Criminal Law
| Production Immunity |
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| Although the concept of production immunity is relatively new, in 1886 the United States Supreme Court held that the compulsory production of private papers containing incriminating information violated the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court has since found that as long as the subpoenaed papers were prepared voluntarily, the documents themselves cannot be said to contain compelled testimonial evidence. The documents therefore may not always be withheld on Fifth Amendment grounds. More... |
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| IDENTITY THEFT |
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| A person commits the offense of identity theft when he or she wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data in a way that involves fraud or deception. A person usually obtains the other person's personal data for economic gain. More... |
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| Battered Person Syndrome and Battered Child Syndrome |
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| Battered person syndrome is a derivative of battered woman syndrome. Battered person syndrome involves battery of a male spouse or someone that resides in the household. Battered person syndrome may be used as a justification defense in a homicide prosecution. Typically, the defendant would assert self-defense as a defense and then justify the premise of the self-defense based upon the battered person syndrome. The premise behind battered person syndrome is that this syndrome is gender neutral. More... |
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| ALIBI DEFENSE |
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| An alibi means that a defendant was at a place at the time of an offense where he or she could not have participated in the offense. Although an alibi defense is not an affirmative defense, it does involve the negation of an element of the prosecution's case against a defendant. The defendant does not have the burden of proving his or her alibi. The prosecution has the burden of proving that the defendant committed the offense. The alibi defense contradicts the allegations of an indictment or an information against the defendant and casts doubt about whether the prosecution has met its burden of proof. More... |
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| RELEASE ON BAIL PENDING AN APPEAL |
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| Whether a defendant is entitled to be released on bail pending his or her appeal depends upon the type of offense of which the defendant was convicted and the length of sentence that is imposed on the defendant. If the defendant is convicted of a misdemeanor, the defendant is generally entitled to reasonable bail pending his or her appeal. If the defendant is convicted of a felony, the length of the defendant's sentence generally determines whether the defendant is entitled to bail. More... |
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