As always, the past week has seen a tremendous amount of interesting criminal law news. Nationally, the story that has drawn the most attention is the conclusion of the Stephen Hayes murder trial in Connecticut. Apparently, two men invaded the home of a doctor and his family; beat the doctor severely; sexually assaulted his wife and one daughter; then set the house on fire. The doctor alone survived. Hayes, the first defendant to be tried, was sentenced to death. The New York Times archive on the case is here. Coincidentally, several polls were released this week about the public's opinion regarding the death penalty. Gallup, which has been conducting polls on this issue for over 70 years, asked about the issue a variety of ways and got a variety of results. UPI reports here on a different poll, which found, inter alia, that a majority of Americans would support the death penalty as a punishment for rape. In other news: 1. Governor Perdue has appointed a new district superior court judge and a new district attorney, as described here. 2. The Office of Indigent Defense Services, in conjunction with several School of Government faculty members who work with defense lawyers, is offering a webinar about recent developments in criminal law. The details are available here. 3. The News and Observer reports here that the DMV wants to cut down on colorful and nonstandard license plates, such as the popular Blue Ridge Parkway plates. Apparently, such plates are hard for officers, red [...]
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