February-March, 2015

Subscribers to the Criminal Defense Resource Center’s online resources, found at www.sado.org, have access to more than 1,800 appellate pleadings filed by SADO Attorneys in the last five years.  The brief bank is updated regularly and is open to anyone who wants to subscribe to online access.  On our site, briefs are searchable by keyword, results can be organized by relevance or date, and the pleadings can be filtered by court of filing.  Below is a sample of some of the questions presented in briefs added to our brief bank in the last few weeks:

BB 243683:  THE TRIAL COURT VIOLATED APPELLANT’S DUE PROCESS RIGHTS BY ALLOWING THE PROSECUTOR TO PRESENT EVIDENCE OF APPELLANT’S INVOLVEMENT IN FOUR OTHER HOME INVASIONS, WHERE THE SHEER NUMBER OF OTHER ACTS RESULTED IN UNFAIR PREJUDICE; AND BY DENYING A MISTRIAL WHERE A PROSECUTION WITNESS TESTIFIED TO MEETING APPELLANT “WHEN HE GOT OUT OF PRISON, LIKE, A COUPLE SUMMERS AGO.”

BB 244193:  THE TRIAL JUDGE ERRONEOUSLY SCORED OV 13 AT 25 POINTS WHERE OV 13 REQUIRES PROOF OF A CONTINUING PATTERN OF FELONIOUS CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, AND DEFENDANT HAD NO PRIOR SCORABLE FELONY CONVIC-TIONS WITHIN FIVE YEARS OF THE CURRENT OFFENSES, AND ALL THREE CURRENT OFFENSES WERE COMMITTED AGAINST A SINGLE COMPLAINANT IN ONE CRIMINAL EPISODE.

BB 244253:  WHERE DEFENDANT WAS CHARGED UNDER BOTH MCL 750.425, A SPECIFIC STATUTE THAT FIT THE PARTICULAR FACTS OF THE CASE, AND THE COMBINATION OF MCL 750.422 AND 750.157, THE PROSECUTION ABUSED ITS CHARGING DISCRETION IN VIOLATION OF DEFENDANT’S DUE PROCESS RIGHTS.

BB 244253:  DEFENDANT WAS DEPRIVED OF HIS RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL AND IMPARTIAL JURY US CONST, AM VI. CONST 1963, ART 1, §20 WHERE HIS CO-DEFENDANT WAS SHACKLED IN FULL VIEW OF THE JURY AND DEFENDANT’S ATTORNEY’S MOTION TO SEVER THE TRIALS WAS DENIED.

BB 244303:  DEFENDANT WAS DEPRIVED OF HIS RIGHTS TO BE PRESENT AND TO HAVE COUNSEL PRESENT DURING ALL STAGES OF TRIAL WHEN THEY WERE NOT GIVEN NOTICE OF AND WERE NOT PRESENT DURING THE HEARING ON THE MATERIAL WITNESS WARRANT.

BB 244303:  DEFENDANT IS ENTITLED TO RESENTENCING WHERE OFFENSE VARIABLE 19 WAS ERRONEOUSLY SCORED, RESULTING IN AN IMPROPERLY INFLATED GUIDELINES RANGE.  DEFENDANT’S STATE AND FEDERAL DUE PROCESS RIGHTS TO BE SENTENCED ON ACCURATE INFOR-MATION WERE DENIED.

BB 244930:  THE TRIAL COURT IS PERMITTED TO GRANT CREDIT FOR TIME SERVED IN PRISON IN ILLINOIS. DEFENDANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN MORE CREDIT FOR TIME SERVED.

BB 244930:  THE JUDGMENT OF SENTENCE SHOULD BE AMENDED TO DELETE THE $25,000 BOND FORFEITURE FEE BECAUSE THE BOND WAS NOT FORFEITED.