviction this week because a prosecutor committed misconduct in closing argument through improper use of a PowerPoint presentation. If there is one jurisdiction in which prosecutors should know that they must be...
by Bert | Jul 12, 2017 | Idaho, Nevada
Two recent decisions from courts in the western part of the country serve as a reminder that prosecutors sometimes push constitutional limits, particularly in cases with high-profile violent crimes. The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a death sentence...
