Legal Blog

Over the last two years, in both Kansas and Missouri, the number of criminal appeals and post-conviction cases wherein the accused has asked for appointed (free) counsel has risen sharply. The backlog of appeals being sent over to the Kansas Appellate Defender's Office has created such a backlog that in many instances, the initial case docketing process (which is essentially the preparation and filing of introductory paperwork informing the Court of Appeals about the nature of the new appeal, the parties, the claims, etc.) is taking as long as 8-10 months (while the deadline for the filing of these documents is 21 days after the accused files a "Notice of Appeal").

There is an oral argument about to take place the week after Thanksgiving in the United States Supreme Court which will have a tremendous impact upon the push to shorten sentences for those currently incarcerated within the Federal Bureau of Prisons. No, I'm not talking about President Obama's last two months in office, and the commutations (sentence reductions) he has been granting.

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There has been much clamor recently about the possibility of overhaul and reform in the criminal justice system, brought about by this year's upcoming presidential election. While I believe that ultimately, this is all just lip service and that we will continue with the business of "mass incarceration" as usual, the candidates and the pundits are all posturing with ambiguous phrasing to offer the populace hope that each candidate has compassion for those incarcerated and their families, from their parents down to their children.

Earlier this week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (sitting in New York, which - given its ruling - explains pretty much everything, in the eyes of most Bostonians and other New Englanders), reinstated the 4-game ban against Tom Brady ordered by the NFL.

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On February 29th, the United States Supreme Court in Williams v. Pennsylvania, No. 15-5040 entertained oral arguments about "judicial bias." Specifically, the issue is whether Mr. Williams has a right to object to one particular judge on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court presiding over his appeal of his death sentence, where that judge was the elected county prosecutor at the time of Williams' trial, who gave the go-ahead to pursue the death penalty against Williams in the first instance.

On Friday, March 25th, the Kansas Supreme Court in State v. Shelly, No. 109,292 and State v. Perry, 109,506 clarified that a defense lawyer's duty as adviser extends past trial/plea and sentencing, to that brief period after sentencing when the client must decide whether to file for appellate review in the Court of Appeals or in the Supreme Court.

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Did you know that up until last Friday, February 29, 2016, Kansas had a law on the books making it a crime to refuse a breath test? Not only will a breath test refusal lead to a suspended license, in Kansas until last week, it also constituted a separate criminal charge, per Kansas Statute 8-1025.