A new Spinning the Law Segment featuring Kendall Coffey on the Steve Malzberg Show was released this week. Kendall Coffey appears on the show to answer questions about a recent New Mexico Supreme Court ruling and about Eric Holder's statements on drug crimes.
The state supreme court in New Mexico recently ruled that citizens who are native Spanish speakers still have a right to serve on a jury even if they do not have a strong grasp of English. The case involved a convicted murderer's appeal based on the dismissal of a juror who did not have strong understanding the language.
Kendall Coffey notes that while it is a constitutional right, he was baffled and confused that the court would not see language barriers as grounds for dismissal.
"This is more than a head scratcher... this has got your jaw dropping and your eyes rolling. The constitutional right to a fair trial, where everybody completely understands the proceedings at every level is vitally important. And you know... the one thing we agree with opposing counsel on is... if there is any indication that a juror does not truly understand and is comfortable with the English language, you can be assured that's the one thing that both sides agree on! It just doesn't help the system of justice to have it." -Kendall Coffey on New Mexico court ruling.
Steve Malzberg then asked Coffey his opinion on Attorney General Eric Holder's remarks on Monday about how federal prosecutors will stop seeking mandatory sentences for drug offenses. Some have said that instructing federal prosecutors to ignore the law is illegal in and of itself. Kendall Coffey said that in general federal prosecutors generally have a lot of discretion in which cases to try. He went on to say that the war on drugs has been too downplayed in recent years.
"Crime is down, and certainly back in the 90's and 80's, there has been an astronomical correlation between street crime and drugs. So much so that they would test people when they picked up off the streets and remarkable percentage of people were positive for using drugs at the time of the crime... We have had success with in enforcement, and its a success that's been consistent. I suppose you could say its harsh... but to have something that's effective, what really needs to come across, is there needs to be a serious punishment each time, every time."
Kendall Coffey went on to say he is probably in the majority of that opinion but stands by it. Steve Malzberg agreed with Coffey, saying that people who knowingly break the law need to face consequences.
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