The Second DCA leads the way.
The now, oh so familiar scent of marijuana is no longer probable cause. The decision is en banc (literally "a whole bunch of us, like all of us, thought about this for a really long time")
When you see something that is not right, not fair, find a way to get in the way and cause trouble. Congressman John Lewis
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Showing posts with label 2nd DCA.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2nd DCA.. Show all posts
Friday, October 03, 2025
Saturday, April 11, 2015
SEITLES GONNA SAVE YOU
A big well done, well done indeed, to Marc Seitles and Ashley Litwin (who argued the case) and Marcia Silvers who obtained a reversal of 454 concurrent life sentences for a 24 year old young man who on a first offense was convicted of possessing 454 pornographic pictures.
The opinion is below.
While we have no quibble with the reasoning, it almost seems like the court was result oriented and wasn't going to let the 454 life sentences stand when the defendant could have been charged with one second degree felony count of possession with intent to distribute.
True there was a Miranda violation, but the defendant then subsequently waived Miranda and gave an admission. In some parts of the appellate world, such a set of facts would be relegated to the ash heap of "harmless error".
Don't get us wrong. We are thrilled at the result, as should be counsel and their client. But something tells us if this client was treated fairly to begin with, and had a small sentence and some probation, that the result might have been different.
The opinion is below.
While we have no quibble with the reasoning, it almost seems like the court was result oriented and wasn't going to let the 454 life sentences stand when the defendant could have been charged with one second degree felony count of possession with intent to distribute.
True there was a Miranda violation, but the defendant then subsequently waived Miranda and gave an admission. In some parts of the appellate world, such a set of facts would be relegated to the ash heap of "harmless error".
Don't get us wrong. We are thrilled at the result, as should be counsel and their client. But something tells us if this client was treated fairly to begin with, and had a small sentence and some probation, that the result might have been different.
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