The Law Dictionary for Everyone
Following is the case brief for Brady v. Maryland, United States Supreme Court, (1963) Case Summary of Brady v. Maryland: Brady was convicted of murder and sentenced to death after the prosecution withheld a statement by Boblit in which Boblit confessed to the killing. Brady then appealed to the court of appeals claiming that suppressing the statement violated his Constitutional […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Riley v. California, Supreme Court of the United States, (2014) Case Summary of Riley v. California: Riley was convicted of a shooting related offense after evidence seized from his cell phone (incident to his arrest) was used against him in court. Riley filed a motion to suppress which was denied and later appealed to […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Furman v. Georgia, United States Supreme Court, (1972) Case Summary of Furman v. Georgia: Furman was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty. Furman, along with defendants similarly situated, appealed the lower courts decisions, claiming that the death penalty violated the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. In a per curium opinion, the Supreme Court […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Chimel v. California, United States Supreme Court, (1969) Case Summary of Chimel v. California: Pursuant to a valid arrest warrant, Chimel was arrested in his home after his wife permitted officers to enter. Incident to arrest and absent a search warrant, the officers searched the whole house resulting in the discovery of coins which […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Berghuis v. Thompkins, 560 U.S. 370 (2010). Case Summary of Berghuis v. Thompkins Thompkins was suspected of shooting someone. He was interrogated by police after being advised of his Miranda warnings. He remained largely silent but implicated himself in the killing at the end of the lengthy interrogation. The trial court denied a motion to suppress the […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Arizona v. Gant, Supreme Court of the United States, (2009) Case Summary of Arizona v. Gant: Gant was pulled over and arrested for driving while license suspended. After being cuffed and secured in the back of a cop car, officers searched his car and found a gun and drugs. Gant moved to have the […]
Read moreDiminished capacity is a legal defense used by a defendant to argue that, while he admits to having broken the law, he should not be held fully criminally liable due to his “diminished” mental state at the time. Diminished capacity is a partial defense, which requires the defendant to have committed the crime while in a very specific state of […]
Read moreThe act of trespassing is knowingly entering another person’s property without that person’s permission. Trespassing is a criminal offense, with penalties ranging from a violation to a felony. When someone commits a trespass against another person, rather than against his property, then the trespasser can be charged with assault or battery. To explore this concept, consider the following trespassing definition. […]
Read moreThe term vagrancy refers to the act of being homeless, without evident means of supporting oneself when able to work. As far as vagrancy laws are concerned, this definition is combined with such acts as loitering, being drunk in public, prostitution, and other actions. Vagrancy has historically been a criminal act, the specifics of which varied by jurisdiction, often at […]
Read moreThe term reasonable suspicion refers to a standard by which police officers are judged to have authority to briefly detain a person. Reasonable suspicion is a less strict standard then probable cause, but has very limited applications. To explore this concept, consider the following reasonable suspicion definition. Definition of Reasonable Suspicion Noun A legal standard giving law enforcement the right […]
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