A certified question of law is a specific and limited appeal of a legal issue in a criminal case. It may arise where a criminal defendant, after having lost a pre-trial motion on a critical piece of evidence, proceeds to plead guilty, with the agreement of the state...
Double Jeopardy is Not Implicated by Pre-Trial Bond Detention
The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution (applied to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment) protects against being charged or punished twice for a single offense. In criminal cases, questions sometimes arise as to...
Post-Conviction Relief is Not Available for Expunged Charges
In Tennessee, a person who has pled guilty to a crime may seek post-conviction relief from that judgment of conviction, within one year of the judgment becoming final. In the recent case of Rodriguez v. State, M2011-01485-CCA-R3-PC (Tenn.Crim.App. 1-7-2013), the...
Evidence of a Prior Consistent Statement is Sometimes Admissible
In a criminal trial, testimonial evidence from witnesses is presented by the witness' live testimony at trial, subject to cross-examination by the opposing party. Generally, a prior (out of court) statement of a witness consistent with the witness testimony is not...
