More from this issue:

1. Acquitted Conduct Sentencing, by Douglas Ankney
2. Mental Health Response Teams Proved Effective in New York City, by Casey Bastian
3. ‘Planning for Losing’: A Lesson on Justice Reform from Afghanistan, by Marc Levin
4. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Defendant Satisfied Requirements of Confession and Avoidance, ‘Unintentional Self-Defense’ Jury Instruction Allowed Against Charge of Intentional Offense, by Douglas Ankney
5. Fourth Circuit: State’s Failure to Plead Procedural Default Results in De Novo Review on Merits; Prosecutor’s Comments to Jury to Send ‘Societal Message’ Denied Defendant Fair Trial, Habeas Relief Warranted, by Dale Chappell
6. Mental Illness and False Confessions: A Wakeup Call to Investigators, by Joseph Buckley
7. Georgia Supreme Court Declares ‘Relevance’ Not Legal Standard for Suppression Determination Where Items Seized Outside Scope of Warrant, Clarifies Plain View Doctrine Proper Standard, and Overrules McBee, Walsh Line of Cases, by Anthony Accurso
8. Michigan Supreme Court Announces 2011 SORA May Not Be Retroactively Applied to Registrants Whose Offenses Predated Its Enactment Because Doing So Violates Prohibition on Ex Post Facto Laws, by Douglas Ankney
9. California Now Able to Decertify Bad Cops, by Edward Lyon
10. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Trial Court Abused Discretion by Refusing to Allow Withdrawal of Jury-Trial Waiver for Defendant Who Ultimately Rejected Plea Deal, by David Reutter
11. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Although Subsequent Indictment Recites Same Language as Original Indictment, SOL Isn’t Tolled Where Subsequent Indictment Fails to Charge Same Conduct, Act, or Transaction, by Douglas Ankney
12. Idaho Supreme Court Rejects ‘Instinctive Entry Rule’ as Not Implicating Fourth Amendment Where Drug-Sniffing Dog Breaches Interior of Vehicle During Exterior Search and Suppresses Evidence, by Douglas Ankney
13. SCOTUS Announces Pursuit of a Misdemeanant Does Not Categorically Constitute an Exigent Circumstance Authorizing a Warrantless Home Entry, by Douglas Ankney
14. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces New Framework for Enforcing Right to Effective Counsel in Post-Conviction Relief Act Proceeding, by Douglas Ankney
15. Connecticut Supreme Court Overrules Aquino, Holding Appeal Not Moot Where Defendant Deported During Pendency but Unclear Whether Appealed Conviction Sole Basis for Deportation, by Douglas Ankney
16. California Court of Appeal: Peremptory Challenge to Judge in Habeas Case Subject to 10-Day Filing Period, Not 60 Days, Under § 170.6(a)(1), by Dale Chappell
17. Nevada Supreme Court: Prisoner’s Claim He Is Now Actually Innocent of Death Penalty Sufficient to Overcome Proce-dural Bars to Habeas Relief, by Douglas Ankney
18. SCOTUS: Rehaif Error Doesn’t Automatically Require Reversal of Conviction, Plain-Error Test Must Be Satisfied for Re-lief, by Dale Chappell
19. Oregon Supreme Court Announces Abandonment of Per Se Exigency Rule in Automobile Exception and Holds Warrantless Seizure or Search Must Be Based on Actual Exigent Circumstances, by Jacob Barrett
20. Tenth Circuit, Joining Sister Circuits, Announces ‘Personal-Use’ Drug Quantity Doesn’t Constitute ‘Relevant Conduct’ Under Guidelines § 1B1.3(a) and Sets Forth Framework for Burden of Proof Analysis, by Douglas Ankney
21. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Bodycam Video Subsequently Reviewed in Unrelated Investigation Constitutes Unconstitutional Warrantless Search, by Anthony Accurso
22. Concealed Videos Expose Pattern of Abuse by Louisiana State Police, by Jayson Hawkins
23. Vermont Supreme Court Announces Proper Legal Standard for Warrantless Search of Home’s Curtilage, by Anthony Accurso
24. Eighth Circuit: Inadmissible Hearsay Improperly Used to Revoke Supervised Release, by Matthew Clarke
25. Facial Recognition Run-Down, by Anthony Accurso
26. Rutgers University Pioneers New Jersey Innocence Project, by Casey Bastian
27. Sixth Circuit: Michigan’s Ordinarily ‘Adequate’ Contemporaneous-Objection Rule, in Unique Circumstances, May Not Procedurally Bar Federal Habeas Review, by Dale Chappell
28. Massachusetts Remains a Civil Forfeiture Outlier, by Jayson Hawkins
29. Non-Prosecution Policies Seem to Work in Baltimore, by Jayson Hawkins
30. Florida’s Catch-22 for the Innocent Defendant (and Others Wishing to Protect Their Right Against Self-Incrimination), by M. Eve Hanan
31. DEA Continues to Seize Money Without Proof of Criminality, by Casey Bastian
32. Big Tech Using Third Parties to Sell Surveillance Tools to ICE and Border Patrol, by Anthony Accurso
33. Pegasus Software: State-sponsored Spyware Usage Likely Infecting Billions of Phones, by Casey Bastian
34. Armed Police Drones Are Coming, by Anthony Accurso
35. News in Brief

More from Matthew Clarke:

• Seventh Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Detectives Who Revealed Prisoner Was Informant, Denies Him Anonymity, Aug. 1, 2026
• Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement, Aug. 1, 2026
• New Mexico Supreme Court Holds Corrections Department Regulations Do Not Exempt Use-Of-Force Documents from Public Records Disclosure, Aug. 1, 2026
• DOJ Issues Memorandum Over BOP Employees Abusing Their Law Enforcement Credentials to Illegally Purchase Personal Firearms, Aug. 1, 2026
• Seventh Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment Against Former Illinois Prison Guards Challenging Termination for Violating Use of Force Policy, Aug. 1, 2026
• Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Barring Enforcement of Executive Order to Transfer Trans Women Prisoners to Men’s Prisons, Aug. 1, 2026
• Idaho Supreme Court Holds Indigent Parents Have Constitutional Right to Counsel at Public Expense, July 1, 2026
• Free Phone Calls Saved Prisoners and Their Families More than $600 Million, Report Finds, July 1, 2026
• California Appeals Court Holds Defendant Cannot Be Penalized for Failing to Appear at Sentencing When He Was Being Held in Another County’s Jail on Preexisting Charges, July 1, 2026
• SCOTUS Reverses Mississippi Capital Conviction, July 1, 2026

More from these topics:

• Sixth Circuit Announces Predetermining a Supervisee’s Revocation Term of Imprisonment at an Earlier Violation Hearing Renders the Resulting Sentence Both Procedurally and Substantively Unreasonable, June 1, 2026. Revocation Proceedings, Plain Error, Reasonableness of Sentence, Factors To Be Considered.
• Colorado Governor Tells Lawmakers to Open New Prison, April 1, 2026. Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Cost of Prison Systems, Revocation Proceedings, Reduction of Prison Population.
• 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. Administrative Exhaustion, Fourteenth Amendment, rights, Revocation/Modification of Probation, etc., Revocation Proceedings, Authority and Jurisdiction.
• One in 10 Prison Admissions Is Now for Technical Parole Violation, March 1, 2026. Parole Conditions, State Legislation, Restrictions, discrimination, Revocation Proceedings.
• Fourth Circuit Clarifies Revocation Appeal Provides “Procedurally Appropriate Mechanism” for Raising Rogers Challenge to Unannounced Supervised Release Conditions, Vacates Revocation Judgment Based on Null Standard Conditions, March 1, 2026. Waiver of Appeal Rights, Failure to Object, Revocation Proceedings, Conditions of, Plain Error.
• Delaware Supreme Court Announces Four-Part Plain Error Framework, Aligning Prejudice Standard With Federal Approach Requiring Reasonable Probability of Different Outcome, March 1, 2026. Preservation of Appellate Rights/Issues, Failure to Object, Hearsay Evidence, Confrontation Clause, Plain Error.
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces Presentence Confinement on Probation Detainer Must Be Credited to New Sentence Where Same Conduct Triggered Both Detainer and New Charges, Dec. 15, 2025. Pending Appeal/Sentencing, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Revocation Proceedings, Credits.
• Maine Supreme Judicial Court Vacates Conviction Based on Confrontation Clause Where Toxicologist Testified About Toxicology Tests Performed by Others, Which SCOTUS Rejected in Smith v. Arizona, Oct. 15, 2025. Forensic Sciences, Testimonial Statements, Crime Lab Reports, Hearsay Evidence, Expert and Opinion Testimony.
• Mississippi Supreme Court Vacates Convictions, 
Holding Multiple Errors by State Resulted in ‘Legal Chaos’ 
That Deprived Defendant of Right to Fair Trial 
Under ‘Cumulative-Error Doctrine’, May 15, 2025. Fifth Amendment, Prejudicial Spillover, Hearsay Evidence, Graphic and Inflammatory Evidence.
• Maryland Supreme Court Clarifies Process for Admitting Co-Conspirator’s Hearsay Statements During Police Interview Under ‘Declaration Against Penal Interest’ Exception, Trial Court Must ‘Parse’ Interview to Determine Admissibility of Each Statement, Feb. 1, 2025. Standard of Review, Police Interrogations, Evidence - Admissibility, Hearsay Evidence, Co-conspirator Statements.