The Baltimore Six – Three Black, Three White, Officers – Detail Charges and Bail Information….

theconservativetreehouse.com ^ | May 1, 2015 | sundance

[FR_addict]

Alan Dershowitz responds to Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby saying her decision was entirely based on politics and “crowd control.”

Dershowitz said “this is a very sad day for justice” and that Mosby acted out of a “desire to prevent riots.” It will be “virtually impossible,” he predicted, for the six officers involved to get a fair trial. ...

[Nervous Tick]

>> Hint: simply saying that it’s false doesn’t make it so.

Hint: simply asserting that it’s TRUE doesn’t make it so.

You offered zero evidence. Just (as usual) your lame, but oh-so-authoritarian, assertion.

Pony up case law if you wish to be believed. Chapter and verse.

MARYLAND case law.

[caww]

That photo is very revealing. She didn’t need to say a word ....her posturing said it all.

[Nervous Tick]

>> her posturing said it all.

OH yeah.

She will live to regret the day she was affirmative-actionedly promoted into her office.

But you have to admit, that WAS a darn good picture for her facebook! And that’s, like, SOOOO important to a young affirmative action AA DA.

[Conscience of a Conservative]

You’re the one saying that it is grounds for appeal, and yet you’re asking me to prove a negative. Why don’t you pony up some caselaw? How about a single case where a prosecutor’s charging decision and/or pre-charging investigation led to an overturned conviction? Just one case. That’s all.

[Conscience of a Conservative]

It is just basic criminal appellate procedure. The role of an appellate court is to review the decisions made by the trial court. The prosecutor’s conduct prior to bringing charges, and/or their investigation leading up to those charges, is not a decision of the trial court. Hence, not appealable.

Also, the standard for bringing charges is only probable cause. The standard for obtaining a conviction is beyond a reasonable doubt. An appeal would happen if and only if there was a conviction. No conviction = nothing to appeal. So, to challenge the prosecutor’s charging decision on appeal, you would have to argue that, despite the fact that the the trial court/jury determined guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the prosecutor was wrong in determining that there was probable cause.

There won’t be any caselaw concerning whether a prosecutor’s charging decision is grounds for appeal, because no defense attorney would be idiotic enough to try to appeal a conviction based on the prosecutor’s initial charging decision.

[Nervous Tick]

>> It is just basic criminal appellate procedure

Prove it.

>> There won’t be any caselaw

REALLY??? Ha, ha. There’s only one layer of appeal... right? And caselaw doesn’t matter... right? Even at the level of the SC, right? HA HA HA!
Bravo Sierra.

You have outed yourself as an “articulate incompetent”. Pretty much unworthy of bother.

[1035rep]

I think Mosby’s case is going to fall apart for several reasons.
Did you see this?

http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/05/02/update-the-curious-case-of-freddie-grays-transport-van-companion-baltimore-prosecutor-marilyn-mosby-manipulating-the-media/

[Conscience of a Conservative]

>> It is just basic criminal appellate procedure Prove it.

OK. How's this for starters, a basic explanation of Maryland appellate procedure, from the Maryland court system itself:

The Court of Special Appeals is Maryland’s second highest court, the intermediate appellate court. The Court of Special Appeals considers any prior reviewable judgment, decree, order or other action. In other words, if a party is unhappy with a Circuit Court decision, they have the option to appeal their case for review by the Court of Special Appeals. Judges sitting on the Court of Special Appeals generally hear and decide cases in panels of three, but in some instances, all 15 judges can sit to hear the case.

See the bolded parts? Appellate courts (such as the Maryland Court of Special Appeals) review judgments, orders, decrees, and other actions taken by trial courts.

REALLY??? Ha, ha. There’s only one layer of appeal... right? And caselaw doesn’t matter... right? Even at the level of the SC, right? HA HA HA! Bravo Sierra.

I didn't say that caselaw doesn't matter. I said that there won't be any caselaw on this point, because no attorney would ever bring an appeal based on a prosecutor's charging decision, because a prosecutor's charging decision is not a judgment, decree, order, or other action of a trial court. But you knew that already, you obtuse little twit.

[Nervous Tick]

See the bolded parts? Appellate courts (such as the Maryland Court of Special Appeals) review judgments, orders, decrees, and other actions taken by trial courts.

See the part in bold red? That's the part YOU made up and tacked on to the description, to change its meaning to suit your purposes.

It didn't say "other actions taken by trial courts". It said other actions, period.

A charging statement is one of those "other actions" that can be appealed.

And by the way, I found a nifty tutuorial white paper that covers (among other things) prosecutorial misconduct, one facet of which is laying charges. As well as several examples of appellate court case law that turns on the prosecutor's laying of charges. They are mostly federal appeals of state criminal court cases. I'm sure there are more, too, but I stopped looking when I found what I needed.

So I stand by my original claim: you lie.

[Conscience of a Conservative]

So, show me a single case where a charging statement has ever been considered an appealable action. Prove me wrong.

You can’t. Because it’s not. And you know it. So you evade, evade, evade, and insult, insult, insult. You have not made a single statement of any substance in this entire thread.

I’m done with your obtuse nonsense. I have some actual legal work to attend to, as opposed to arguing with morons on the internet. And no, that work doesn’t involve appealing charging statements - because I don’t want to face sanctions motions for filing frivolous appeals.

Have a nice day.

[Nervous Tick]

>> So you ... insult, insult, insult.

Yes, I owe you an apology for calling you an obtuse twit.

Oh wait! I didn’t call you that name.

YOU called ME that. ;-)

[Conscience of a Conservative]

Of course, certain types of prosecutorial misconduct may be the basis for an appeal. If a prosecutor fails to provide the defendant with potentially exculpatory evidence before trial, then under Brady v Maryland, of course the defendant has grounds for appeal.

But a prosecutor’s charging decision is not an appealable act. The remedy for a mistaken charging decision is to win at trial. If you lose at trial (e.g., of the prosecutor proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt), then how the heck do you think you could convince an appellate court that there was no probable cause? “Your honor, I know the fact-finder found that there was guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but you should toss out that decision because the prosecutor’s original determination that there was probable cause was wrong.” Sorry, doesn’t work that way.

Heck, the next step after a charging decision is a preliminary hearing, in which the prosecution presents evidence (and only the prosecution - the defense may cross-examine, but does not present their own evidence), and a judge determines whether there is probable cause to proceed to trial. And you know what? Even THAT decision is not appealable. How the heck can you appeal a prosecutor’s probable cause determination, when you can or even appeal the judge’s probable cause ruling?

But sure, go on and keep insulting me and calling me a troll (or infiltrator, or whatever), because I know that a prosecutor’s charging decision is not an appealable decision.

You have offered nothing of any substance in this thread, and yet I’m the troll. Hilarious.

[Conscience of a Conservative]

If the prosecutor’s decision to press charges is discriminatory in nature, the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause can be violated. For example, in Yick Wo. v. Hopkins (118 U.S. 356 [1886]), the Supreme Court stated: Though the law itself be fair on its face and impartial in appearance, yet, if it is applied and administered by public authority with an evil eye and an unequal hand, so as practically to make unjust and illegal discriminations between persons in similar circumstances, material to their rights, the denial of equal justice is still within the prohibition of the Constitution. (pp. 373–374) Simply put, if an individual is targeted for prosecution merely because he or she falls into a certain group (e.g., a minority group), then his or her constitutional rights will be violated. This is known as selective prosecution."

Did you even read what you wrote? Selective prosecution concerns treating similarly-situated people differently. How the heck does that apply here? Where are the similarly-situated people who were not charged with a crime? Who was targeted because they fall into a certain group?

Spewing irrelevant nonsense and insults is all you have.

[Conscience of a Conservative]

Because, of course, if you cannot prove that similarly-situated individuals were treated differently, then prosecutors have broad discretion to determine whether to bring charges:

So long as the prosecutor has probable cause to believe that the accused committed an offense defined by statute, the decision whether or not to prosecute, and what charge to file or bring before a grand jury, generally rests entirely in his discretion.

Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357, 364 (1978).

[Nervous Tick]

>> Did you even read what you wrote? Selective prosecution concerns treating similarly-situated people differently. How the heck does that apply here?

Whoa there, cowboy... you’re changing the subject. As usual, you slippery snake.

I never said *this* case is directly relevant to the Baltimore prosecution.

This whole discussion of ours concerns your BLANKET statements regarding the ABSOLUTE that a prosecutor’s charging decision is IN NO WAY APPEALABLE.

I just destroyed your lie with one such case... that’s all it takes.

Now, do I have to shove your nose in your earlier piles of poop that erroneously claim that charging decisions as a class are not subject to appeal, like the little carpet-soiling bitch dog that you are?

Or are you going to admit that you made a false claim and back down?

[Conscience of a Conservative]

Fine, I'll qualify the statement - Absent some sort of Constitutional error, a charging decision is not grounds for appeal. I didn't think I needed to include that qualification earlier, because it is not applicable here. People were objecting because they didn't think the prosecutor has probable cause, and/or because the charging decision was driven by trying to appease the protestors/rioters. Neither of which is Constitutional error.

Unless you think otherwise - what, exactly, is the Constitutional error?

[Nervous Tick]

Appeals of charging decisions are not limited to only constitutional errors, as you term them.

“...there are two clear situations in which it is inappropriate for a prosecutor to bring charges: (1) when such prosecution is unfair or biased and (2) when it is vindictive. A third possible situation is when the charging decision is in disregard of legislative intent...”

These are reasons that have existing associated case law.

“Vindictive” sounds like the most likely grounds to me.

And there’s nothing to preclude a NOVEL application of defendents’ rights in this case either... is there? Because the overarching conclusion is that a charging decision IS appealable. For several reasons already in common law, and maybe others as well. Contrary to what you have been touting.