A US judge smoked marijuana and now the appeals of...
A US judge smoked marijuana and now the appeals of two men he sentenced to death have spread alarm through the courts that the case will open up a disturbing new target for defence lawyers - the private lives of judges and prosecutors
A US judge smoked marijuana and now the appeals of two men he sentenced to death have spread alarm through the courts that the case will open up a disturbing new target for defence lawyers - the private lives of judges and prosecutors.
"There is a floodgate that can be opened here, " says Robert Ellman, assistant attorney general in Arizona. In 1991, years after he had sent both men to Arizona's Death Row for murder, Superior Court Judge Philip Marquand got a second marijuana conviction and was fired from the bench.
The prisoners argue that his admitted drug use could have deprived them of a fair trial and many fear that this precedent for examining a judge's private life could have enormous consequences.
"Desperate defendants should not be allowed to rummage around through judges' personal lives, " says Professor Steven Lubet of Northwestern University School of Law.
"There is a floodgate that can be opened here, " says Robert Ellman, assistant attorney general in Arizona. In 1991, years after he had sent both men to Arizona's Death Row for murder, Superior Court Judge Philip Marquand got a second marijuana conviction and was fired from the bench.
The prisoners argue that his admitted drug use could have deprived them of a fair trial and many fear that this precedent for examining a judge's private life could have enormous consequences.
"Desperate defendants should not be allowed to rummage around through judges' personal lives, " says Professor Steven Lubet of Northwestern University School of Law.
— SOURCES
- (Sources: The Express, 21/05/2002)