Sex Assault Case Dismissed on Statute of Limitations Grounds

As anyone who represents defendants in sex assault cases knows, the statute of limitations is maddeningly complex to properly apply. Couple that with the fact that the law is interpreted rather liberally in these cases, having the statute of limitations applied as it is actually written is very difficult.

But not impossible. As you can see here, sometimes it is properly applied. As the statute is worded, the prosecutor must bring a case against a defendant in a case involving an assault on a minor within two years of the complaining witness' 18th birthday.

Good job by Ben Adams. You are always the least popular person in the room when you make these arguments. Sticking to your guns is not easy.

Supreme Court Draws The Line On Habeas Filings for Petitioners

Kind of a difficult area of the law to understand when you get lost in it like some post-conviction lawyers (myself included). Anyone incarcerated has the writ to file a petition for writ of habeas corpus in which that person contests the legality of their detention.

Prisoners file them frequently. They can be based on anything from newly discovered evidence to the ineffectiveness of a trial lawyer to prison conditions. The State, through post-conviction prosecutors, often argues that the prisoner is "abusing the writ." I always take that to mean that, in their view, the prisoner has adequately tested the legality of his or her conviction and the conviction should now stand undisturbed.

The Supreme Court will be releasing its decision in Turner v. Commissioner of Correction on December 22, 2009 and let stand that inmate's conviction. The decision can be found here.

Take a look at the final footnote. What struck me is that the Supreme Court often decides that it cannot decide a matter because "no controversy exists" and by that they mean that they will avoid speculating on an outcome when nothing is really at stake. In this footnote, the Supreme Court appears to be saying that they will view any future petition filed by Turner as an abuse of the writ. Trouble is, he hasn't filed one yet.

How can we know what it would say? Shouldn't we wait until Turner files another petition -- if he does -- to determine if he is abusing anything?

Standing Order Compliance Is Fun

here is the link to the Judicial Branch's Civil Jury Trial Management Order. I always liked trial management orders since they force you to organize your case in a very basic and simple way.

I spent the evening completing one of these for filing today in a malpractice case that will be going to trial in about four weeks. These apply ONLY to civil jury trials. There is nothing equivalent to them in the criminal trial setting.

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