×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
The Two-Edged Sword of DNA Exonerates Another Prisoner
by Ed Lyon
In 1996, 20-year-old Idaho Falls, Idaho, citizen Christopher Tapp was convicted of raping and murdering 18-year-old Angie Dodge. Tapp did not finish high school, so he was no match for educated cops who relentlessly interrogated him nine times over three-and-a-half weeks for a total of 25 hours. ...
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Criminal Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- News in Brief
- $750,000 Settlement for St. Louis County Cops Shooting Dog, by Jayson Hawkins
- The Two-Edged Sword of DNA Exonerates Another Prisoner, by Edward Lyon
- National Fingerprint Database Frees Man After 36 Years, by Jayson Hawkins
- Free Speech Is Sometimes Expensive, by Edward Lyon
- New York City Cops Can Always Tell by Just the Smell, by Edward Lyon
- Man Freed Who Sat in Prison Nearly 30 Years While Prosecutors Withheld Evidence of Innocence, by Dale Chappell
- Payouts for Police Misconduct Claims Rise While Number of Claims Appear to Fall, by Douglas Ankney
- Michigan Supreme Court Reverses Criminal Sexual Conduct Convictions in Two Consolidated Cases Due to Improperly Admitted Expert Testimony, by Douglas Ankney
- High Bail Amounts Lead to Sharp Increase in Franklin, PA, Jail Population, by Dale Chappell
- New Law Makes It Harder for California’s Cops to Get Away with Killing People, by Douglas Ankney
- Not Guilty but Punished Anyway, by Douglas Ankney
- Maryland Court of Appeals Announces Circuit Court Retains Authority to Exercise Its Revisory Power for Up to Five Years After Granting Belated Postconviction Motion, by Douglas Ankney
- Indiana Supreme Court: Postconviction Petition Addressing Only Issues From New Trial, New Sentencing, or New Appeal From Federal Court via Habeas Proceedings Is Not a Second Petition Under State Law, by Douglas Ankney
- Ninth Circuit: Federal Sentencing Court Must Hear Defendant Before Determining If Acceptance of Responsibility Reduction Applies, by David Reutter
- Sixth Circuit Grants § 2254 Habeas Relief in Unusual Case of Attorney Failing to Initiate Plea Negotiations, by Douglas Ankney
- Law Professor Peeks at Prosecutor’s Veiled DNA Database, by Douglas Ankney
- Fifth Circuit: Practices of Orleans Parish Judges in Collecting Fines and Fees Violates Due Process, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit Vacates Conviction and Remands for a Franks Hearing, by Douglas Ankney
- California Supreme Court Holds Discovery Statute Requiring ‘Good Cause’ Not Applicable When Evidence Held by Court, by Dale Chappell
- Minnesota Supreme Court Announces Heightened Pleading Standard for Birchfield/Johnson Claims Raised in Collateral Postconviction Proceedings, by Douglas Ankney
- Missouri Supreme Court Clarifies Defendant Is Entitled to Self-Defense Instruction When Substantial Evidence Supports Instruction Regardless of Whether Defendant Presented Evidence Contrary to Self-Defense, by Douglas Ankney
- Ninth Circuit Reverses Convictions Where Trial Court Failed to Provide Oral Jury Instructions, by Chad Marks
- Tenth Circuit: ‘Relevant Background Law’ Trumps Unclear Record in Granting § 2255 Relief From Johnson Error, by Michael Berk
- Another notable (but ultimately disappointing) ruling about sentence reductions under § 3582(c)(1)(A) after FIRST STEP Act, by Professor Douglas A. Berman
- Maryland Court of Appeals Abrogates Rule Requiring Corroboration of Accomplices’ Testimony and Announces New Rule, by Douglas Ankney
- In Landmark Opinion, Colorado Supreme Court Announces Courts May Not Sentence Defendant to Both Prison and Probation in Multi-Count Cases, by Richard Resch
- 9th Circuit: Sentence Under 18 U.S.C. § 3583(k) Violated Ex Post Facto Clause When Underlying Offense Was Committed in 2005, by Douglas Ankney
- California Supreme Court: Where Electronics Search Condition of Probation Is Not Reasonably Related to Future Criminality, Condition Is Invalid, by Douglas Ankney
- Risk Assessments in Cook County Ineffective, by Jayson Hawkins
- $2.4 Million Paid by Sacramento in Wrongful Death Suit of Stephon Clark, by Kevin Bliss
- Second Circuit: Federal Habeas Relief Warranted Where State Trial Court’s Evidentiary Rulings Deprived Defendant of Right to Present a Complete Defense, by Douglas Ankney
- South Carolina Supreme Court Grants New Trial Based on IAC Because of Botched Alibi Defense, by Dale Chappell
- Massachusetts Supreme Court Suppresses Evidence Obtained After Miranda Warnings Translated into Spanish Deemed Incapable of Conveying Meaningful Advice, by David Reutter
- Civil Death Laws: When Life is Death, by Jayson Hawkins
- 10th Circuit: Child Porn Stored on Multiple Devices Constitutes One Count of Possession Under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B), by Douglas Ankney
- Tell Me What I Want to Hear, Not What I Need to Hear: How Confirmation Bias Causes Wrongful Convictions, by Dale Chappell
- Flaws in Mobile Phone Records Free Danish Prisoners, by Jayson Hawkins
- Second Circuit Clarifies Conditions for Releasing a Defendant on Bail to Home Detention With Private Armed Security Guards, by Douglas Ankney
- Eighth Circuit Vacates Sentence for Improper Supervision Length After ACCA Enhancement Removed, by Anthony Accurso
- Oregon Supreme Court Explains PCR ‘Escape Clause’ Availability for Untimely Filed Petitions, by Mark Wilson
- Roadmap for Filing a Second or Successive § 2255 Motion Under Davis, by Dale Chappell
- Law Crazy, Government’s Insatiable Desire to Criminalize All Facets of Life, by Edward Lyon
- Why Juries Need Expert Help Assessing Jailhouse Informants, by Alexandra Natapoff
- Massachusetts Supreme Court Suppresses Evidence Obtained Following Illegally Prolonged Traffic Stop, Orders New Trial, by Douglas Ankney
- How the Secretive 'Discipline' Process for Federal Prosecutors Buries Misconduct Cases, by Shawn Musgrave, Samata Joshi, Brooke Williams
More from Edward Lyon:
- “There you go, Agent Orange!” Former South Carolina Sheriff Federally Indicted for Assaulting Jail Detainee, May 1, 2024
- Texas Prisons are Fire Traps, July 15, 2023
- The World’s Biggest Prison, July 15, 2023
- Civilian Police With Military Equipment, June 15, 2023
- U.S. Prisoner Numbers Slowly Declining, June 15, 2023
- California Easing Housing Hurdles for Released Prisoners, June 1, 2023
- Warden Ousted from Troubled Alabama Prison After DUI Arrest, May 1, 2023
- $20,000 Settlement for Ohio Prisoner’s Slip-and-Fall Injury, May 1, 2023
- $32,500 Medical Malpractice Award to Ohio Prisoner for Ripped-Out Catheter, May 1, 2023
- New York State’s Veterans Treatment Courts, April 15, 2023
More from these topics:
- ‘Jack the Ripper’ Meets DNA Analysis, March 15, 2025. DNA Testing/Samples.
- Can Comics Help Juries Understand Complex DNA Evidence?, March 15, 2025. DNA Testing/Samples.
- Faster Justice: Rapid DNA Set to Expand Law Enforcement Reach, March 15, 2025. DNA Testing/Samples, Crime Labs, Forensic Sciences.
- Study: DNA Transfer in Social Settings, Feb. 15, 2025. DNA Testing/Samples, Forensic Sciences, DNA Evidence, DNA Evidence/Testing.
- Study Reveals Best DNA Recovery Spots on Drug Baggies, Feb. 15, 2025. DNA Testing/Samples, War on Drugs, DNA Evidence/Testing.
- Colorado Bureau of Investigation Admits Over 1,000 Cases Affected by DNA Test Misconduct, Feb. 1, 2025. Judicial Misconduct, DNA Testing/Samples, junk science, Forensic Sciences.
- Seeking Justice for Two: The DNA Scandal That Shook a Community, Jan. 15, 2025. DNA Testing/Samples, junk science, Wrongful Conviction, DNA Evidence/Testing.
- Former Tacoma Reentry Center Severs Washington DOC Contract, Jan. 15, 2025. Release and Reentry, housing.
- Touch-Transfer DNA Remains Misunderstood and Still Poses High Risk of Wrongful Conviction, Dec. 15, 2024. DNA Testing/Samples, junk science, DNA Evidence/Testing.
- DNA on Fired Cartridge Casings: Promising Advances to Link Suspects to Crime Scenes, Dec. 15, 2024. DNA Testing/Samples.