Getting Off

Jessa and Nick had technical difficulties due to the ongoing social distancing orders, so she is joined by Paisley, their associate attorney, to discuss the legal standards applied to determining if a defendant can represent themselves and what role standby counsel plays in trials with pro se defendants.

Nick and Jessa are back to finally tackle the "People's Choice" case voted for on Facebook...like three months later. Oops. They're going all the way back to the early 90's in Texas. Part 1 introduces the case of Scott Panetti, a man with a lengthy and well-documented history of mental illness, who was charged with capital offenses. They also break down the differences between NGI and competency. Thanks to Smithsonian Channel Plus, a new sponsor!

So Nick seems to have the corona virus, or something similar.  We'll be back to regularly scheduled programming next week.  In the meantime, here's an interview between Jessa and film makers about an interesting true crime case. 

Jessa and Nick are joined by the hosts of Queer All Year -- a daily podcast that covers information of note to the LGBT community, both current events and historical data.  Cat had some questions about the now-defunct South Dakota bill that would ban the use of puberty blockers and/or HRT treatment for trans children.  Pop over to the Queer All Year feed to hear the first part of the discussion and finish up with this episode, where we talk about how a class becomes subject to protection under the 14th amendment. 

Apologies & aftermath post-dismissal of the Bryant case. 

Spoiler alert: the case was dismissed at the 11th hour.  Find out why by listening. 

We're going to stick with the offensive pun in the title while we talk about pretrial issues and the media coverage of the Bryant case.  Oh, and Jessa gets mad about stuff.  You know, like usual. 

Yeah, we made a wordplay joke in the subject line.  About a rape case.  Because we're garbage people.  Let's talk about Kobe Bryant, y'all. 

Nick and Jessa conclude their discussion of the Johnson case (at least until the state supreme court rules!)

Well, it's gonna start to get weird now.  By the way, if anyone wants to write episode notes that actually describe things for us, email us at gettingoffpod@gmail.com.  Otherwise, you'll be getting Jessa's sarcastic one liners. 

We're about to get really geeky, law-wise.  Buckle up for the first part of the Lamar Johnson case.

So, if the prosecution decides a case was wrongfully decided, that ends the conversation, right?  Not so much...check out our explainer of CIUs and the intro to our next deep dive. 

We got a case suggestion out of Kansas that made us think more about the problem of wrongful convictions and accountability. 

This is a policy deep dive request regarding the history of the juvenile justice system.

After an unexpected hiatus, Nick and Jessa are back to conclude the Bembenek saga. 

Jessa and Nick talk about the conclusions of the John Doe investigation relating to the conduct of law enforcement regarding the investigation of Laurie Bembenek's case, and why things that might appall lay people actually make a lot of sense within the confines of The System. 

Ufdah.  There's a lot going on here. 

Nick and Jessa discuss why some defense attorneys don't like Marsy's Law, and some ways that maybe they...should?  Shout out to Lexi, our new audio editor.  If you can tell a difference, tweet, facebook, instagram, email, or otherwise let us know that it makes the quality better! 

What is Marsy's Law and who does it protect?  Jessa and Nick discuss the broad campaign to expand Victim's Rights, and what the law looks like. 

Is "implied malice" the Goldilocks of murder mens rea? How can statutory construction lead to such a mess? Nick and Jessa finish up discussing the Knoller case.