In the past week, I sat down with two potential clients and their families to discuss taking an appeal. I thought one case was “winnable,” and one I thought was not. I put “winnable” in quotation marks because defining a win in appeals law is difficult. In one case , the prospective client recently entered […]
00J. Scott Key/wp-content/uploads/SK-Logo-Black-White.pngJ. Scott Key2010-07-28 10:13:552010-07-28 10:13:55Appeals Law is Often About Turning Down Cases
Donovan X. Ramsey at The Public Square, a Blog on Atlanta Politics and News, reports that the City of Atlanta’s Public Defender’s Office receives less money for indigent defense than the Atlanta Mayor’s Office receives for office supplies. The Atlanta PD’s office is allocated about $1.1 million dollars for use in defending a projected 16,500 cases […]
00J. Scott Key/wp-content/uploads/SK-Logo-Black-White.pngJ. Scott Key2010-07-27 13:14:122010-07-27 13:14:12Atlanta Mayor’s Office Supplies Budgeted More Money than Public Defender
From Bob Mabry at his blog, Courts and Writing, I learned about an article by University of Georgia law professor Erica J Hashimoto in the latest issue of the Boston University Law Review. According to Professor Hashimoto, the criminal client should have a complete right to represent himself at trial and on appeal. Also, when […]
00J. Scott Key/wp-content/uploads/SK-Logo-Black-White.pngJ. Scott Key2010-07-26 00:01:002010-07-26 00:01:00Client Autonomy on the Front Lines as a Georgia Appeals Lawyer
When I succeed in my brief writing or at oral argument (I measure success by writing a good brief and by fluid conversational delivery at argument — not necessarily by result), it is because I stop to think about my audience. More particularly, I remember that my audience includes a set of staff attorneys and […]
00J. Scott Key/wp-content/uploads/SK-Logo-Black-White.pngJ. Scott Key2010-07-23 09:22:592010-07-23 09:22:59A Key to Success on Georgia Appeals is to Really Know Your Audience
Bill Rankin at the AJC reports that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a Federal District Court’s dismissal against former Clayton County District Attorney for an alleged violation of his First Amendment right to Free Speech. This is the latest chapter in what was a debacle of a tenure for. Mrs. Scott as […]
00J. Scott Key/wp-content/uploads/SK-Logo-Black-White.pngJ. Scott Key2010-07-22 11:18:042010-07-22 11:18:0411th Circuit: Lawsuit Against Clayton County, GA DA Can Move Forward
The Honorable Debra Bernes has died of cancer at the age of 54. Bill Rankin at the Atlanta Journal Constitution has posted an article on her passing and her career. Judge Bernes will be remembered for many things including her illustrious, albeit too short career on the Georgia Court of Appeals. Before beginning her service on the […]
There are two big stories in the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision in Jackson v. State. The first is that the rule of causation for felony murder that had been in place for thirty years has been changed. The second is that the majority has provided a framework for any appellant to use in future cases […]
00J. Scott Key/wp-content/uploads/SK-Logo-Black-White.pngJ. Scott Key2010-07-19 13:45:322010-07-19 13:45:32A New Approach to Felony Murder and a New Template to Attack Precedent in Georgia
One of the problems with appellate law is that clients either show up too late or early. Some clients show up too late and too early. Too late is after the trial attorney has screwed things up, after a deadline has passed, or after the client took things into his own hands and dabbled in […]
00J. Scott Key/wp-content/uploads/SK-Logo-Black-White.pngJ. Scott Key2010-07-16 08:27:292010-07-16 08:27:29Timing Problems for Getting Retained on Georgia Appeals
Rob Teilhet’s controversial ad has made state and national news. According to the AJC and PolitiFact, the ad is “false.” In an interview with done by Andy Peters with the Fulton Daily Report, Mr. Teilhet claims that he is more experienced than candidate Ken Hodges on the issues that matter most to being Attorney General. […]
00J. Scott Key/wp-content/uploads/SK-Logo-Black-White.pngJ. Scott Key2010-07-15 13:19:422010-07-15 13:19:42AJC and Politifact Rate Georgia Attorney General Campaign Ad False
The Walton County Examiner features an interview with Anthony Carter, Joshua Hames’s original lawyer. Mr. Hames just had his conviction for felony murder related to a hunting accident over seven years ago, reversed on appeal In that interview, Mr. Carter explains that the case still haunts him and that he followed it after he […]
00J. Scott Key/wp-content/uploads/SK-Logo-Black-White.pngJ. Scott Key2010-07-14 10:23:562010-07-14 10:23:56Hames Case From Ga. Supreme Court Haunts Original Lawyer
Appeals Law is Often About Turning Down Cases
/by J. Scott KeyIn the past week, I sat down with two potential clients and their families to discuss taking an appeal. I thought one case was “winnable,” and one I thought was not. I put “winnable” in quotation marks because defining a win in appeals law is difficult. In one case , the prospective client recently entered […]
Atlanta Mayor’s Office Supplies Budgeted More Money than Public Defender
/by J. Scott KeyDonovan X. Ramsey at The Public Square, a Blog on Atlanta Politics and News, reports that the City of Atlanta’s Public Defender’s Office receives less money for indigent defense than the Atlanta Mayor’s Office receives for office supplies. The Atlanta PD’s office is allocated about $1.1 million dollars for use in defending a projected 16,500 cases […]
Client Autonomy on the Front Lines as a Georgia Appeals Lawyer
/by J. Scott KeyFrom Bob Mabry at his blog, Courts and Writing, I learned about an article by University of Georgia law professor Erica J Hashimoto in the latest issue of the Boston University Law Review. According to Professor Hashimoto, the criminal client should have a complete right to represent himself at trial and on appeal. Also, when […]
A Key to Success on Georgia Appeals is to Really Know Your Audience
/by J. Scott KeyWhen I succeed in my brief writing or at oral argument (I measure success by writing a good brief and by fluid conversational delivery at argument — not necessarily by result), it is because I stop to think about my audience. More particularly, I remember that my audience includes a set of staff attorneys and […]
11th Circuit: Lawsuit Against Clayton County, GA DA Can Move Forward
/by J. Scott KeyBill Rankin at the AJC reports that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a Federal District Court’s dismissal against former Clayton County District Attorney for an alleged violation of his First Amendment right to Free Speech. This is the latest chapter in what was a debacle of a tenure for. Mrs. Scott as […]
Honorable Debra Bernes Dies at 54
/by J. Scott KeyThe Honorable Debra Bernes has died of cancer at the age of 54. Bill Rankin at the Atlanta Journal Constitution has posted an article on her passing and her career. Judge Bernes will be remembered for many things including her illustrious, albeit too short career on the Georgia Court of Appeals. Before beginning her service on the […]
A New Approach to Felony Murder and a New Template to Attack Precedent in Georgia
/by J. Scott KeyThere are two big stories in the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision in Jackson v. State. The first is that the rule of causation for felony murder that had been in place for thirty years has been changed. The second is that the majority has provided a framework for any appellant to use in future cases […]
Timing Problems for Getting Retained on Georgia Appeals
/by J. Scott KeyOne of the problems with appellate law is that clients either show up too late or early. Some clients show up too late and too early. Too late is after the trial attorney has screwed things up, after a deadline has passed, or after the client took things into his own hands and dabbled in […]
AJC and Politifact Rate Georgia Attorney General Campaign Ad False
/by J. Scott KeyRob Teilhet’s controversial ad has made state and national news. According to the AJC and PolitiFact, the ad is “false.” In an interview with done by Andy Peters with the Fulton Daily Report, Mr. Teilhet claims that he is more experienced than candidate Ken Hodges on the issues that matter most to being Attorney General. […]
Hames Case From Ga. Supreme Court Haunts Original Lawyer
/by J. Scott KeyThe Walton County Examiner features an interview with Anthony Carter, Joshua Hames’s original lawyer. Mr. Hames just had his conviction for felony murder related to a hunting accident over seven years ago, reversed on appeal In that interview, Mr. Carter explains that the case still haunts him and that he followed it after he […]