Criminal Law Newsletters

Capital Punishment or the Death Penalty

In 2003, 65 inmates were executed by way of capital punishment or the death penalty. Capital punishment is punishment by death for capital crimes. This type of punishment is available in 38 states. Capital punishment is available for certain federal offenses.

Factual Stipulations in Criminal Trials

A stipulation is an agreement between adverse parties as to the definition or identification of a statement or pieces of evidence that are material to the case. Trial judges typically accept stipulations of fact presented by parties. However, it is within the trial judge's discretion to reject the stipulated fact if fact sought to be admitted is not relevant or constitutes a legal conclusion. When the trial court accepts a stipulated fact, the party that had the burden of proof with respect to the stipulated fact is relieved from presenting a foundation to establish that fact during the defendant's trial.

MOTIONS IN LIMINE

A motion in limine is any motion that is filed either before or during a trial and that seeks to exclude prejudicial evidence before it is offered into evidence. A motion in limine usually seeks to exclude evidence of another party.

Receipt of Stolen Government Property and Improper Disposal of Government Property

Receiving stolen government property is a federal offense. The prosecution must show the following elements existed in order to try a defendant for the offense of receiving stolen government property: The defendant received, concealed, or retained stolen property; the stolen property belonged to the United States; the defendant knew that the property had been embezzled, stolen, or converted; the defendant had the intent to convert the government property for his own use.

Violations of the Federal Meat Inspection Act

The Federal Meat Inspection Act was passed to ensure that consumers were protected and were provided with good quality meat. The Act provides prohibitions against numerous types of conduct.