Nashville Criminal Law Report : Nashville DUI Lawyer & Attorney : Rob McKinney Law Firm : TN Criminal Defense, Domestic Violence : Cheatham, Davidson, Montgomery Counties

The State Supreme Court of Hawaii ruled that a man convicted of punching his stepson should have been allowed to raise parental discipline as a defense in his trial. The trial court rejected that defense because the boy's nose was broke by the defendant who wanted him to clean a carpet stain. The case is remanded back to the trial court for a new trial.

The defense requested a jury instruction on parental discipline defense . In Hawaii , the law provides such a defense.

In order to invoke the parental discipline defense, a defendant is required to make a showing that the record contained some evidence supporting the following elements:

(1) [the defendant] was a parent, guardian, or other person as described in HRS § 703-309(1); (2) [the defendant] used force against a minor for whose care and supervision he was responsible; (3) his [or her] use of force was with due regard to the age and size of the recipient and reasonably related to the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the welfare of the minor, including the prevention or punishment of misconduct; and (4) the force used was not designed to cause, or known to create a risk of causing, substantial bodily injury, disfigurement, extreme pain or mental distress, or neurological damage.

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Article I Section 9 of the Tennessee Constitution guarantees a person accused of a criminal charge the right to a speedy trial.I recently filed a motion to dismiss in a cold case first degree murder case based upon a denial of his right to a speedy trial.There are four  factors that the criminal courts in Tennessee review in evaluating a speedy trial claim.

1. the length of the delay;
2. the reason for the delay;
3. whether the defendant asserted a claim to the right of a trial;
4. whether the defendant was prejudiced by the delay.

There is no magic amount of time in the length of delay analysis. A delay of one year triggers a more through review by the trial court.

Reason for the delay usually falls into one of these categories;

• delay to obtain a tactical advantage ;
• bureaucratic indifference or neglect ;
• delay necessary to the fair and effective prosecution of the case ;
• delay caused or acquiesced by the defense .

The most critical factor of the four is what prejudice did the defendant suffer.Loss of memory and witnesses are just two elements to present to the court.  Impairment to the defense is sometimes hard to prove.

The denial of a right to a speedy trial is just one right that the U.S. or Tennessee Constitution still affords the citizen accused.

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I ran across " The Right to Present a Defense" by Mark Mahoney. You can download the article on the link. It's a great resource for criminal defense lawyers in Tennessee. Thanks to the law criminal defense of  for the tip.

 I thought the book cover of " To Kill a Mockingbird" was a great image in the right to present a defense post.

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