Tag: Sixth Amendment

In Smith v. the United States, 599 U.S. ____ (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the Constitution permits the retrial of a defendant following a trial in an improper venue conducted before a jury drawn from the wrong district. Fa...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to consider two cases involving the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution. The first, Smith v. United States, asks the justices to determine the proper remedy when a defendant is tried and convicted in the wrong ...

In Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U. S. ____ (2020), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial, as incorporated against the states, requires a unanimous verdict to convict a defendant of a serious offense. The Court struck ...

In Garza v Idaho, 586 U. S. ____ (2019), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the presumption of prejudice for Sixth Amendment purposes recognized in Roe v. Flores-Ortega applies regardless of whether a defendant has signed an appeal waiver. The case w...

In McCoy v Louisiana, 584 U. S. ____ (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment guarantees criminal defendants the “autonomy to decide … to assert innocence” as their defense. This includes the defendant’s right to insist th...

A divided U.S. Supreme Court recently held that while jury deliberations should normally be kept secret, racial or ethnic bias mandates an exception to the rule. The court decided Pena-Rodriguez v Colorado, 580 U. S. ____ (2017) by a vote of 5-3. Fa...

In Buck v Davis, 580 U. S. ____ (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court recently held that a death row inmate was likely prejudiced by expert witness testimony offered by his own defense team that suggested he was more likely to be dangerous in the future bec...

The U.S. Supreme Court will return from its summer recess at the end of the month. The justices have already agreed to consider a number of significant criminal law cases over 2016-2017 Term. This post offers a brief preview.   Bravo-Fer...

In US v Bryant 579 ___ (2016), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the inclusion of tribal-court convictions as predicate offenses under a federal domestic violence law targeting repeat offenders does not violate the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel...