30 June 2011

CrimLaw News Around the World & Around the Corner

1) A woman in Kenya is arrested for having an abortion.

2) In possibly the most ineffective issuance of arrest warrants ever, the UN tribunal sitting to determine who killed the Lebanese Prime Minister - and nobody thinks that Hezbullah will ever let them be brought to trial.

3) The former President of Taiwan is indicted for embezzling 7+ million while in office.

4) The trial of the two Egyptian police officers who killed a kid and started the rebellion has been put off and might end up with more serious charges.

5) I don't know anything about Japanese criminal procedure, but apparently they appoint jurors rather than having a jury selection process like the U.S. Also, the comments on this murder charge are interesting and seem to indicate that rape & murder in Japan carries about a 2 year punishment.

6) This guy got 2 years for torturing a dog to death during a burglary. The prosecutor asked for 5 years. He deserves every second of the time.

7) If someone steals your purse hit his car with your cane so the police can track him down later.

8) Don't plug your cell phone into someone else's socket in Maine.

9) It's time for new judges in Virginia. Congratulations to each and every one of you. I'm sure you'll all be magnanimous, brilliant jurists, smart enough to agree with my analyses and realize that the argument the other guy is making is just so bogus.

1 comment:

Bill Poser said...

Japan does not use juries at all in the sense in which the US does. Until 2009, all decisions were made by professional judges. In that year, Japan introduced a system in which, in trials for serious crimes, the case is heard by a panel usually consisting of three professional judges and six lay judges. In cases in which there is no real dispute as to guilt and it is basically a matter of sentencing only, the panel consists of one professional judge and four lay judges. The lay judges are chosen randomly from the voter rolls but must have completed secondary education. There is no extensive voir dire as in the US.

As for two years being a typical penalty for rape and murder, that is nonsense. In fact, for multiple murder and various aggravated forms of murder, Japan has the death penalty.