Tag: Serial

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OA719: Serial’s Adnan Syed & the Elected Prosecutor: A Match Made in Baltimore

On the cusp of Former President Donald Trump’s arraignment, Liz and Andrew break down the recent Maryland Appellate Court’s decision in Lee v. Maryland concerning Adnan Syed and the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office decision to petition to vacate his conviction and drop all charges against him. What’s really going on? Why have so many media outlets gotten this wrong?? Listen and find out!

Notes
OA 107
https://openargs.com/oa107-adnan-syed-obviously-also-can-learn-patents/

OA 633
https://openargs.com/oa633-why-adnan-was-released/

Lee v. Maryland
https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/cosa/2023/1291s22.pdf

Md. Code, Crim. Pro. Art., § 8-301.1
https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2021/criminal-procedure/title-8/subtitle-3/section-8-301-1/

Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 11-102
https://casetext.com/statute/code-of-maryland/article-criminal-procedure/title-11-victims-and-witnesses/subtitle-1-general-provisions/part-i-definitions-rights-available-throughout-proceedings/section-11-102-victims-right-to-attend-proceedings

-Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/law

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-For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed!  @oawiki

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

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Transcript of OA343: The End of the ACA? (Also: Some Stuff About Impeachment)

Listen to the episode and read the show notes

Topics of Discussion:

[Show Intro]

Thomas:         Hello and welcome to impeachmeeeeeent!!! [Celebratory clownhorns]  Put those sound effects in-

Andrew:         [Laughs]  I like how you did a little Michael Buffer, there!

Thomas:         [Laughs]  Yeah!  [Announcer voice] Let’s get ready to impeach in the Senaaate!  Hello everybody, it’s Opening Arguments episode 343, I’m Thomas, that over there is Andrew and that over there is impeach President Trump. 

[Trump – “So true!”]

Andrew:         Yeah, yeah!

Thomas:         It’s done.  Happened.

Continue reading “Transcript of OA343: The End of the ACA? (Also: Some Stuff About Impeachment)”
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OA343: The End of the ACA? (Also: Some Stuff About Impeachment)

Today’s episode takes a deep dive into the recent 5th Circuit ruling you may have heard about that… is supposed to have declared the ACA unconstitutional? How can that possibly be the case? We break it all down for you. Oh, and yeah, we also talk about the fact that the third president in American history has been impeached.

We begin, however, with an Andrew Was Wrong segment about the procedural history underlying the Syed appeal.

Then, it’s time to break down the 5th Circuit’s ACA opinion. How is it possible? How is the case ripe? Wasn’t all of this decided in 2012 in the NFIB v. Sebelius case? We explain everything you need to know — and what you need to know about the future — in this main segment.

Then, it’s time to tackle some impeachment questions like, “what the hell is going on?” and “is it true that the President can’t be pardoned for crimes over which he’s been impeached?” (No.) You definitely won’t want to miss this one.

After all that, it’s time for a brand new #T3BE involving jury instructions during a criminal trial. Can Thomas build on his amazing 1-question winning streak? There’s only one way to know for sure!

Appearances

None! If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.

Show Notes & Links

  1. We tackled the Syed case for the very last time in Episode 340.
  2. You can read the 5th Circuit’s ACA opinion here.
  3. Finally, on impeachment, don’t forget to check out (a) Episode 90 where we explain that Trump can probably pardon himself, and also (b) Laurence Tribe’s article that changed how the House handles impeachment.
  4. Oh, man, and if you missed last episode’s humor, check out “Larry ‘Bud’ Melman” advertising “Mr. Larry’s Toast on a Stick” from the old Late Night With David Letterman show.

-Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law

-Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

-Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/, and don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

-For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed!  @oawiki

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com!



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OA340: OA and Serial, or, Why the Supreme Court Denied Cert in Syed v. Maryland

Perhaps against our better judgment, we once again return to the Adnan Syed case narrated so beautifully in season 1 of Serial. If you haven’t heard our take on the case itself, you might want to go back and listen to Episode 107. Today, we’re not discussing the underlying merits but rather what the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled and why the Supreme Court declined to review that decision. Love us or hate us, if you love Serial, you won’t want to miss this episode!

We begin, however, with a look at how President Trump has reshaped the federal courts by the numbers. Is it as bleak as some sources say? Or is there merit to the counter-argument that Trump isn’t doing anything much differently than his predecessors — it’s just that we’re in the middle of his Presidency, so of course his effect is outsized. We delve beneath the op-eds to tell you what the cold hard facts are.

Then, it’s time to describe exactly what’s happened to Adnan Syed in the courts since Serial, culminating with a 4-3 decision in the Maryland Court of Appeals that was left undisturbed by the Supreme Court when they denied certiorari last week. What does it all mean? We break it down for you.

After that, it’s time for a bonus mini-“Breakin’ Down the Law” segment integrated with Thomas’s fiendishly hard #T3BE question. If you’ve ever wondered about motions for new trials and Rules 59 and 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, well, this is the show for you!

Appearances

None! If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.

Show Notes & Links

  1. We first broke down the Adnan Syed case (and Serial‘s portrayal of it) in Episode 107.
  2. You can check out the Brookings article we referenced (“Trump Has Reshaped the Judiciary But Not As Much As You Might Think”).
  3. For the Maryland Court of Appeals opinion (State v. Syed), click here. Then you can read Syed’s cert petition, the State’s response, and Syed’s reply. Ultimately, the Supreme Court just denied the petition without comment.\
  4. Finally, the underlying case we discussed regarding ineffective assistance of counsel is Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984).

-Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law

-Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

-Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/, and don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

-For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed!  @oawiki

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com!



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OA198: What Is Alan Dershowitz Thinking?

Today’s episode takes an in-depth look at Donald Trump’s favorite “liberal,” Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz as seen through the eyes of one of his former students.

We begin, however, with an update from the Paul Manafort trial, taking a look at the prosecution’s strategy, witness list, and some preliminary rulings by Judge Ellis.

After that, we dive very deeply into what looks like a very weird phenomenon:  why is Alan Dershowitz carrying water for a President whom he ostensibly opposes?  Why is he saying things that are demonstrably and indefensibly untrue about the law?

Andrew has a theory.  Mostly, though, he has stories and research… but they lead to a theory (we promise)!

Finally, we end the answer to Thomas Takes The Bar Exam #87 regarding constitutional law and a state vs. the federal Confrontation Clause.  Remember to follow our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and like our Facebook Page so that you too can play along with #TTTBE!

Recent Appearances

None!  If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.

Show Notes & Links

  1. This is the article in The Hill indicating that the prosecution would, in fact, call Rick Gates; earlier, friend of the show Randall Eliason gave a bunch of reasons why they might not.  Oh, and Eliason also has you covered as to why ‘collusion’ is, in fact, a crime.
  2. This is the laughable Fox News report on how Judge Ellis hates the prosecution; for a dose of reality, you might want to check out this other article in The Hill about how Judge Ellis chastised both sides’s lawyers.
  3. If you missed it, this is our Episode 107 where we tackled Serial.
  4. Here’s the PBS retrospective on Dershowitz and the OJ trial.
  5. Our Dershowitz story on ‘testilying’ begins with Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961) and the origins of the exclusionary rule; Dershowitz coined the term ‘testilying’ in this New York Times article from 1994.
  6. Testilying is, of course, a consistent problem today (see A, B) — but Dershowitz hasn’t spoken about it since 1998 (and even then, in an entirely different context).
  7. Instead, he attacked Baltimore’s decision to indict the police in the Freddie Gray case in 2015.

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

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Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/

Don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki

And email us at openarguments@gmail.com

 

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