LEGAL RESEARCH GENERALLY

To Use the Search Panel for Legal Research, Click on “Streamlined Research” At the Top of the Page for Guidance—Searches for Single Strong Words or Phrases (in Quotation Marks) Work Best.

CRIMINAL LAW is a huge category in this database encompassing several other categories (indicated below in “all caps” and boldface), as well as more specific topics and issues (a few of which are described below). All of the decision-summaries included in the other categories indicated below are also included in the overarching “Criminal Law” category. These entries may help in choosing the most relevant database categories and keywords for searches.

APPEALS (preservation of error, interest of justice jurisdiction, waiver of appeal, weight of the evidence review, legally sufficient proof, appellate procedure, harmless error, reversible error, mode of proceedings error, etc.);

ATTORNEYS (ineffective assistance, prosecutorial misconduct, juror challenges, right to counsel, decisions to be made by defense counsel (not defendant), conflict of interest, etc.);

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (right to counsel, right to effective counsel, right to put on a defense, right to confront witnesses, right to represent oneself, right to due process, right to remain silent, excessive force, false arrest, false imprisonment, 42 USC 1983, etc.);

Criminal Procedure (notice requirements, pre-trial motions, pre-trial hearings, trial orders of dismissal, post-trial motions, jury selection, excessive judicial involvement, handling jury notes, etc.)

EVIDENCE (suppression motions, suppression hearings and their standards and burdens of proof, street stops, traffic stops, DeBour, pre-trial identification, in-court identification, Molineux, Sandoval, trial orders of dismissal, evidentiary bases for jury instructions, hearsay generally, testimonial hearsay, bolstering, expert opinion, cross-racial identification, DNA, DWI, SORA hearing standards and burdens of proof, etc.);

SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT (SORA) (risk-level determinations, standards and burdens of proof, modification petitions, etc.);

MENTAL HYGIENE LAW (post-incarceration commitment or monitoring of sex offenders, hearing proof standards and burdens, etc.);

CIVIL COMMITMENT (not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect, etc.);

DISCIPLINARY HEARINGS (INMATES) (hearing proof burdens and standards etc.);

VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW (DWI, street stops, etc.).