Posted on 09/10/2005 9:33:12 AM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative
Alarm has been spread through Louisiana legal circles that Hurricane Katrina's inundation of courts and law enforcement records in up to eight parishes (counties) could force release of criminal defendants.
This prospect was raised in questions by Southern University Law Center professor Michelle Ghetti in an e-mail to judges and lawyers. She asked these questions about Louisiana criminal defendants: "What happens when the cases have been destroyed? Will the guilty be released upon the communities? Will the innocent not be able to prove their innocence?"
Only a few feet of standing water can ruin evidence, Ghetti wrote, because most files are kept in basements or lower floors of courthouses.
Idiots.
The legal system should be based on intelligence. Not more of this ineptitude.
She's the gift that keeps on giving.
The innocent do not have to prove anything.
I find it hard to believe that New Orleans area courthouses actually had basements.
I am less worried about the criminals being released because of the destruction of evidence and records than I am of the escape from New Orleans of the mentally deranged led by Ray Nagin.
These people don't know how to back up files? Or is everything in New Orleans done on paper, qua the 1970s?
Thugs are going to be turned out into the street and Yet Nagin is hell bent to take guns away from law-abiding residents..
Yep, sounds JUST like a Democrat.
What about counterevidence? The prosecution presents exhibits A, B and C which suggest that the defendant is guilty; the defense replies, "Ah, but exhibit D shows clearly that A, B and C are irrelevant to this case."
Exhibit D is now damaged beyond any use to the defense.
I think they're talking about evidence rooms, not paper records.
Oh, and one more...backup.
"I find it hard to believe that New Orleans area courthouses actually had basements."
Does N O's even have a cemetary where the dead are buried under ground?
If the dead can't be buried due to high ground water levels, how can there be basements?
well, evidence can be a lot of things....drugs etc... that could be lost in a flood.
That figures. I wonder if the records that FEMA wanted to investigate back in March, are floating around in some basement?
Lol! Judging by the actions of some of NO's finest, I would be shocked if drugs were saved for trial.
I hope you don't practice criminal law in Louisiana!
Here's a summary of the rules for that state:
"Speedy Trial rights in Louisiana
In Louisiana, you have the right to be charged within the following time periods:
* If you are in custody after an arrest, you must be charged within 45 days of the arrest if you are being held for a misdemeanor and within 60 days of the arrest if you are being held for a felony.
* If you are not in custody, you must be charged within 90 days of the arrest if you are booked with a misdemeanor and 150 days of the arrest if you are booked with a felony.
You are required to be arraigned within 30 days of the filing of the charges against you unless there is “just cause” for a longer delay. Just cause is any grounds beyond the control of the State of Louisiana or the court.
If you file a motion for a speedy trial, your trial must begin within 120 days if you are in custody or within 180 days if you are not in custody. "
All the impacted state courts are closed through at least October 1, 2005 ( http://www.lsba.org/home/information_for_other_louisian.asp ) so the "just cause" requirement is met. The only folks who might benefit are those who filed a Motion for Speedy Trial before the hurricane, and for whom the date might have fallen in September.
And on what are you basing your conclusion that the formal declaration of a state of emergency would suspend these dates?
Remember its buy a gun weekend. Send a message.
Southern is not exactly the best in the state (based upon bar exam pass rates, LSAT admission scores, or by what ever other objective standard you might want to come up with).
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