Harvey Lee Windsor was convicted of capital murder under § 13A-5–40(a) (2), Ala. Code 1975, and was sentenced to death by electrocution. Windsor appealed the conviction and sentence to the Court of Criminal Appeals. That court reversed the conviction and remanded for a new trial, holding that the prosecutor had improperly referred to Windsor’s failure to testify at trial and holding that the circuit clerk’s practice of excusing potential jurors to whom jury service would prove burdensome constituted reversible error. We granted certiorari review. We reverse the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals and remand the case to that court for action consistent with this opinion. II. Discussion During closing argument, the following exchange occurred: [Prosecution]: An intentional act—[the Judge] will tell you a person acts intentionally if his purpose is to cause that result or to engage in that conduct. That intent, whether Mr. Harvey Lee Windsor pulled the trigger of that sawed-off shotgun or whether Colan Lavon Guthrie did it, is still there. The intent to kill. Intent is a state of mind—something that is rarely capable of positive proof. I expect the Judge will tell you that. If we could get into that mind over there and put out here what is in there, we would have no reason for a jury. [Defense counsel]: Object, that is improper argument. [The Court]: Overruled. [Prosecution]: I’ll tell you that he did have the intent to kill. If you find the intent to kill, there can be but one verdict. The state of mind—not capable of positive proof. How can you decide what his intent was? We have to prove—to find him guilty of capital murder—the intent. Intent can be inferred from his actions. Judge Austin will tell you in his charge that the intent can be inferred from his actions. Let’s look at his actions. What did he do? How do we decide his intent? What are his actions? As this Court recently held in Ex parte Musgrove, “[w]hen an accused contends that a prosecutor has made improper comments during a closing argument, the statements at issue must be viewed in the context of the evidence presented in the case and the entire closing arguments made to the jury . . . .” Washington v. State, 259 Ala. 104, 65 So. 2d 704 (1953). In this case, the prosecutor was explaining the difference between felony murder and capital murder, and arguing that the State had proven Windsor guilty of capital murder. In order to do so, the State had to prove Windsor’s intent to kill. In this narrow context, it is apparent that the prosecutor was referring not to Windsor’s failure to testify, but rather to the State’s own failure to produce direct evidence of Windsor’s intent. The only way for the State to prove intent, and, therefore, to obtain a conviction on the capital murder charge, was to show that Windsor acted in accordance with an intent …………….. Required: 1. What is the legal issue before the court? 2. When is a statement by a prosecutor improper?
> Write a query to display the movie number, movie title, and price code for all movies with a title that starts with the letter “R” (result shown in Figure P7.106). Figure P7.106 Movies starting with R Movie Num Mo
> Write a query to display the movie title, movie year, and movie genre for all movies sorted by movie genre in ascending order, then sorted by movie year in descending order within genre (result shown in Figure P7.105). Figure P7.105 Movies with multicol
> Write a query to display the movie year, movie title, and movie cost sorted by movie year in descending order (result shown in Figure P7.104). Figure P7.104 Movies by year Movie Year Movie Title Movie Cost 2015 Constant Companion 2015 Richard Goodho
> Write a query to display the movie title, movie year, and movie genre for all movies (result shown in Figure P7.103). Figure P7.103 All Movies Movie Title Movie Year Movie Genre The Cesar Family Christmas Smokey Mountain Wildlife Richard Goodhope Be
> Write the SQL command to save the changes made to the PRICE and MOVIE tables in Problems 98 – 101.
> Write a single SQL command to increase all price rental fee values in the PRICE table by $0.50.
> Write the SQL command to change the price code for all Action movies to price code 3.
> Why does a multi-user database environment give us a special interest in transaction management and concurrency control?
> Write the SQL statements that might be used in transaction management and explain how they work.
> A Partnership failed to pay employment taxes for its employees and within the proper time limitations, the I.R.S. assessed the taxes against the Partnership, but not against individual partners. Later, the IRS tried to collect the taxes from the individu
> Peters, an employee of a union as a business agent was subpoenaed to testify before a legislative committee. He claimed that he was instructed by the union's secretary-treasurer in charge of employees to give false testimony when questioned. Instead, he
> Jackson Leasing Co. acquired an apartment complex having some problems. The tenants complained of wall cracks, peeling paint, water leaks, heating and electrical fixture problems, broken or inoperable windows, rodents and cockroaches, and the lack of suf
> Zane and Linda had often discussed the sale of a Zane’s restaurant to Linda. One night Zane and Linda were in a bar and again discussed the sale of the restaurant. At this time, Zane agreed in writing to sell the restaurant to Linda for $100,000 dollars.
> Peter, age 16, and Janet, age 25, agreed as follows. Peter, who was very religious, would pray to his favorite saint for guidance in selecting winning lottery numbers. He would give these numbers to Janet who would buy a ticket. Peter could not buy a tic
> Assume that Kersch enters into an oral agreement to lease a building for eleven months. Three months into the lease, Kersch decides to buy a building. Can he cancel the lease without penalty?
> Review the case file at the beginning of the chapter. How would Kersch protect his computer chip?
> How is the right of publicity different from the right of privacy? See the Elvis Presley case in this chapter.
> State the issues presented to the court in Groucho Marx Publications, Inc. v. Day and Night Company.
> The Arkansas Supreme Court was faced with this question: Does a child, who was created as an embryo through in vitro fertilization during his parents’ marriage, but implanted into his mother’s womb after the death of his father, inherit from the father u
> MR. CHIEF JUSTICE WARREN delivered the opinion of the Court. These cases come to us from the States of Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware. They are premised on different facts and different local conditions, but a common legal question justif
> Locate and summarize two family law statutes that address the issue of child custody. Provide the title of the code and the section number in your summary. Use Appendix IV to guide you in proper citation format. The index to the code will enable you to g
> State the issues presented to the Court in McCord v. McCord.
> Read the case of United States v. Morrison in Appendix VII. What common law torts could plaintiff claim in this case?
> Analyze the following factual situations and discuss possible torts. a. Peters points a gun at Quentin’s back, Quentin being unaware of what is happening. Peters then shoots and hits Quentin. b. Jones consents to a blood transfusion, providing the doctor
> Harry owned an old and deteriorating farmhouse that was unoccupied, boarded up, and had NO TRESPASS signs around it. Harry was very upset with the constant burglaries and break-ins and to stop the vandalism mounted a spring-loaded shotgun in the farmhous
> A television camera crew followed a group of city firefighters and paramedics with their permission. A call came in about a man having a heart attack. The camera crew and the paramedics rushed to the home of the reported victim. Without consent from anyo
> Brian, a twelve year old boy, sitting in a classroom and fooling around, kicked James, the boy sitting next to him. The kick was intentional. James had recently suffered an injury to the same leg. As a result of the kick, which in itself was slight, the
> Refer to the case file at the beginning of the chapter. If you represented the students, what arguments would you make that the student’s constitutional rights are being violated? If you represented the school, what arguments would you make that the scho
> Reread the paragraphs taken from the argument made by the United States in support of the petitioner in Minnesota v. Dickerson. What techniques did the writer of these paragraphs use to make this argument persuasive?
> What was the Court’s holding in Powell v. Alabama? See the Gideon v. Wainwright case in this chapter.
> Charged in a Florida State Court with a noncapital felony, petitioner appeared without funds and without counsel and asked the Court to appoint counsel for him; but this was denied on the ground that the state law permitted appointment of counsel for ind
> Explain how section 1139 found in Figure 4-2 might be used in the Welsh case.
> Summarize the factual dispute in Lorilland Tobacco Co. v. Reilly. The case syllabus (summary) is found in Appendix VII
> Apply the North Carolina assault statute found in Section 4–5 to the following facts. a. Bobby is angry with his supervisor. He takes a gun to work, intending to scare his supervisor. He waves the gun around while yelling at the supervisor. The police ar
> Assume that Maria works for the public defender’s office. While organizing a file in preparation for trial she comes across the name and telephone number of a witness who positively identified the perpetrator of the crime as the defendant named in the ca
> Matthew works as a paralegal for the prosecutor’s office. While organizing a file in preparation for trial he comes across the name and telephone number of a witness who identified the perpetrator of the crime as someone other than the defendant named in
> Robert is a paralegal. His neighbor and good friend is in an automobile accident. She tells him how the accident happened and asks if she has a good case. What should he tell her?
> In the Case file at the beginning of this chapter, a law firm refused to represent both parties in a divorce case. Why did they do this?
> Consider the following situations and discuss whether a violation of judicial ethics occurred: a. At the end of a trial, a judge refused to allow an attorney to present an argument because he said that he knew what the argument would be and did not agree
> Under federal labor rules found in the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), employees who work overtime must be compensated for that time unless they are “exempt.” One category of exemption exists for an employee “who customarily and regularly exercises
> Should U.S. district court judges be appointed by the president, or should they be elected by the people in the district where they serve?
> In a marital dissolution proceeding, does the failure of one spouse to disclose the existence of a community property asset constitute extrinsic fraud? I After 22 years of marriage, Marilyn and Zelig Modnick separated in September of 1974. The next mont
> In 1994, a federal law was enacted giving victims of gender-motivated violence (i.e., sexual assault) the right to sue for civil damages. Do you think such a law is constitutional? See the case summary of U.S. v. Morrison in Appendix VII.
> The U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Is it a violation of the U.S. Constitution to sentence someone to death for rape of a child? See Kennedy v. Louisiana, 129 S. Ct. 2641 (2008).
> After the Lopez case, the statute in question was amended to read: It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual knows, or
> Petitioners brought suit against respondent after a catheter ruptured in the patient’s coronary artery during surgery, killing him. The catheter received “premarket” approval from the FDA pursuant to a federal law regulating medical devices. The law proh
> Discuss the relationship between case law and statutory law as illustrated in the case of United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc., found in Appendix VII.
> A conflict between state and federal criminal law arose in the case of United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, found in Appendix VII. Explain how the court resolves the problem.
> Three young men were assaulted because of their race. The assailant was arrested and charged with several offenses, including assault with a firearm, civil rights violations and brandishing a weapon. Was the civil rights violation civil or criminal? Expl
> Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale” of what happened when David Reuther, while vacationing in the Cayman Islands at the Pirates Point Resort Hotel, decided to go scuba diving—“a fateful trip that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny sh
> Opinion of the Court by Mr. Justice DOUGLAS, announced by Mr. Justice BRENNAN. Petitioner and a companion, Boblit, were found guilty of murder in the first degree and were sentenced to death, their convictions being affirmed by the Court of Appeals of Ma
> Thomas Bowling appeals his convictions in a bench trial [no jury] for capital murder and use of a firearm during the commission of murder. His issues on appeal include (1) whether the trial court erred in prohibiting him from introducing evidence of his
> At petitioner’s bench trial for rape, Sandra Lambatos, a forensic specialist at the Illinois State Police lab, testified that she matched a DNA profile produced by an outside laboratory, Cellmark, to a profile the state lab produced using a sample of pet
> This is a summary of the facts and the holding in the Terry case. A Cleveland detective (McFadden), on a downtown beat which he had been patrolling for many years, observed two strangers (petitioner and another man, Chilton) on a street corner. He saw t
> Appellant stands convicted of knowingly having had in her possession and under her control certain lewd and lascivious books, pictures, and photographs in violation of Ohio statutes. As officially stated in the syllabus to its opinion, the Supreme Court
> In the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), Congress empowered the President “to use all necessary and appropriate force against those . . . he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks . . . on September 11, 20
> After his 2009 arrest on first- and second-degree assault charges, respondent King was processed through a Wicomico County, Maryland, facility, where booking personnel used a cheek swab to take a DNA sample pursuant to the Maryland DNA Collection Act (Ac
> Petitioner was convicted under an indictment charging him with transmitting wagering information by telephone across state lines in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1084. Evidence of petitioner’s end of the conversations, overheard by FBI agents who had attached
> In each of these cases, a 14-year-old was convicted of murder and sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. In the first case, petitioner Jackson accompanied two other boys to a video store to commit a robbery;
> We granted certiorari to decide whether the prosecution of respondent as an adult, after Juvenile Court proceedings which resulted in a finding that respondent had violated a criminal statute and a subsequent finding that he was unfit for treatment as a
> Gerald Gault, 15 years old, was taken into custody as the result of a complaint that he had made lewd telephone calls. After hearings before a juvenile court judge, Gerald was ordered committed to the State Industrial Schools as a juvenile delinquent unt
> After prevailing against the Government on a claim originating in the Department of Transportation’s Board of Contract Appeals, petitioner (Richlin) filed an application with the Board for reimbursement of attorney’s fees, expenses, and costs, pursuant t
> A jury convicted appellant of aggravated kidnapping and assessed his punishment at confinement for fifteen years in the penitentiary. The conviction was affirmed. We granted discretionary review to determine whether evidence of extraneous offenses and ex
> Facts On September 13, 1981, Kenneth Roy and one Jesse McHargue, while hitchhiking near Gridley, California, met Archie Mannix and James Clark outside a liquor store and began drinking beer with them. A Gridley police officer observed the foursome in a p
> Justice Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court When the State of Michigan rested its case at petitioner Lamar Evans’ arson trial, the court entered a directed verdict of acquittal, based upon its view that the State had not provided sufficient evid
> In the late 1980s, petitioner Major League Baseball Players Association (Association) filed grievances against the Major League Baseball Clubs (Clubs), claiming the Clubs had colluded in the market for free-agent services after the 1985, 1986 and 1987 ba
> Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court. We consider whether a contractual waiver of class arbitration is enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act when the plaintiff ’s cost of individually arbitrating a federal statutory claim exceeds the
> The petitioner is a well-known entertainer in the television industry. The respondent is a “personal manager” in the entertainment profession. On January 16, 1974 they signed a contract whereby the petitioner agreed to employ the respondent as his agent
> Plaintiff, MTV Networks (“MTVN”), brought this action against Defendant, Adam Curry (“Curry”). Plaintiff now moves the Court to dismiss Curry’s counterclaims, pursuant to Rules 9(b) and 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, or in the alternat
> Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court. The federal diversity jurisdiction statute provides that “a corporation shall be deemed to be a citizen of any State by which it has been incorporated and of the State where it has its principal place o
> KOZINSKI, Chief Judge: You don’t need a peg leg or an eye patch. When you ram ships; hurl glass containers of acid; drag metal-reinforced ropes in the water to damage propellers and rudders; launch smoke bombs and flares with hooks; and point high-powere
> In August, 1985, Tia Carrere (“Carrere”) entered into a personal services contract with American Broadcasting Company (“ABC”) whereby she agreed to perform in the television series General Hospital from that time until August, 1988 (“ABC Contract”). Unde
> When this case was at issue, we referred it to retired Circuit Judge P. B. Revels of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, one of Florida’s most experienced trial judges, to serve as referee. The referee has filed his report which, in pertinent part, indicates:
> The Oakland Raiders (hereafter, Raiders) football club has sued the National Football League (hereafter, NFL), 16 NFL clubs, and many other NFL-related persons and entities, generally alleging that NFL leadership has been marked by abuse of power, neglec
> Petitioner Erica P. John Fund, Inc. (EPJ Fund), is the lead plaintiff in a securities fraud class action filed against Halliburton Co. and one of its executives (collectively Halliburton). EPJ Fund alleges that Halliburton made various misrepresentations
> Facts and Proceedings Appellant purchased three parcels of agricultural property from Albert La Monte, Jr. and Helen La Monte for approximately $1 million. He later discovered that the property was not as represented. Appellant, a superior court judge, w
> Alan Jardine appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Brother Records, Inc. (“BRI”), on BRI’s Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051-1129, trademark infringement action alleging that Jardine infringed BRI’s “The Beach Boys” trademark. Ja
> Each human gene is encoded as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which takes the shape of a “double helix.” Each “cross-bar” in that helix consists of two chemically joined nucleotides. Sequences of DNA nucleotides contain the information necessary to create s
> Coy Koontz, Sr., whose estate is represented here by petitioner, sought permits to develop a section of his property from respondent St. Johns River Water Management District (District), which, consistent with Florida law, requires permit applicants wish
> R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) operated a customer rewards program, called Camel Cash, from 1991 to 2007. Under the terms of the program, RJR urged consumers to purchase Camel cigarettes, to save Camel Cash certificates included in packages of Camel
> This action arises out of the production of the musical play A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine by defendants, Day and Night Company, Inc., Alexander Cohen and the Shubert Organization. (Plaintiffs’ claims against the Shubert Organization have now
> The executor of the estate of the famous film actress Marilyn Monroe sues to recover damages for invasion of the “right of publicity” alleged to adhere in the decedent’s name, personality, photographs, etc. Plaintiff claims that this right of publicity i
> After publicly burning an American flag as a means of political protest, Gregory Lee Johnson was convicted of desecrating a flag in violation of Texas law. This case presents the question whether his conviction is consistent with the First Amendment. We
> Plaintiffs, the heir and assignees of the late Agatha Christie, seek an order enjoining the defendant movie producers, Casablanca Records, Filmworks, First Artists and Warner Brothers (hereinafter referred to as the “movie case”) from distributing or sho
> This is an appeal of a final judgment of adoption, under which F.G. became the adoptive father of two boys, X.X.G. and N.R.G. (collectively, “the children”). The trial court found, and all parties agree, that F.G. is a fit parent and that the adoption is
> The State of New York recognizes the marriage of New York residents Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, who wed in Ontario, Canada, in 2007. When Spyer died in 2009, she left her entire estate to Windsor. Windsor sought to claim the federal estate tax exemptio
> In this post-dissolution of marriage proceeding, David L. McCord (father) appeals the order modifying his child support obligation and awarding Deborah A. McCord (mother) her attorney fees. We dismiss the appeal in part, affirm the trial court’s order, a
> On March 2, 1976, appellant caused to appear in its weekly publication, the National Enquirer, a “gossip column” headlined “Carol Burnett and Henry K. in Row,” wherein a four-sentence item specified in its entirety that: “In a Washington restaurant, a bo
> At the beginning of the trial, this action as against the New York Central Railroad was discontinued and at the conclusion of the entire case a motion to dismiss the complaint as against the Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., was granted, leaving as the
> Plaintiff was standing on a platform of defendant’s railroad after buying a ticket to go to the Rockaway Beach. A train stopped at the station, bound for another place. Two men ran forward to catch it. One of the men reached the platform of the car witho
> Levy, J.—The issue presented by this appeal is whether an author who posts an article on MySpace. com can state a cause of action for invasion of privacy and/or intentional infliction of emotional distress against a person who submits that article to a n
> In the fall of 2000, Andrew W. Koffman, a 13-year old middle school student at a public school in Botetourt County, began participating on the school’s football team. It was Andy’s first season playing organized football, and he was positioned as a third
> At a school-sanctioned and school-supervised event, petitioner Morse, the high school principal, saw students unfurl a banner stating “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS,” which she regarded as promoting illegal drug use. Consistent with established school policy prohibi
> In 2010, Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in order to increase the number of Americans covered by health insurance and decrease the cost of health care. One key provision is the individual mandate, which requires most Ameri
> The Stolen Valor Act makes it a crime to falsely claim receipt of military decorations or medals and provides an enhanced penalty if the Congressional Medal of Honor is involved. 18 U.S.C. §§704 (b), (c). Respondent pleaded guilty to a charge of falsely
> For the past 20 years, the congregation of the Westboro Baptist Church has picketed military funerals to communicate its belief that God hates the United States for its tolerance of homosexuality, particularly in America’s military. Fred Phelps, who foun
> Respondent, an elected official in Montgomery, Alabama, brought suit in a state court alleging that he had been libeled by an advertisement in corporate petitioner’s newspaper, the text of which appeared over the names of the four individual petitioners
> Respondents were convicted separately of violating a Virginia statute that makes it a felony “for any person . . ., with the intent of intimidating any person or group . . ., to burn . . . a cross on the property of another, a highway or other public pla
> Prior to 1995, a student elected as Santa Fe High School’s student council chaplain delivered a prayer over the public address system before each home varsity football game. Respondents, Mormon and Catholic students or alumni and their mothers, filed a s
> CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS delivered the opinion of the Court. The public is currently engaged in an active political debate over whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. That question has also given rise to litigation. In this case, petitioners,
