CrimLaw

Fixing the 21 Day Rule:

"I don't care what other states have. Time limits are not as important as standards of evidence."

By Jove, I think he's got it!! The fix which would make the most sense would be to entirely do away with the time restriction and impose a "clear and convincing" standard instead.

Yes, it would cause more cases to be put in front of the courts but not overly many for "normal" felonies. Most of the men doing long stretches in prison don't have the money. The one place it could cause trouble is with death penalty cases wherein it could cause case after case to be filed in Circuit Court as "new" evidence, no matter how minor. Maybe this could short-circuited by not allowing the Circuit Court to issue stays of executions (at least not unless a prima facie case has been made). I'm shooting from the hip here so I probably haven't seen all the potential problems and pitfalls but it's got to be better than what we have now.

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