Home : Drug Policy

Turner v. DC Board of Elections, ACLU Complaint (10/30/1998)

In re Maternowski (12/18/1996)
The Indiana Supreme Court suspends for 30 days two lawyers who had a policy of not representing clients who cooperated with the government. It found that they had placed themselves in “an impermissible conflict situation” by advising a “vacillating” client against cooperation.

U.S. v. Lopez (09/22/1993)
A fascinating case in which the government, helped by a defense attorney and authorized by a magistrate judge, goes behind an attorney's back to negotiate a plea deal with his client. The district court dismisses the indictment, and while the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agrees that the government breached its ethical duties, it reinstates the charges.

D'Agostino v. State of Nevada (12/30/1991)
A defendant has been sentenced to death based on jailhouse informant testimony about two murders the defendant had supposedly committed in the past. The Nevada Supreme Court mandates a reliability hearing for such situations.

U.S. v. Cervantes-Pacheco (10/01/1990)
The majority of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals approves the government’s payment of a contingent fee to a serial informant in a drug case. Judge Rubin’s concurring opinion states that the testimony of such an informant is admissible but the payment of a contingent fee to a witness violates ethical canons.