Essays on Criminal Defense

Introduction

One of the most common strategies of criminal defense attorneys when representing a defendant who has an unusual condition such as a mental abnormality, is to argue either that regardless of their actions, they are nevertheless not responsible for the crime or that they never had the capacity to commit a crime. The reason that criminal defense attorneys can make these arguments is that criminal law recognizes a number of unique situations where otherwise criminal conduct should not be subjected to a determination of guilt and the offender should be exempted from the crime (LaFave, 2000). These arguments, which ...

(Institute/College)

Domestic disputes

Domestic violence is a gender related crime that has been occurring for a significant period of time, but is one that has a short record. Much of the criminal jurisprudence in the United States defines this behavior as abuse against the wives or against intimate partners. American criminal codices that list down the action as a specific crime rather than lump it together within the general crime of assault define it as “family” or “domestic” violence (Erez, 2002). Texas law has identified three distinct acts of domestic violence: “domestic assault,” “aggravated domestic assault,” and “continuous violence against the ...

MEMORANDUM

Introduction: The RICO Criminal Defense Practice The RICO Act is very significant considering the prevalent infiltration of organized crimes in trade and commerce which remarkably eroded the stability of the national economy by influencing legitimate businesses and labor unions. Organized crimes have become global and the same becomes a threat to national economy and even corrupt and subvert the democratic process in the United States. The RICO Act helps in preventing organized crimes involved in racketeering from infiltrating legitimate organizations that are involved in the interstate and foreign commerce. With its wider scope of criminalizing the offenders, the growing ...

MEMORANDUM

RE: Justification for the Future Existence of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Criminal Defense Practice With countries across the globe, including the US, facing unprecedented threats from organized crimes such as terrorism and drug trafficking, the existence of the RICO is justified in spite of the looming budget deficit and likely cutbacks ahead. Organized crimes as transnational or national criminal activities organized and executed by criminal organizations or enterprises with intent to kill, destroy and maim for money, profit and religious or political motivation, pose the greatest threat to our nation in the 21 century. The RICO ...

Introduction

The court practice of the United States of America demonstrates that the First, the Fourth, the Eight and the Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution are the most frequently invoked constitutional provisions in the country. Procedural violations of these Amendments are effective tools in the hands of skillful criminal defense attorneys. Analyzing the court practice is the only way to understand viewpoints of the judiciary on these sensitive topics, and to avoid perpetrating procedural mistakes in the future. This paper seeks to analyze the most landmark cases connected with the alleged violations of the First, the Fourth, the ...

The purpose of this letter is to give more comprehensive details as to why consider Cardozo Law School to be an ideal fit and the reasons for why I would like to attend. I believe I bring two important qualities that will make me a successful lawyer. First, I consider myself a champion for the cause of the “wronged” or the “downtrodden.” I desire to use my legal skills and expertise to help better the condition of the “wronged,” who are essentially victims of unjust social constructions. Second, I bring to the table a passion for public interest law. ...

Abstract

There exist numerous defenses to criminal charges. The defenses are usually used by the persons facing particular charges in a bit to negate the requisites of a crime, especially the aspect of intent. In criminal cases the general rule is that crimes are offences that are usually committed against the government. Every person is usually presumed innocent until the contrary is proved. As such, the burden of proof lies on the government to prove that a crime was committed and that the accused person committed the alleged crime. The prosecution side, which represents the government in a criminal trial, must convince the judge ...

- What is meant by the phrase “the rule of law,” as used in a democratic society? The rule of law (nomocracy) is primarily referent to the law’s authority and influence across the society. This is especially the case with constraints on behavior as well as behavioral influence of various government officials. The phrase traces back to mid 16th century, and was popularized in the 20th century. This aspect became integral to the ancient philosophers including Aristotle. Through him, law needs govern the Rule of law implying that all citizens are under the law of the land. This ...

I. Introduction Comparing the criminal justice system of two or more countries can lead to valuable insight of your home nation as well as the nation(s) used in comparison. This short paper looks at the similarities and differences between the criminal justice systems of France and the United States. The hope is that it will provide a deeper understanding of how civil and common law systems approach the investigation and adjudication of crime. II. Court Structure No criminal justice system could exist without courts. Courts are the main institution involved in the legal settlement of criminal ...

Trial vs. Plea Bargaining

Trial The oldest and most well-known form of dispute resolution in criminal cases is the jury trial (Kadri, 2005). Certainly, the jury trial is the fundamental dispute resolution mechanism of the American adversarial legal system. In fact, the core principle of the criminal justice system holds that disputes are most effectively resolved when the parties in contention are made responsible for: (1) investigating and gathering their own evidence and (2) presenting their own arguments to a neutral and passive lay decision-maker who decides which party presented the most convincing argument (Kadri, 2005). Furthermore, the entire process is subject to ...

Mathematics

The topic for this research study is the applicability of DNA evidence in resolving criminal cases. Thesis Statement: DNA evidence is not an accurate means of identification of suspects because DNA analysis can be compromised, prone to errors and opposing interpretations due to external factors such as environment, contamination and bad laboratory practice. According Gardner and Anderson (2009), DNA evidence remains to be the most accurate means to identify a person. It has been an important development in criminal investigation and also a significant contribution to the entire criminal justice system. It provides a reliable basis for conviction. It has ...

Positive and Negative Views Concerning Lawyers

The public view of lawyers comes from a number of sources. The news, television shows, movies, books, and personal experience influence people’s beliefs both in positive and negative ways. There are many examples both positive and negative that fuel people’s perceptions about the legal profession. On the negative side, the legal profession has earned a bad reputation because people believe lawyers are greedy, because people find the idea that lawyers defend criminals to be reprehensible, and because the language lawyers use is seen as too difficult to understand. On the positive side, groups like the Innocence Project and the ...

A criminal defense attorney is a professional who mainly defends people and other entities accused of criminal conduct. A criminal defense attorney operates either as an individual or as a group of individuals. When operating as a group, the attorneys form a firm under whose name they operate. Additional defense attorneys can be employed by the legal firm and serve to present their clients in court. Most of them are in private practice although majority may start out working for the government. Their work consists of providing legal assistance and representation to people accused of breaking the law. On the other hand, a ...

Criminal Defense

In most jurisdictions, when an individual is accused of a criminal offense, he or she must appear in court of law to answer the charges (Farrell, 2008). In this circumstance, the accused individual is known as the defendant. Therefore, as a defendant, one is supposed to establish a criminal defense with the assistance of a criminal attorney in order to avoid a guilty verdict (LexisNexis, 2012). The prosecutor is the other party which tries to prove that the criminal act performed by the defendant is factual. A criminal defense can be described as a strategic argument which attempts to confront the legitimacy and satisfactoriness of ...

Faith Mcnulty was the author of the book, The Burning Bed. The Burning bed was a non-fiction book that tackled family problems and at some point, the possible consequences of an unresolved husband and wife conflicts. This book later on was adapted to a film. The film won several awards and nominations because of the boldness of the story which revolves around the story of Francine, a battered wife.

The Burning Bed is a non-fiction book which represented the life of Francine Hughes. She was basically subjected to a great deal of violence from her husband. It was a book that staged how human rights ...

Introduction

Immigration law deals with the state administration policies which direct the occurrence of immigration to their nation. Illegal immigration is the movement into a country in contravention of the immigration laws of that authority. Illegal immigration brings about many economical, political, and social matters and has developed into a basis of chief controversy in the developed nations and the more flourishing developed countries (Proper, pg 203). This paper proposes to examine the U.S. Laws governing illegal immigrants and the need to be reformed.

The purpose of this proposal is to show an overview of my investigation of U.S. laws governing illegal ...

INTRODUCTION

This report is intended for (NAME), a client who enlisted the career counseling services of Open Options in order to determine a career path. The purpose of this report is to provide (NAME) with information regarding two potential career choices, in order to give them more comprehensive and detailed options when making a decision as to what to pursue. The scope of this report is to examine the client’s skills, needs and desires pertaining to careers as a legal attorney or computer technician. The report’s examination is limited to those two careers, and nothing outside those.

The sources I used included ...