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: 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
11. 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
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. 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
17. 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
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. Massachusetts Remains a Civil Forfeiture Outlier, by Jayson Hawkins
28. Sixth Circuit: Michigan’s Ordinarily ‘Adequate’ Contemporaneous-Objection Rule, in Unique Circumstances, May Not Procedurally Bar Federal Habeas Review, by Dale Chappell
29. Non-Prosecution Policies Seem to Work in Baltimore, by Jayson Hawkins
30. DEA Continues to Seize Money Without Proof of Criminality, by Casey Bastian
31. Florida’s Catch-22 for the Innocent Defendant (and Others Wishing to Protect Their Right Against Self-Incrimination), by M. Eve Hanan
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 Douglas Ankney:

• 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
• Monterey County Pays $1 Million to Settle Suit Over Detainee Suicide by Toilet Tissue; Wellpath Pays Another Undisclosed Sum, Feb. 15, 2025
• Sixth Circuit Revives Challenge by Kentucky Prisoner Left Three Weeks in “Rancid” Paper Undershorts, Feb. 15, 2025
• California Court of Appeal: Evidence Insufficient to Show Robbery Victim Moved ‘Substantial Distance’ to Support Simple Kidnapping Conviction and Amendments to § 186.22 Require Vacatur of Gang Enhancements, Feb. 15, 2025
• Fourth Circuit Revives Claims Against Virginia Jailers by Detainee They Allegedly Manhandled While Handcuffed, Feb. 15, 2025
• Fourth Circuit Reinstates North Carolina Prisoner’s Failure-to-Protect Claim Against Guard in Stabbing, Feb. 15, 2025
• Minnesota Supreme Court Announces No Duty to Retreat When Using Reasonable Force in Defense of Another and Provides Framework for Analyzing Such Claims, Feb. 1, 2025
• NIJ Partners With Doctor to Develop Better Screening Method to Detect and Identify Drugs Postmortem, Jan. 15, 2025
• Fines and Fees Destroy the Impoverished and Perpetuate Mass Incarceration, Jan. 15, 2025

More from these topics:

• Massachusetts Supreme Court Vacates Threat-Based Conviction on First Amendment Grounds Because Jury Instructions Failed to Include Mens Rea Element Mandated by Counterman for ‘True-Threat’ Conviction, Feb. 15, 2025. Jury Instructions, Resentencing, Threats, Negligence/Reckless Endangerment.
• Ohio Supreme Court Announces Self-Defense Jury Instruction Does Not Require Intent to Harm or Kill Assailant, Oct. 1, 2024. Defenses, Jury Instructions, Motive/Opportunity/Intent/Identity Evidence.
• Kansas Supreme Court Announces Clarification of Framework for Deciding Whether Confession Is Voluntary and Overrules Precedents That Held Reliability of Confession Is Factor to Be Considered, June 15, 2024. Confessions and Statements of Defendant, Voluntary Nature/Voluntariness.
• Fourth Circuit Vacates Where Instructions Failed to Inform Jury That Mens Rea of ‘Knowingly or Intentionally’ Applies to ‘Except as Authorized’ in 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), June 15, 2024. Jury Instructions, Essential Elements of Crime, Mens Rea Element, Elements of Offense, Failure to Instruct on Scienter Requirement.
• Research Paper Reveals Laypeople Have Insufficient Understanding of False Confessions by Examining Prior Research Based on Surveys and Mock Juries, March 15, 2024. Commentary/Reviews, False Confessions, Confessions and Statements of Defendant.
• Michigan Supreme Court: Defendant’s Statements Involuntary and Inadmissible, Feb. 15, 2024. Juvenile Offenses/Offenders, Confessions and Statements of Defendant, Voluntary Nature/Voluntariness.
• The Diminishment of Miranda Is Leading to False Confessions and Conviction of Innocents, Feb. 15, 2024. Commentary/Reviews, Wrongful Conviction, Confessions - Admissibility, Impeachment Evidence/Purposes, Miranda, Interrogation, In Custody, Confessions and Statements of Defendant, Voluntary Nature/Voluntariness.
• Oregon Supreme Court Clarifies Test to Determine When Person Becomes Agent of the State and Rules Jailhouse Snitch Was Agent, Requiring Suppression of Defendant’s Statements, Jan. 15, 2024. Informants, Post-Arrest Statements, Informants and Paid Witnesses, Confessions - Admissibility, Police Interrogations, Custodial Interrogations, Confessions and Statements of Defendant.
• Kentucky Supreme Court Clarifies When Lesser-Included Offense Instruction Must Be Provided, Reverses Convictions Based on Trial Court’s Failure to Properly Instruct Jury, Dec. 15, 2023. Jury Instructions, Criminal Procedure, Fair Trial, Verdicts.
• California Supreme Court Vacates Second Degree Murder Conviction Where Jury Instructed on Now Invalid Felony-­Murder Theory, Oct. 1, 2023. Jury Instructions, New Trial Motions, Murder/Felony Murder.