A question from a public defender

  I received the following question from a public defender in Texas. I told him I would pose his question here. Does anyone know of any articles, etc.?

"This past summer I tried a criminal case in federal court.  After the
guilty  verdict  but  before  the jurors were dismissed, the district court
judge told them about my client's prior bad acts.  I would like to write an
article  and  argue  that  this is wrong because it damages the future jury
pool.   If  it cannot be done in Texas state courts, why should the federal
courts  be  any different? Could you tell me of any articles or periodicals
dealing with this issue?"

Comments

[Kathy Smith]

Can you explain more about the damage to the future jury pool? I've never heard of such a thing, but I'm not sure I understand your argument.

[Ramsey]

Isn't it something along the lines of those jurors now forever thinking "well that's the last time I find someone not guilty!"