More from this issue:

1. Staggering Injustice, by Derek Gilna
2. Fifth Circuit Vacates Sentence Eight Times Higher Than Guidelines Range That Was Imposed Without Explanation, by Dale Chappell
3. Federal Habeas Corpus: Retroactivity of New Rules, by Dale Chappell
4. Sex Panic: The War on Sex Offenders as Public Enemy Number One, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
5. Fourth Circuit Announces Payton’s ‘Reason to Believe’ Standard for Entering a Third-Party’s Home Based on Arrest Warrant for Suspect Amounts to Probable Cause Suspect Resides There, by Douglas Ankney
6. Colorado Supreme Court: Dividing Multiple Images of Child Pornography Into Multiple Batches to Charge Multiple Counts Violates Double Jeopardy, by Dale Chappell
7. First Circuit: Double Jeopardy Protections Bar Government From Seeking Death Penalty at Retrial Where Jury’s Verdict Not Imposing Death at First Trial Ambiguous, and Trial Court Prematurely Declared Mistrial, by Douglas Ankney
8. Fired San Francisco Cop Charged With Manslaughter for Fatally Shooting Unarmed Suspect, by Dale Chappell
9. California Supreme Court Vacates Murder Conviction, Finds IAC for Failure to Obtain Expert Testimony on Time of Death, by Dale Chappell
10. Ninth Circuit: Reasonable Suspicion Justifying Traffic Stop Doesn’t Provide Probable Cause to Open Door and Lean Inside Vehicle, by Douglas Ankney
11. Police Say Seizing Property Without Trial Helps Keep Crime Down. A New Study Shows They’re Wrong., by Ian MacDougall
12. New York Court of Appeals Reverses Denial of Suppression Motion Where Prosecution Fails to Provide Specific Facts to Show Traffic Stop Was Lawful, by Douglas Ankney
13. Michigan Voters Approve Constitutional Amendment to Protect Electronic Data and Communications, by Anthony Accurso
14. Kansas Supreme Court Clarifies State Law Does Not Preclude Consent to Search Through Nonverbal Conduct, by Douglas Ankney
15. Sixth Circuit Vacates Sentence Because Government Failed to Prove Sentencing Enhancements Apply, by Dale Chappell
16. Eighth Circuit Announces ‘Use of Minor’ Enhancement Inapplicable for Merely Buying Firearm From Minor, by Dale Chappell
17. Illinois Supreme Court Announces Guilty Plea Doesn’t Bar Postconviction Claim of Actual Innocence and Provides Framework for Review, by Douglas Ankney
18. Illinois Supreme Court Announces Predicate Offenses of Home Invasion Statute are Lesser-Included Offenses of Home Invasion Statute, by Douglas Ankney
19. Eleventh Circuit Announces Drug Offenses Involving Multiple Drugs Can Qualify as ‘Covered Offense’ Under First Step Act if Crack One of the Drugs, by Dale Chappell
20. Montana Supreme Court: Statistical Evidence on False Accusations of Rape Improperly Bolstered Witness Credibility, by Anthony Accurso
21. SCOTUS Vacates Grant of Habeas Relief, Citing Habeas ‘Deference’ to State Court Decisions, by Dale Chappell
22. Eleventh Circuit: District Court ‘Mischaracterizing’ Habeas Claim Left Claim Unresolved in Violation of Clisby, Requiring Remand, by Dale Chappell
23. New York Man Exonerated of Murder and Freed After 25 Years in Prison, by Douglas Ankney
24. Predator or Patsy? Long Sentences for Those Caught in Victimless Child Sex Stings
25. Ninth Circuit: Rehaif Error Requires Automatic Dismissal of Indictment, by Dale Chappell
26. Fourth Circuit: Commercial Vehicle Permit Requirement Insufficient Grounds to Initiate Traffic Stop, by Anthony Accurso
27. Eleventh Circuit: Private Probation Company With Financial Interest in its Sentencing Decisions Violates Due Process, by David Reutter
28. California Court of Appeal: Confrontation Clause Violation Where Supervisor, Not Lab Tech Who Performed Drug Tests, Testified at Trial, by Anthony Accurso
29. Fifth Circuit: Conviction Vacated Because No Reasonable Suspicion to Search Person in High-Crime Area, by Anthony Accurso
30. Third Circuit: IAC Where Counsel Failed to Object to Accomplice-Liability Jury Instruction in Murder Case That Relieved State of Proving Specific Intent, by Dale Chappell
31. Data Expose Demographics of Police Dog Bites, by Jayson Hawkins
32. Seventh Circuit: Prisoner Has Right to Know Conditions of Supervised Release Prior to Being Released, by Douglas Ankney
33. When a Hung Jury Is Enough, by Jayson Hawkins
34. Audit of D.C. Forensics Lab Reveals History of Botched Forensic Analyses, by Casey Bastian
35. Multi-Agency Task Forces Manipulate Jurisdiction to Avoid Liability, by Casey Bastian
36. Inadequate and Outdated Training Results in Wild West Policing, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
37. New Michigan Law Expands Criminal Records Expungement, by Casey Bastian
38. Athlete Settles Tasing Suit Against Milwaukee Police, by Edward Lyon
39. Eighth Circuit Affirms Habeas Relief, Finds Arkansas Supreme Court Wrongly Denied Defendant’s Self-Representation Request, by Dale Chappell
40. Police Unions Block Meaningful Criminal Justice Reform, by Casey Bastian
41. How Arkansas Criminalizes Poverty, by Jayson Hawkins
42. California Law Enforcement Strikes Out in 2020 Elections, by Kevin Bliss
43. Massive Corruption of a Baltimore Task Force Exposed, by Casey Bastian
44. NYPD Agrees to Alter Religious Headwear Policy, by Casey Bastian
45. Massachusetts Supreme Court Announces Requirement Prosecution Prove Defendant Knew Firearm Was Loaded Applies Retroactively, by Douglas Ankney
46. Prosecutors Who Demand Accountability From Everyone But Themselves, by Casey Bastian
47. News in Brief
48. Louisiana Supreme Court Vacates Murder Conviction for Speedy Trial Violation, by Dale Chappell

More from Douglas Ankney:

• Beyond a Reasonable Doubt? Fingerprint Evidence’s Troubling Flaws, April 15, 2025
• Tenth Circuit Stretches PLRA to Deny Claim of Colorado Prisoner Shot by Guard While Shackled, April 1, 2025
• Fourth Circuit Excuses Maryland Prisoner From Exhaustion Requirement in PREA Claim, April 1, 2025
• 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
• California Court of Appeal Vacates Sentence Where Trial Court Imposed Sentence Under ‘One Strike’ Enhancement Statute Enacted After Crimes Were Committed, March 15, 2025
• Nevada Supreme Court: Theft Offenses and Possessing or Receiving Stolen Property Offenses Are Mutually Exclusive and Double Jeopardy Protections Bar Conviction for Both Offenses When Based on Same Conduct, March 15, 2025
• Maryland Supreme Court: Trial Court Abused Its Discretion by Failing to Exercise That Discretion Where It Summarily Refused Requested Jury Instruction Because It Was a Non-Pattern Instruction and ‘Some Evidence’ Supported the Instruction, March 15, 2025
• $100,000 Settlement Reached in New York Prisoner’s Solitary Confinement Suit, After Jury for First Time Finds Practice Violates Eighth Amendment, March 1, 2025
• Community Supervision: America’s Hidden Wellspring to Mass Incarceration, Feb. 15, 2025
• Rikers Island Continues Long Practice of Denying Education to Young Adults, Feb. 15, 2025

More from these topics:

• Philadelphia Agrees to $9.1 Million Settlement for Wrongful Murder Conviction, Feb. 15, 2025. Settlements, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Murder/Felony Murder.
• California Court of Appeal Announces Defendants May Obtain Brady Evidence From Police Officers’ Personnel Files in Advance of § 1172.6 Hearing Requesting Vacatur of Conviction and Resentencing for Certain Types of Murder Convictions, Feb. 15, 2025. Disclosure of Records, Police, Brady Violations, Murder/Felony Murder, Resentencing, Prior Conviction/Sentence/Incarceration, Evidence - Admissibility.
• California Court of Appeal Announces Equal Protection Entitles Youth Offenders Convicted of Special Circumstances Murder Predicated on Robbery or Burglary to Franklin and Parole Hearings Under Cal. Penal Code § 3051, Feb. 15, 2025. Equal Protection Clause/Claims, Murder/Felony Murder, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release.
• Vermont Supreme Court Eliminates Year-and-a-Day Rule in Murder Prosecutions, Feb. 1, 2025. Prison/Jail Murders, Murder/Felony Murder, Pre-Trial Motions.
• California Court of Appeal Announces Postconviction Discovery Permitted in Resentencing Under Penal Code § 1172.6 for Felony Murder and Natural and Probable Consequences Murder Convictions, Dec. 15, 2024. Presentence Reports (PSRs), Murder/Felony Murder.
• Sixth Circuit Announces Ohio’s Standard for Judicial Bias Contrary to Clearly Established Federal Law, Holds Trial Judge Unconstitutionally Biased in Capital Case and Defendant Denied Right to Present Mitigating Evidence, Grants Habeas Relief, Dec. 15, 2024. Murder/Felony Murder, Bias/Discrimination, Evidence - Failure to Disclose.
• Third Circuit Announces Claim of Innocence Does Not Resolve Whether Defendant Would Have Accepted Plea Offer Absent Counsel’s Error and Holds Counsel Ineffective for Failing to Properly Advise Defendant About Mandatory Sentences If Plea Offer Rejected, Dec. 15, 2024. Actual Innocence/Claim of Innocence, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Mandatory Minimum Sentence, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas, Rejection.
• Scent of Death Evidence Admitted at Indiana Murder Trial, Dec. 15, 2024. junk science, Forensic Sciences, Murder/Felony Murder, Authencity/Authentication.
• After $750,000 Settlement, Georgia Guard Sued Second Time For Letting One Prisoner Murder Another, Nov. 15, 2024. Prison/Jail Murders, Failure to Protect (General), Settlements, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Murder/Felony Murder.
• Georgia Supreme Court: Discovery of Common Law Wife’s Infidelity Entitled Defendant to Voluntary Manslaughter Instruction in Malice Murder Prosecution, Nov. 1, 2024. Murder/Felony Murder.