tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post3641138824771311818..comments2024-03-18T22:21:01.033-04:00Comments on Grim's Hall: Akbar Case Being LitigatedGrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-83446724960089247072012-02-02T03:39:58.155-05:002012-02-02T03:39:58.155-05:00She may find that bit may hurt her in the future (...She may find that bit may hurt her in the future (if I have any clue about law at all- which I don't).<br /><br />I would think a prosecutor facing appeals from her, and seeing the use of multiple serial requests for time and funding would point out that she has admitted that it is her standard tactic, and that whatever she is preparing should be able to be done in a finite period of time and still qualify as a fair defense- no defense requires an infinite time period of preparation would seem to be a reasonable statement.douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17261739259295914188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-7909608797086600042012-01-28T21:07:10.979-05:002012-01-28T21:07:10.979-05:00Bruce - well, in the federal budget criminal justi...Bruce - well, in the <i>federal</i> budget criminal justice is not one of the big-ticket items - I don't know if there's any state where it is - but, no, I don't have anything intelligent to say about the case you mentioned. <br /><br />On the Army side, the system for hiring experts is pretty rational. The defense attorneys' command (TDS) doesn't get a budget (except for travel). If they want to hire an expert or an investigator, they ask the command to hire him (or assign a military person if that works) - and if the command refuses, they can ask the judge to compel the expert. There is no "blanket" entitlement to expert assistance - but in death cases the command's more likely to grant a lot of requests to kill appeal issues. (They don't want to try the case again.) I like that the defense attorneys in this case didn't believe in endless requests to make the case expensive - that is not a proper way to practice law. So, anyway, the boundaries are there, at least with the system I know about. Imperfectly policed, maybe, but there. But they're conceptual boundaries based on "What rights do you have to an effective defense?" rather than monetary boundaries based on, "How much is allotted for you to spend?" <br /><br />As you can see from the government's brief, the standard is not "a perfect defense" or even "the best possible defense" -- the whole thing's got to be done by human beings and the legal standards recognize that. <br /><br />Back in the Nineties Congress passed the "Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act" - part of the purpose was to cut down on post-trial litigation. (The parts I've dealt with in the past are designed to stop people from using habeas corpus petitions to relitigate their appeals...or litigate all the appeal issues they didn't raise the first time.) I do not know why these cases still take as long as they do.Joseph W.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09480728887840887200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-26513722902949784972012-01-28T17:23:51.966-05:002012-01-28T17:23:51.966-05:00I'm afraid I have the browser security issue t...I'm afraid I have the browser security issue too. Probably an incompatible security certificate -- military sites use a different format.Grimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-61573851766023630832012-01-28T17:07:58.494-05:002012-01-28T17:07:58.494-05:00Firefox complains about the cert but allows you to...Firefox complains about the cert but allows you to take responsibility for accepting it despite the warning. Bless it's iddy biddy heart.<br /><br /><b><i>"I think, 'round here, most folks would prefer this kind of speed in executions."</i></b><br /><br />Heheh. Depends on the crime and the evidence agin' the defendant. <br /><br />Allow me to thank you too Joseph. Maybe in another life I will have an opportunity to study law since it seems to fascinate me so in this one. Well, now that I'm at this point in my life it fascinates. <br /><br />BTW. To your Ms. Nerad's strategy matter. There was <a href="http://crime.about.com/od/current/a/brian_nichols.htm" rel="nofollow"> a local case not so many years ago</a> in which a man snapped, went homicidal, killed several people, many bystanders witnessed the act, the Courthouse CCTV recorded the crimes in the courthouse, plus he held a young lady (IIRC) hostage after killing the federal agent and he gave her a blow by blow confession as she attempted to talk him into surrendering. IIRC she was the reason he surrendered. <br /><br />Yet despite the barge load of evidence against the fellow, like in the case you post, the expense for providing a public defender, expert witnesses, et al. almost bankrupted the county's judicial budget. <br /><br />Given the actions of pendulums, I wonder if some boundaries can be placed on pilfering the public purse in order to provide the best possible defense in such cases. Or at least placing boundaries around or trying to quantify <i>best possible defense</i>. Otherwise one accused individual, through the efforts of his legal representation, can apparently bankrupt the public treasury leaving all the other accused in need of a public defender, in the words of Curly Howard, Sortinly outta luck, aka SOL. <br /><br />Any thoughts on that part of the matter?bthunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15789441349826379510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-88478361325771289352012-01-28T16:42:49.411-05:002012-01-28T16:42:49.411-05:00rcl, sorry to hear that - I assumed it'd work ...rcl, sorry to hear that - I assumed it'd work for everyone since I can get at it from my personal laptop (using IE) as well as my work machine. (But I probably downloaded certificates from AKO a while ago and forgot I'd done it.) And thanks for the tip.<br /><br />I think, 'round here, most folks would prefer <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuFWKbFiQ1A" rel="nofollow">this kind</a> of speed in executions.Joseph W.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09480728887840887200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-43851764198659252252012-01-28T16:10:56.708-05:002012-01-28T16:10:56.708-05:00In case this may be helpful to others... MIL site...In case this may be helpful to others... MIL site certificates always cause me browsing security problems. Same with Joseph's links. If I'm surfing to Seabee Battalion 133 pages in Chrome I get a security warning with a button to Continue Anyway or Go Back. With the Akbar case my only choice in Chrome was BACK. Totally inaccessible. <br /><br />Other Browsers: <br /><br />IE... had a Proceed button but then returned an error. Fail.<br /><br />Safari... brought up a warning dialog with a button to Proceed or Go Back. Hitting Proceed loaded the documents page perfectly. <br /><br />So, on my Windows laptop only Safari would follow the link.<br /><br />Thanks Joseph. I've downloaded the docs and will give them a read this evening. <br /><br />In ten years that SOB should have been planted by now. I was heartened by the strength of the fiancee and wife quoted in the linked article. Impressive. I hope Akbar is off their radar screen ASAP.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com