United States v. Johnson,
2005 WL 736518 (N.D.Iowa 3/31/2005) "This court
acknowledges that Morgan does not require "case-specific" questions
during voir dire of prospective jurors in capital cases, but neither
does Morgan bar such questions, because the Supreme Court never
addressed in Morgan the issue of whether such questions are
permissible. The court also does not purport to answer here the
question of whether "case specific" questions are constitutionally
required during voir dire of prospective jurors in capital cases.
Nevertheless, the court holds that, in this case, "case specific"
questions are appropriate--indeed, necessary--during voir dire of
prospective jurors to allow the parties to determine the ability of
jurors to be fair and impartial in the case actually before them, not
merely in some "abstract" death penalty case. After all, if the jury
selected in this case imposes the death penalty on Angela Johnson,
there will be nothing "abstract" about that determination or the
penalty imposed."
People v. Harlan,
2005 WL 697020 (Colo. 3/28/2005) "Based
on the trial court's findings and competent evidence of jurors' use of
the Bible during deliberations, we do not have confidence that the
death penalty here was not influenced by
extraneous information. Contrary to our prior finding, we
determine that Harlan's
death sentence
may have been imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or
other arbitrary factors--the use of an unauthorized extraneous text
requiring the
death penalty for the
crime of murder."
Williams v. State,
2005 WL 696714 (Ga. 3/28/2005) Trial court
erred in removing over objection trial counsel, Matthew Rubenstein.
State v. Wilson,
2005 WL 737493, 2003-1229 (La. 3/30/05)
Vacated in light of Roper v. Simmons
Baez Arroyo v. Dretke,
2005 WL 705339 (W.D.Tex. 3/29/2005) Vacated in light of Roper v. Simmons
State v. Higgins,
2005 WL 737478, 2003-1980 (La. 4/1/05) Death
sentence vacated, lesser included charge of second degree
murder imposed. Witness identification of Higgins as the
perpetrator of this crime gekd reliable, while conceding that her
testimony with regard to whether an armed robbery took place is
not. Dissent notes this seems to be undue mental gymnastics.
State v. Citizen,
2005 WL 737421, 2004-1841 (La. 4/1/05)
Challenge to public defender scheme upheld. "We
order that unless adequate funds are identified and made available in a
manner authorized by law as expressed in this opinion, upon motion of
the defendants, the trial judge may halt the prosecution of these cases
until adequate funds become available to provide for these indigent
defendants' constitutionally protected right to counsel or take other
measures consistent with this opinion which protect the constitutional
or statutory rights of the defendants."