5 results for 'cat:"Manslaughter" AND cat:"Due Process"'.
J. Torres finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of a manslaughter shooting. The jury was not tainted by introduction of evidence indicating the victim’s use of the castle doctrine; their instruction deliberately avoided mention and evidence of the victim threatening defendant with a knife could have led the jury to infer a conclusion other than self-defense. Further, despite alterations to normal courtroom procedures due to Covid-19 safety measures that meant the trial was livestreamed and voir dire was conducted privately, a new trial is not warranted since the court considered all alternatives and had even paused the trial to address technical issues. Affirmed.
Court: Guam Supreme Court, Judge: Torres, Filed On: November 28, 2023, Case #: CRA22-2, Categories: Jury, manslaughter, due Process
J. Mayle finds the trial court properly considered the presentence investigative report, which included police reports and witness statements of defendant's other criminal conduct, before it imposed a sentence. Defendant was given ample time to review and object to the report but chose not to do so, while his attorney was also afforded the opportunity to speak at length before sentencing. Additionally, the trial court did not violate defendant's due process rights when it considered a letter from the victim's mother during sentencing. Although that letter was not disclosed to the defense, it contained no new information and merely confirmed that defendant planned the shooting. Affirmed in part.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mayle, Filed On: August 18, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-2903, Categories: Sentencing, manslaughter, due Process
J. Hartz finds that the lower court properly sentenced and convicted defendant of manslaughter. Defendant claims his sentence is unreasonable and that he was stripped of using a self-defense strategy during trial due to the nature of Oklahoma's law on voluntary manslaughter, but the court properly applied federal law, making the state law irrelevant. Also, there is nothing found in defendant's 96-month sentence that is unreasonable enough to warrant a reduction. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Hartz, Filed On: August 7, 2023, Case #: 22-7027, Categories: Sentencing, manslaughter, due Process
J. Biran disagrees with the lower court’s decision to exclude a statement by a victim of voluntary manslaughter committed by another man who sold drugs in the same territory. The trial court excluded the statement “This is my block” as hearsay, but the man argued it was relevant based on the victim’s known propensity for violence and possession of handguns, evidencing the statement as a credible threat. After a jury trial, the intermediate court published its dicta comparing the man to the monster Grendel in the Old English epic, Beowulf. The man asserts that equating him, a Black man, to this character suggests racist tropes. However, because the omission of the victim’s statement remains unconvincing beyond a reasonable doubt that it did not influence the verdict, the man has been deprived of his due process, necessitating a new trial. Because of this, the dicta will remain unaddressed. Reversed in part and remanded.
Court: Supreme Court of Maryland, Judge: Biran, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 119015009, Categories: Fair Trial, manslaughter, due Process
J. Moore reverses the court of appeals' finding that the once-convicted person was exonerated for the purposes of exoneration compensation. The convicted person has not presented "evidence of factual innocence," since the overturn of her second-degree manslaughter conviction was premised on a legal, rather than a factual, issue. Reversed.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Moore, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: A20-1098, Categories: manslaughter, due Process