Grand jury

Overview of the Case: Michael Feeney was charged with second-degree murder and was held responsible for the murder of Frank Boyle, an 85-year-old in the small northern town of Likely, B.C. On June 8, 1991, at around 8:20 a.m, Frank’s neighbour found him lying on his back in the living room. Frank was hit severely five times with a crowbar. Blood was spattered all over the walls and the house was looted and his money. Also, sportsman cigarettes and beer was missing. Frank’s car; a red Datsun…

On the day of Friday October 21st, 2016, at the scene of Mays Landing Court House inside the Criminal Division court room, the Honorable Judge Damon G. Tyner, JSC presided. Throughout the day Judge Tyner observed both sentencing as well as motion cases. Before arriving to the court house I reflected on my expectations; I was expecting to see this large courtroom with ten to twelve rows and massive windows. I expected to hear no talking while the Judge spoke, I also expected most to be dressed…

Normally, when you hear of someone convicted guilty and sentenced to prison, you don’t really think much past it. Or at least I didn’t. The justice system is responsible to do everything in its power to conduct fair trials and base convictions not on opinion but solely on evidence. However, this is far from the truth. Specifically, Tulia, a small town in Northwest Texas, is a prime example of a town who suffered from this courtroom injustice. Nate Blakeslee tells the town’s true story in his…

5. IMPACT OF MEDIA TRIAL 5.1 Reach of Media over judges Another detrimental effect of media trial is the effect it has on judiciary. Judges who preside over any such matter are also human beings and are prone to various thoughts and opinions. The tone in which newspapers publish their findings are very likely to affect the mid of the judges. Judges also get influenced by the flowing air of remarks in a controversial matter. Independence of judiciary is a pre requisite to the rule of law and…

analysis has led to wrongful convictions. This is a situation, Dutelle refers to as drylabbing. Forensic experts in contrast to attorneys are obligated under oath to exercise honesty in their reporting on forensic evidence so as to not to lead either the jury or defense astray so as to secure a conviction. This therefore necessitates a need to have them ascribe to ethical values and be regulated by a professional body of forensic expert…

courtroom is divided up into two main parts, the Judge and Jury. It is one of the better systems because it provides a relatively unbiased system that uses a group of people to judge a peer. It, however is not without flaws. There is a possibility of the jury becoming biased due to the media coverage of a case. There are multiple ways around this such as replacing the juries in favor of a panel of judges. Next would be using a set of professional juries instead of the common people. Lastly,…

In Ireland citizens have “the right to trial by jury … legal representation … have access to the court, fair procedure, habeas corpus protection, a speedy trial, the exclusion of unconstitutionally obtained evidence and protection against self-incrimination” (Pease & Cox). In criminal cases there is…

The article, Racially Based Jury Nullification: Black Power in the Criminal Justice System is written by Paul Butler and in his essay he writes about four major topics describing the racial influence in jury decisions. He also writes about the ways in which we can prevent theses racial based jury decisions. In my essay, I will be summarizing Butler’s article and analysing the way he approaches the criminal cases against African-Americans. Furthermore, I will describe my opinion of the way he…

Supreme Court justices do have personal views. They are appointed through a political process. Observers naturally must ask how great a role their political views actually play. Some scholars argue that the justices’ political preferences play a large role, essentially dictating their decisions in many cases. They point to the fact that justices appointed by conservative presidents tend to vote in a conservative fashion and those appointed by liberal presidents vote the opposite way. The…

Notably absent from his article, though, is any discussion by Mr. Hunt of the untoward consequences that will flow from Jackson. The Missouri Supreme Court did not think there would be any, rhetorically asking, “Where is the harm?”20 If a reasonable jury believes the accused is guilty of the charged (greater) offense, it will find the accused guilt of that offense, whether instructed on a lesser included offense or not.21 (That’s the same (harmless error) argument that the State used to make,…