More from this issue:

1. Police State: From Social Justice to Social Dominance, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
2. Sixth Circuit Vacates Firearms Possession Conviction; Government Showed Jury Unauthenticated Prejudicial Facebook Video Not Admitted as Evidence, by Matthew Clarke
3. Tenth Circuit: Deputy ‘Trying to Help’ Doesn’t Make Search Permissible Under Community Caretaking Exception to Warrant Requirement, by Douglas Ankney
4. Attacking the Guilty Plea: Establishing Prejudice in the Guilty Plea Context, by Dale Chappell
5. Report Finds NYPD Officers Accidentally Deploy Tasers 25% of the Time, by Douglas Ankney
6. California Supreme Court: § 459.5(b) Prohibits Charging Shoplifting and Theft for Same Property, by Douglas Ankney
7. Fourth Circuit: IAC for Counsel’s Bad Advice That Open Plea Would Allow Appeal Denial of Motion to Suppress, by Dale Chappell
8. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: GPS Monitoring Unreasonable When It Doesn’t Further Any Governmental Interest, by Douglas Ankney
9. D.C. Circuit Reverses Nearly 50-Year-Old Murder Conviction Over Faulty Hair Evidence, by Dale Chappell
10. Minnesota Supreme Court: Non-Identifying Information About CI Must Be Disclosed Upon Request, by Anthony Accurso
11. Michigan Supreme Court Announces Court Must Inform Defendant of Consecutive Sentencing Authority When Accepting Plea, by David Reutter
12. Seventh Circuit Reverses Denial of Motion to Suppress Because Police Lacked Reasonable Suspicion to Frisk, by Douglas Ankney
13. Massachusetts Supreme Court: Officer’s Handling of Cellphone Exceeded Scope of Inventory Search, by Anthony Accurso
14. FOIA Redaction Limbo: How Low They Will Go, by Edward Lyon
15. U.S. District Court Chooses Judicial Remedy, Instead of § 2255, to Allow Out-of-Time Appeal, by Dale Chappell
16. California Court of Appeal: Trial Court Abused Discretion Denying Compassionate Release Where Statutory Criteria Are Met, by Dale Chappell
17. Colorado Supreme Court: Warrant Allowing General Search of Cellphone Unconstitutional Violation of Particularity Requirement, by Douglas Ankney
18. Eleventh Circuit Holds Georgia Terroristic Threats Conviction Overbroad for ACCA, by Dale Chappell
19. Policing is irrelevant for public safety — but these alternatives are proven to work, by Justin Podur/Independent Media Institute, AlterNet.com
20. Myth of Technology as an Equalizing Force in Criminal Justice, by Anthony Accurso
21. Fourth Circuit Requests Further Information on Stingray Device to Determine Whether It Violates Fourth Amendment Rights, by Anthony Accurso
22. Kansas Supreme Court: District Court Failed to Apprise Defendant of Right to Jury Trial, by Douglas Ankney
23. Oklahoma Enacts Jailhouse Informant Law, Joins Other States, by Dale Chappell
24. South Carolina Supreme Court Overturns Murder Conviction Where State Presented Improper Testimony Regarding Trace DNA Evidence, by Douglas Ankney
25. Iowa Supreme Court Announces That ‘Good Cause’ in Newly Amended Appeals Statute Means ‘a Legally Sufficient Reason’, by Douglas Ankney
26. Two New Forensic DNA Standards Added to the OSAC Registry
27. South Carolina Supreme Court: State Cannot Appeal Guilty Plea, by David Reutter
28. Big Brother, as Well as Big Business, Are Tracking You: the Snitch in Your Own Pocket, Purse, or Belt Holder, by Edward Lyon
29. Neuroscience and Criminal Cases, by Jayson Hawkins
30. Maine Supreme Judicial Court Vacates Conviction on Double Jeopardy Grounds, by Douglas Ankney
31. Eighth Circuit Affirms Habeas Relief Decades After Conviction Because Prosecutor Destroyed Evidence Prior to Trial, by Dale Chappell
32. Eleventh Circuit Vacates Firearm Conviction Based on Rehaif, by Douglas Ankney
33. Washington Supreme Court: Defendant Detained for Search at Border Was ‘In Custody’ for Miranda Purposes, by Douglas Ankney
34. Fourth Circuit: Erroneous Career Offender Sentence Correctable in First Step Act Resentencing, by Dale Chappell
35. Never Convicted but Never Exonerated, Either, by Edward Lyon
36. Government Study Finds Facial Recognition Sorely Lacking in Accuracy, by Dale Chappell
37. Idaho Exoneree Fights for Wrongful Conviction Compensation, by Edward Lyon
38. Fifth Circuit Clarifies AEDPA Time Limit Tolling for Louisiana Prisoners Filing Federal Habeas Corpus, by Dale Chappell
39. Missouri Shows Indifference to Human Life by Proceeding with Execution Amid Pandemic, by Douglas Ankney
40. Dogs Can Detect One-Billionth of a Teaspoon of Gasoline, by Douglas Ankney
41. Fulton County Prosecutor in Georgia to Expunge MLK and Other Civil Rights Leaders’ Records, But not Everyone Agrees, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
42. FBI Provides Fitness App in Exchange for Users’ GPS Coordinates, by Douglas Ankney
43. Survey: California Cops Abusing Privacy Rights with Auto Plate Readers, by Jayson Hawkins
44. Devastating Consequences of Chicago Gang Database – And No Way to Be Removed, by Bill Barton
45. Strategies to Help Police Address Citizens With Special Needs, by Anthony Accurso
46. New Method to Determine Time of Death for Forensic Investigators, by Kevin Bliss
47. Using Doctor-Prescribed Marijuana Could Send Some People Back to Prison, by Douglas Ankney
48. Small Forensics Lab Finds Niche in Analyzing Tiniest Bits of Evidence, by Dale Chappell
49. Unrest After Kentucky Cops Shoot Sleeping Black Woman to Death in Her Bed While Serving No-Knock Warrant, by Edward Lyon
50. Minnesota Lab Figures Out How to Tell Between Legal Hemp and Illegal Marijuana, by Dale Chappell
51. $8 Million Settlement for Wrongfully Convicted and Imprisoned Missouri Man, by Kevin Bliss
52. Police Use of Robotic Technology Raises Civil Liberty Concerns, by Douglas Ankney
53. New York Police Act With Impunity During Protests, by Kevin Bliss
54. News in Brief

More from Douglas Ankney:

• Pregnant Women Detained in Jail: The Hideous Story of In-Custody Births, May 1, 2026
• Idaho DOC Director Denies Verified Report of Rampant Sexual Abuse of Women Prisoners by Staff, May 1, 2026
• Fourth Circuit Announces Defendant Has Standing to Appeal Based Solely on Rogers–Singletary Claim of a “Material Discrepancy Between” Written and Orally Articulated Judgment at Sentencing, May 1, 2026
• Illinois Jail Reprimanded for Denying Detainees Mail Based on Media Content, P.O. Box Return Address, Settles Detainees’ Suit with $111,825 Payment of Legal Fees, May 1, 2026
• Sixth Circuit Announces Federal Coercion and Enticement Statute Requires Knowledge of Victim’s Minor Status, Deepening Circuit Split, May 1, 2026
• Oklahoma Supreme Court: Jail Trust Cannot Withhold Requested Records under Law Enforcement Exemption of ORA, May 1, 2026
• Delaware Supreme Court Announces Adoption of ABA Standard 3-6.5(b) Governing Prosecutors’ Opening Statements, Reverses Murder Convictions Based on Prosecutor’s References to Co-Defendant’s Guilty Plea, May 1, 2026
• Tenth Circuit Holds Prior California Child Pornography Conviction Does Not Trigger Federal Mandatory Minimum Because State Statute Encompasses Conduct Beyond Federal Definition Under Categorical Approach, April 1, 2026
• Kentucky Supreme Court Clarifies Parole Board May Delegate Final Revocation Hearings to Administrative Law Judges but Holds Due Process Requires Parolees Be Permitted to File Exceptions to ALJ Findings Before Board Renders a Final Revocation Decision, April 1, 2026
• New York Court of Appeals Holds Generic Physical Description Insufficient to Justify Pursuit in Mistaken Identity Case, and Suspect’s Flight Cannot Support Reasonable Suspicion Absent Evidence He Knew He Was Fleeing Law Enforcement, April 1, 2026

More from these topics:

• Fourth Circuit Holds Officer’s Firearms Questioning at Outset of Traffic Stop Exceeded Permissible Scope Where Officer Abandoned Stop’s Purpose From Inception and Totality of Circumstances Did Not Support Officer-Safety Justification, May 1, 2026. Motions To Suppress, Reasonable Suspicion, Traffic Stops, Suppression, Scope of Permissible Searches.
• Oregon Supreme Court Announces Article I, Section 9, of State Constitution Protects Privacy in Internet Browsing Conducted Over Public Wi-Fi Networks, April 1, 2026. Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Warrantless Searches, Electronic Surveillance, State Constitutional Claims, Suppression.
• New York Court of Appeals Holds Generic Physical Description Insufficient to Justify Pursuit in Mistaken Identity Case, and Suspect’s Flight Cannot Support Reasonable Suspicion Absent Evidence He Knew He Was Fleeing Law Enforcement, April 1, 2026. Reasonable Suspicion, Fruit of the Poisonous Tree, Suppression, Warrants - Requirements/Scope/Exceptions, Terry Stops.
• Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces State Wiretap Statute Requires Suppression of Both Audio and Video Components of Audiovisual Footage of Unlawfully Intercepted Oral Communication Showing Defendant as Party to Communication, March 15, 2025. Videotaping, Wiretap Evidence, Suppression.
• Ninth Circuit: Defense Counsel Ineffective for Failing to Move to Suppress Evidence Obtained as a Result of Police Officer Trespassing on Curtilage of Defendant’s Home, Feb. 1, 2025. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Motions To Suppress, Searches - Home/Curtilage, Suppression.
• California Court of Appeal: Defendant’s Conversation With Officers Not Consensual Based on Officers’ Positioning and Manner of Approaching Legally Parked Vehicle so Evidence Obtained Resulting From Conversation Must Be Suppressed, Aug. 15, 2024. Vehicle Searches, Consensual Encounters, Suppression, Miranda.
• New York Court of Appeals Suppresses Evidence Because Police Lacked Reasonable Suspicion Necessary for Level 3 Stop and Frisk Under De Bour Framework, Oct. 1, 2023. Frisks after an initial stop, Reasonable Suspicion, Suppression.
• Sixth Circuit Suppresses Evidence Obtained as a Result of Warrant That Lacked Probable Cause of Criminal Activity in Arson Investigation, Sept. 1, 2023. Probable Cause, Suppression.
• California Supreme Court Announces Warrantless Search Parole Condition Does Not Dissipate Taint of Unlawful Detention and Subsequent Search, Suppresses Evidence, Aug. 1, 2023. Warrantless Searches, Suppression, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release.
• California Supreme Court Announces Government’s Continuing Brady Obligations and Ethical Duty of Disclosure During Habeas Proceedings Regarding Alleged Exculpatory Evidence Available at Time of Trial but Suppressed, April 15, 2023. Habeas Corpus, Suppression, Exculpatory Evidence - Disclosure Obligations.