BREAKING - MSSC says house burglary NOT a per se crime of violence

In the case of Mark Kee Brown v. State, the Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled this afternoon that for purposes of the habitual offender statute, house burglary is not a crime of violence.  For the purposes of plea negotiations and determining whether or not a trial is worth the risk, this is a big development in Mississippi criminal law.  Congratulations to Hunter Aikens and Leslie Lee of the State Defender's Office for winning this victory!

How cops spy on you

I first started seeing cell tower location data being used by local law enforcement in Mississippi in 2007.  All the police have to do is send a subpoena to the cell phone company, and the cell phone company will send over the information showing where a person's cell phone was at any time of the day or night.  That subpoena isn't signed by a judge, and it certainly isn't given to the person who is the target of the investigation.

That means that if you're like most people and carry a cell phone with you everywhere, the police may well know the answer to the question "Can you tell me where you were last night?" before they even ask it.  Given the increased ability of police to track your every move without you even knowing it, it is more important than ever to utilize your 5th Amendment right to silence and your 6th Amendment right to counsel immediately if you are being questioned by police.  The last thing you want to do is to make your plight worse by telling the cops something they can later prove as false.

And it doesn't stop with cell phone tower locations.  The website ArsTechnica has a good article about what police can obtain without your knowledge and how easily they can obtain it.  It's a good read, and something to always keep in mind when sending things you might not want to advertise to the world.  Here's the article: emails, text messages, and IP addresses, oh my.

The Mississippi Bar website gets a facelift

The Mississippi Bar's website has been a useful tool over the years, especially when trying to find a lawyer's contact information.  There was always plenty of other information on the site, but there were so many options on the front page that it was sometimes difficult to find what you were looking for.

That's all changed now that the website has been revamped.  The menus are well organized, and the site is more aesthetically pleasing.  Kudos to the hardworking Bar staff who put it together!  You can visit the new bar website at www.msbar.org.

California Supreme Court wrestles with bite mark evidence, loses

The L.A. Times is reporting on what appears to be an awful decision by the California Supreme Court. In a case reminiscent of Mississippi in the days of "expert" witness Dr. Michael West, the California Supreme Court has refused to grant a new trial to a man convicted on discredited "bite mark" evidence.

At his third trial (two hung juries had before refused to convict), William Richards was convicted of murdering his wife. The difference between the first two trials and the third was the introduction of bite mark evidence by the prosecution. ("Bite mark" evidence has been discredited here in Mississippi.) In the third trial, a prosecution "expert" witness testified that something on the decedent's hand appearing to be a bite mark was a near-certain match to Mr. Richards' teeth.

Of course years later, when presented with better photographs of the mark on the hand, the "expert" recanted his testimony, saying that wasn't a match to the defendant's teeth. Oh, and then there's the whole "other person's DNA on the murder weapon" thing that came to light as well.

None of that mattered, though, to 4 of the California Supreme Court justices, who refused to grant Mr. Richards a new trial.  Grass ain't always greener, I guess....

Huffington Post: Mississippi prepares to execute potentially innocent man

Radley Balko has a compelling piece up on the Huffington Post about the Jeffrey Havard case.  I don't have anything I can add to Radley's coverage of this, partly because I would be divulging work product, but mostly because he's done an excellent job of covering all things Hayne since 2006.

Radley Balko has been one of the greatest friends the Mississippi criminal justice system has had over the last decade.  The work on cases related to Dr. Steven Hayne is nowhere near complete, and won't be for a long time.  Thankfully, Balko isn't going anywhere.  Here's the piece: Despite Evidence From Discredited Medical Examiner, Mississippi's Jeffrey Havard Nears Execution.