A Small Step
For any lawyer who practices a lot in federal court, the recent Supreme Court decision in Johnson v. United States is a pretty big deal. It involves the “Armed Career Criminal Act,” a part of 18 U.S.C. § 924 that has an enormous impact at sentencing for certain defendants convicted under the federal prohibited possessor law, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). What the act does is increase the penalty from a ten-year maximum to a fifteen-year mandatory minimum and a maximum of life in prison for people who have three or more convictions for a “serious drug offense” or a “violent felony.” The issue in Johnson was the definition of “violent felony,” specifically what courts call the “residual clause” of the definition. Although the definition includes some more clearly … Read entire article »
Filed under: SCOTUS Cases
Crappy Outcome For Doody
I was quite proud of myself for writing a whole post about Jonathan Doody’s case a couple of months ago without making a single poop joke. Trying to write two was tempting fate, so please forgive the title. Anyway, the combined tireless efforts of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and its lying admitted-serial-killer pal and star-witness Alessandro Garcia finally paid off when they were able to convict Doody, who may be innocent, after a Ninth Circuit reversal, a mistrial, and five days of jury deliberations well over two decades later. They must be proud. We can now all rest assured that this punk kid won’t ever be at large: He may look like a sad, middle-aged man who has spent every moment of his adult life in prison because … Read entire article »
Filed under: Arizona Cases
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