Criminal Law
| Battered Woman Syndrome |
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| Battered woman syndrome was first proposed in the 1970s. The syndrome was based upon clinical observations by a researcher of the effect of severe abuse and battery on a woman. Battered woman syndrome is a pattern of psychological and behavioral symptoms found in a woman living in an abusive relationship.
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| Criminal Law Basics |
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| A criminal case arises when either the federal or state government seeks to punish an individual for an act that is a crime. Whereas a civil case typically deals with a dispute over rights and duties that individuals and entities owe to one another. More... |
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| Right to Effective Counsel and Attachment of the Right to Counsel |
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| The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees a defendant the right to effective assistance of counsel in criminal proceedings. Effective assistance of counsel is presumed. If the defendant claims that his counsel was ineffective, he has the burden of proving that the ineffectiveness prejudiced him and that a different result would have occurred but for the ineffectiveness. Instances that do not constitute ineffectiveness include trial tactics, failure to raise an invalid defense, and failure to argue frivolous matters. More... |
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| AMENDING INDICTMENTS & INFORMATIONS |
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| An amendment is a change to an indictment or an information, which has the effect of correcting any defects in the indictment or the information. The amendment changes the wording of the indictment or the information so that it will not be subject to a defendant's motion to dismiss or motion to quash.
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| Judicial Review of Disputed Jencks Act Materials |
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| Upon a motion by the defendant, the Jencks Act requires the Government to disclose a witness's prior statement directly relating to the witness's direct testimony. It is also required that the Government must be in possession of the prior statement. There must be a direct link between the prior statement requested and the witness's direct testimony.
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