In March 1998, Haines City Police Officer Christopher Todd Horner was found dead in a Florida cemetery with a bullet in the back of his head. See United States v. Fowler, 603 F.3d 883, 884–85 (11th Cir. 2010). The events leading to Horner’s death began...
criminal law
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Fruit of the poisonous trees is a doctrine that extends the exclusionary rule to make evidence inadmissible in court if it was derived from evidence that was illegally obtained. As the metaphor suggests, if the evidential "tree" is tainted,...
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In June 1995, Roberto Velasquez was murdered outside a Texas apartment building; his sister identified Petitioner Rafael Arriaza Gonzalez as the shooter. See Gonzalez v. Texas, No. 05-05-01140-CR (Tex.App. July 12, 2006). Texas investigators issued a...
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Facts
On September 9, 1982, the governor of Florida signed Freddie Lee Hall's death warrant for the murder of Karol Hurst, after Hall was tried and convicted in Putnam County and the Florida Supreme Court upheld the conviction. See Hall v. State, 109...
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On the evening of February 26, 2003, Officers Jason Mooney and Rod Richard of the Peru Police Department responded to a domestic disturbance call at the home of Amy and Hershel Hammon. Hammon v. State, 829 N.E.2d 444, 446 (Ind. 2005). After noticing...
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On April 6, 2006, Ronell Gilliam and a black man wearing a blue top got into a physical fight with others in the Bronx. People v. Hemphill at 472. Shortly after that fight, this other man pulled a gun and opened fire. Id. This shooting caused a stray...
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In June 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (the “District Court”) convicted Gonzalo Holguin-Hernandez for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and sentenced to 24 months in prison, which would be followed by...
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Overview
The insanity defense refers to a defense that a defendant can plead in a criminal trial. In an insanity defense, the defendant admits the action but asserts a lack of culpability based on mental illness.
The...
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Invidious discrimination is a legal term used to describe the act of treating a class of persons unequally in a manner that is malicious, hostile, or damaging. It refers to discrimination that is motivated by animus or ill will towards a...