Former police officer Amber Guyger intends to possibly file an appeal of her murder conviction resulting in a 10- year prison term. She filed a notice of appeal. A notice of appeal must be timely filed within 30 days of a final court order to preserve a defendant’s right to appeal. A notice of appeal does not mean that a defendant will file an appeal. It only provides notice to the court that an appeal is being contemplated to be filed. An appeal is successful when it determines prejudicial legal errors made by the trial judge’s rulings which likely resulted in the defendant’s conviction. Guyger’s own attorney made strategic mistakes that likely resulted in her conviction. And no, a defense attorney cannot appeal his/her mistakes. If Guyger had not testified that she intended to kill Botham Jean, a jury may not have likely convicted her of murder. The crime of murder requires an element of an intent to kill. Through her own testimony on direct examination by her attorney, she … [Read more...] about Why Amber Guyger’s Appeal Success is Unlikely
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Appeals Court Trumps Mr. Trump on his Travel Ban
On Thursday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Mr. Trump and the Government’s request to lift the travel ban stay, pending an appeal. In upholding the lower court’s decision, which ended the ban, the federal appeals court gave an elementary school civics lesson to the President and the Department of Justice lawyers arguing the case. The Department of Justice lawyers argued that the judiciary branch of the government had no authority to end the executive order. It argued as if the President has full authority over the courts, our judicial branch of government. The appellate court made it clear that there was no precedent for that part of the Government’s argument--ever, even if based on national security. The appeals court gave Mr. Trump a nice civics lesson. There are three branches of government under the U. S. Constitution—executive, judiciary and legislative. No one branch of government is superior to the other. For Mr. Trump to misunderstand the checks … [Read more...] about Appeals Court Trumps Mr. Trump on his Travel Ban