The Criminal Docket
#45: The Fishy Case of Yates v. United States Now Before the U.S. Supreme Court

Yates v. United States is a case highlighting the dangerous consequences stemming from the unconstitutional executive expansion of the federal law. In Yates v. United States, the government used a post-Enron anti-shredding statute to prosecute a fisherman for the disappearance of three fish from his shipping vessel. Argument in that case is being heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, November 5 at 10:00 a.m. The Criminal Docket recently had the opportunity to catch up with Bill Shepherd who authored NACDL’s amicus curiae – or friend of the court – brief in the Yates case. Bill is a criminal defense lawyer and member of NACDL, is the former statewide prosecutor of Florida and is a partner at the law firm of Holland & Knight. In this episode of The Criminal Docket, Bill gives us some insight into what this case is about and why it’s an important one for all Americans. Learn more about NACDL. Ivan J. Dominguez, host; Isaac Kramer, production assistant. Music West Bank (Lezet) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 and Walkabout (Digital Primitives) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Running time: [14m52s]. 

Direct download: CriminalDocketEpisode045.mp3
Category:criminal defense, public policy, US supreme court -- posted at: 2:38pm EDT

 

Today, Rob Cary, a defense attorney for Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, released a new book – Not Guilty: The Unlawful Prosecution of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (NACDL Press/Thomson Reuters) – recounting the trial six years ago of a powerful senator. On Oct. 27, 2008, Stevens was wrongfully found guilty of allegedly failing to disclose gifts, leading him to lose reelection just  eight days later by 3,953 votes. But in April 2009, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan vacated the verdict at the request of Attorney General Eric Holder after it was revealed that prosecutors had withheld evidence of innocence from the defense. More than the story of a trial, Cary details how a federal prosecution team conspired to bring down Stevens by hiding evidence and manipulating facts. I caught up with Rob in his office last week here in Washington, DC. Learn more about NACDL. Ivan J. Dominguez, host; Isaac Kramer, production assistant. Music West Bank (Lezet) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 and Walkabout (Digital Primitives) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Running time: 11m 33s. 

Direct download: CriminalDocketEpisode044.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:22pm EDT

This is a Special Edition of The Criminal Docket. On August 1, 2014, at the 57th Annual Meeting and Seminar of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and 13th Annual Conference of NACDL’s State Criminal Justice Network, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. delivered important remarks concerning criminal justice reform and the important role played by the criminal defense bar in ensuring the promise of a fairer and more humane criminal justice system. In his speech, Holder issued a warning against the potential consequences of the use of "risk assessments" and aggregate data analysis in sentencing to "both public safety and racial justice." The attorney general was introduced by NACDL Executive Director Norman Reimer. Learn more about NACDL. Ivan J. Dominguez, host; Isaac Kramer, production assistant. Music West Bank (Lezet) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 and Walkabout (Digital Primitives) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Running time: 32m 16s. 

 

Direct download: CriminalDocketEpisode043.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:39pm EDT

#42: Criminal Justice and the Media: Covering Appellate Decisions

This is a Special Edition of The Criminal Docket. NACDL recently produced Criminal Justice and the Media, a three-part series exploring how journalists can effectively inform the public on what is one of the most important, dynamic and omnipresent forces in American society. Some of the finest journalists in the country joined with NACDL to create this exciting series. This episode of The Criminal Docket is the audio of part three of the series. In it, NACDL Director of Public Affairs & Communications Ivan J. Dominguez moderates a discussion on the topic of covering appellate decisions with Adam Liptak, Supreme Court correspondent at the New York Times and David Savage, Supreme Court correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. NACDL gratefully acknowledges the Park Foundation and the Foundation for Criminal Justice for their support of this project. Learn more about NACDL. Ivan J. Dominguez, host; Isaac Kramer, production assistant; Steven Logan, production supervisor. Music West Bank (Lezet) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 and Walkabout (Digital Primitives) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Running time: 1h11m51s. 

 

Direct download: CriminalDocketEpisode042.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:21pm EDT

#41: Criminal Justice and the Media: Covering Trials

 

This is a Special Edition of The Criminal Docket. NACDL recently produced Criminal Justice and the Media, a three-part series exploring how journalists can effectively inform the public on what is one of the most important, dynamic and omnipresent forces in American society. Some of the finest journalists in the country joined with NACDL to create this exciting series. This episode of The Criminal Docket is the audio of part two of the series. In it, NACDL member and prominent New York criminal trial lawyer Susan J. Walsh, partner at the law firm of Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard, P.C has an in-depth discussion on covering criminal trials with Linda Deutsch, who has covered trials for nearly 50 years for the Associated Press and is co-author of Covering the Courts: An Associated Press Manual for Reporters. NACDL gratefully acknowledges the Park Foundation and the Foundation for Criminal Justice for their support of this project. Learn more about NACDL. Ivan J. Dominguez, host; Isaac Kramer, production assistant; Steven Logan, production supervisor. Music West Bank (Lezet) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 and Walkabout (Digital Primitives) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Running time: 1h15m30s. 

 

Direct download: CriminalDocketEpisode041.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:51pm EDT

#40: Criminal Justice and the Media: Covering Criminal Justice Policy

 

This is a Special Edition of The Criminal Docket. NACDL recently produced Criminal Justice and the Media, a three-part series exploring how journalists can effectively inform the public on what is one of the most important, dynamic and omnipresent forces in American society. Some of the finest journalists in the country joined with NACDL to create this exciting series. This episode of The Criminal Docket is the audio of part one of the series. In it, NACDL Executive Director Norman L. Reimer moderates a discussion on the topic of covering criminal justice policy with Gary Fields, criminal justice reporter at the Wall Street Journal, and Carrie Johnson, justice correspondent at National Public Radio (NPR). NACDL gratefully acknowledges the Park Foundation and the Foundation for Criminal Justice for their support of this project. Learn more about NACDL. Ivan J. Dominguez, host; Isaac Kramer, production assistant; Steven Logan, production supervisor. Music West Bank (Lezet) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 and Walkabout (Digital Primitives) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Running time: 1h24m33s. 

 

Direct download: CriminalDocketEpisode040.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:26pm EDT

#39: Criminal Justice and the Media: Introduction

This is a Special Edition of The Criminal Docket. NACDL recently produced Criminal Justice and the Media, a three-part series exploring how journalists can effectively inform the public on what is one of the most important, dynamic and omnipresent forces in American society. Some of the finest journalists in the country joined with NACDL to create this exciting series. This episode of The Criminal Docket is the audio of NACDL Executive Director Norman Reimer’s Introduction to the series. NACDL gratefully acknowledges the Park Foundation and the Foundation for Criminal Justice for their support of this project. Learn more about NACDL. Ivan J. Dominguez, host; Isaac Kramer, production assistant; Steven Logan, production supervisor. Music West Bank (Lezet) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 and Walkabout (Digital Primitives) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Running time: 11m45s.

Direct download: CriminalDocketEpisode039.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:47pm EDT

#38: Investigator Marty Bugbee on Your Digital Trail

In this episode of The Criminal Docket, we learn about mobile devices, social media, and digital evidence – what’s there and how is it accessible to investigators. We sat down with Marty Bugbee, President of Infrarisk Assessments LLC, a professional investigations agency located in Grosse pointe, MI. Marty presented on this topic at NACDL’s fall meeting and seminar – Zealous Advocacy in sexual assault and child victim cases. Learn more about NACDL. Ivan J. Dominguez, host; Isaac Kramer, production assistant; Steven Logan, production supervisor. Music West Bank (Lezet) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 and Walkabout (Digital Primitives) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Running time: 14m30s.

Direct download: CriminalDocketEpisode038.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:34pm EDT

#37: Human Rights Watch Report on The Trial Penalty in Federal Drug Cases

Last month, Human Rights Watch released an important new report - An Offer You Can’t Refuse: How US Federal Prosecutors Force Drug Defendants to Plead Guilty. In the report, Human Rights Watch research reveals, among other things, that (based on raw federal sentencing data for 2012) the average sentence for those who pled guilty to a federal drug offense was five years, four months, while for those convicted after trial the average sentence was 16 years. In this episode of NACDL’s The Criminal Docket, we sat down with the report’s author Jamie Fellner, Senior Advisor with the US Program at Human Rights Watch. Learn more about NACDL. Ivan J. Dominguez, host; Isaac Kramer and Elsa-Maria Ohman, production assistants; Steven Logan, production supervisor. Music West Bank (Lezet) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 and Walkabout (Digital Primitives) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Running time: 23m16s.

Direct download: CriminalDocketEpisode037.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:43pm EDT

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