More from this issue:

1. North Carolina Supreme Court Announces Harbison Applies When Defense Counsel Implies Defendant’s Guilt Without Prior Consent, by Douglas Ankney
2. Revocation Nation: Reincarceration for Technical Parole Violations in the Age of COVID-19, by Jean Trounstine
3. Federal Habeas Corpus: Time Limits for Filing, by Dale Chappell
4. First Circuit Announces Residual Clause of U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2) When Applied Pre-Booker Is Unconstitutional Under Johnson, by Douglas Ankney
5. Why Coroners Often Blame Police Killings on a Made-Up Medical Condition, by Samantha Michaels
6. Cincinnati Police Department Agrees to Audit of Its DNA Database, by Douglas Ankney
7. Fourth and Fifth Circuits Reopen Decades-Old Cases for Habeas Relief Due to Brady Violations, by Dale Chappell
8. Time to Curb Police Unions, by Bill Barton
9. Massachusetts Supreme Court: Brady Requires Disclosure of Exculpatory Material Revealed During Immunized Testimony Before Grand Jury, by Douglas Ankney
10. Eighth Circuit Vacates Sentence After District Judge 
Interfered With Plea Negotiations and Made Disparaging 
Remarks About Federal Judiciary, by Douglas Ankney
11. Mississippi Supreme Court: Cannot Declare Mistrial on All Counts After Jury’s Acquittal on Some Counts, by Anthony Accurso
12. California Court of Appeal Reverses Murder Conviction Because Superior Court Erred by Allowing Deceased’s Out-of-Court Statements Into Evidence, by Douglas Ankney
13. From the Editors
14. New Report Shows More Than Half of Wrongful Convictions Involved Misconduct by Police and Prosecutors, by Dale Chappell
15. Seventh Circuit: Prior Conviction Under Overbroad State Drug Statute May Be Used in Career Criminal Enhancement But Not For Prior Drug Crimes Enhancement, by Matthew Clarke
16. Hawai’i Supreme Court Announces Admissibility of Third-Party Culpability Evidence Is Same Relevancy Test That’s Applied for Other Evidence, Superseding Rabellizsa, by Douglas Ankney
17. Fifth Circuit: Consecutive Sentence for FTA Must Be Part of ‘Total Punishment,’ Not Merely a Stacked Sentence
18. Colorado Supreme Court: Felony DUI Conviction Requires ‘Mandatory Sentencing’ Triggering Right to Preliminary Hearing, by Anthony Accurso
19. Second Circuit: Nondescript Photo of Unidentified Black Male Insufficient Grounds to Conduct Investigatory Stop, by Anthony Accurso
20. Sixth Circuit Vacates First Step Act 
Resentencing Denial Where Court Failed 
to Consider Post-Sentencing Conduct, by Anthony Accurso
21. Federal Judges Beginning to Reject Geofence Warrants, by Anthony Accurso
22. Montana Supreme Court: Renter’s Privacy Not Diminished By Landlord’s Probationary Status, by Anthony Accurso
23. Fifth Circuit: Safety Valve Isn’t Up to the Government, by Dale Chappell
24. Maine Supreme Court: SORNA Ruled Ex Post Facto Punishment for Defendant, by Anthony Accurso
25. Seventh Circuit: Incompetent Advice to Reject Plea Offer Requires Evidentiary Hearing, by David M. Reutter
26. New Hampshire Supreme Court Announces Adoption of Lafler When Reviewing IAC Claims in Plea Bargain Cases, by Douglas Ankney
27. Colorado Supreme Court: Convictions for Murder and Attempted Murder Violate Double Jeopardy, by Douglas Ankney
28. Third Circuit Announces Resentencing Under First Step Act Requires Use of § 3553(a) Factors, by Dale Chappell
29. Kansas Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Where Trial Court Refused to Give Self-Defense Instruction, by Douglas Ankney
30. Ninth Circuit: California Conviction Under § 261.5(c) Not Predicate Offense For § 2252(b)(1) Enhancement, by Anthony Accurso
31. COVID-19 Has Profound Effect on Breadth and Scope of Law Enforcement Agencies, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
32. Sixth Circuit Vacates Sentence Where Upward Variance Based on Criminal History Had Little Bearing on Instant Offense, by Douglas Ankney
33. Washington Supreme Court Announces Prohibition Against Blanket Shackling Policies at Pretrial Proceedings, by Anthony Accurso
34. Second Circuit Announces Compassionate Release Motion by Prisoner Not Constrained by Outdated Guideline § 1B1.13, Application Note 1(D), by Dale Chappell
35. Colorado Supreme Court Holds Successfully Completed Deferred Judgment Does Not Count as Conviction Barring Relief From Sex Offender Registration, by Matthew Clarke
36. $12 Million Settlement Against Louisville, Kentucky, by Edward Lyon
37. Review Board Has No Power Over NYPD, by Kevin Bliss
38. Shielding Police Identities: A Law That Cuts Both Ways, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
39. Exodus of a Baker’s Dozen, by Edward Lyon
40. PBA Cards and the Problem with Police Discretion, by Jayson Hawkins
41. Proliferation of Police Drones Feeds Big Brother’s Need for Big Data, by Anthony Accurso
42. For-Profit Lexipol Takes Over Writing Departmental Policy for Public Safety, by Kevin Bliss
43. Thirty-Fourth Conviction Based on Bite Mark Forensics Overturned, by Kevin Bliss
44. Guilt by Google, by Jayson Hawkins
45. Technology and Police Reform, by Anthony Accurso
46. Would the Real Officer Friendly Please Stand Up?, by Casey Bastian
47. Government Enforcers Are Still Cops, by Jayson Hawkins
48. News in Brief

More from Dale Chappell:

• Federal Habeas Corpus for State Prisoners: Proving Unreasonableness Under AEDPA, Feb. 1, 2025
• Federal Court Rules Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Laws Violate Constitution, Dec. 1, 2024
• Refuting the Government’s Argument Against Nonretroactive Changes in Law as Grounds for Compassionate Release, Oct. 1, 2024
• Federal Habeas Corpus: Getting Around Procedural Default, July 15, 2024
• The Death of the Savings Clause, May 15, 2024
• Federal Habeas Corpus: Understanding Second or Successive Petitions for State Prisoners, April 15, 2024
• Fourth Circuit Reinstates Relief From Death Penalty, Citing State’s Forfeiture of Argument Against Relief, May 15, 2023
• Federal Habeas Corpus: The Evidentiary Hearing for Federal Prisoners, April 15, 2023
• Federal Habeas Corpus: How to Raise a Fourth Amendment Claim, Feb. 15, 2023
• Will Overturning Roe v. Wade Kill the Right to Abortion Under BOP Policy?, Jan. 1, 2023

More from these topics:

• Third Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to Prisoner on Confrontation Clause and Ineffective Assistance Claims Based on Trial Court Reading Entire Criminal Information Into the Record of Co-Conspirator Who Pleaded Guilty, Feb. 15, 2025. Habeas Corpus, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Exculpatory No Doctrine, Confrontation Clause/Rights, Witnesses - Prior Statements/Testimony, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
• Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Grants Habeas Relief in ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ Case, Feb. 1, 2025. junk science, Habeas Corpus, Forensic Sciences, Child Abuse/Abusers, Evidence - Admissibility.
• California Prisoner Awarded Over $1.26 Million in Suit Challenging Withheld Legal Mail Which Resulted in Habeas Loss, Jan. 15, 2025. Settlements, Habeas Corpus, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail.
• Georgia Supreme Court Grants Habeas Relief Where Both Trial and Appellate Counsel Provided Ineffective Assistance by Failing to Challenge Indictment for Residential Burglary That Failed to Allege Defendant Illegally Entered a ‘Dwelling’, Jan. 15, 2025. Habeas Corpus, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Constitutional Challenges/Law.
• Ninth Circuit Holds District Courts Have No Authority Under Rule 4 of Rules Governing § 2254 Cases to Dismiss Habeas Petition on the Merits, Dec. 15, 2024. Habeas Corpus, Dismissal, Authority and Jurisdiction.
• Ninth Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to California Prisoner on Napue Claim Because Prosecution Failed to Correct Informant’s False Testimony That He Did Not Receive Any Benefit In Exchange for His Testimony, Dec. 1, 2024. Informants, Habeas Corpus, Informants and Paid Witnesses, False Testimony.
• Public Defender Files Habeas Petitions for Detainees at “Horrific” Baltimore Lockup, Nov. 15, 2024. Failure to Treat, Conditions of Confinement, Hygiene Supplies, Disclosure of Records, Habeas Corpus.
• Ninth Circuit Denies Habeas Relief to Prisoner Who Invoked Fifth Amendment Right to Counsel During Custodial Interrogation but Made Incriminating Statements to Undercover Informant Posing as Fellow Prisoner Because Right to Counsel Not Violated, Nov. 1, 2024. Habeas Corpus, Custodial Interrogations/Statements, Counsel - Right to.
• Georgia Supreme Court Grants Habeas Where Defense Counsel Failed to Understand State Self-Defense Statute Provides Complete Defense to Felony Murder Based on Felon-in-Possession Charge, Oct. 1, 2024. Habeas Corpus, Felon in Possession Statute, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Murder/Felony Murder.
• Third Circuit Orders Evidentiary Hearing on State Prisoner’s Petition Seeking Federal Habeas Relief Because Both State and Federal Courts Denied Relief Without Holding Hearing on IAC Claim That, if Proven, Would Entitle Him to Relief, Aug. 1, 2024. Evidentiary Ruling, Habeas Corpus, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Counsel - Effective Assistance of.