More from this issue:

1. A Guide to Getting the Most Out of a Plea Bargain, by Jacob Barrett
2. Second Circuit: District Court Required to Explain Rationale for Reducing Sentence to ‘Time Served’ Under First Step Act but Refused to Reduce Supervised Release Portion of Sentence Despite Being Longer Than New Mandatory Minimum, by Dale Chappell
3. What You Need to Know Before Contacting a Conviction Integrity Unit, by Marissa Boyers Bluestine, Kia Hall Hayes
4. Study Examines the ‘Black Box’ of Prosecutorial Charging and Plea Bargaining Discretion, by David Reutter
5. Man Rejects Plea Deal and Is Sentenced to 110 Years in Colorado Prison for Doing So, by Ashleigh Dye
6. Systematic Lying in Plea Bargaining Is a Feature, Not a Flaw, by David Reutter
7. Iowa Supreme Court Clarifies When Forensic Interviews of Child Complaining Witnesses Are Admissible, by Douglas Ankney
8. Sixth Circuit: Government Violated Plea Agreement by Arguing for Sentence Exceeding Guidelines Range, Despite Promise Not to ‘Suggest in Any Way’ Variance Is Appropriate, by David Reutter
9. Tenth Circuit: Where Defendant Actually Sentenced to Drug Treatment and Probation Rather Than 28-32 Months in Prison as Per State Sentencing Guidelines, Conviction Can’t Serve as Predicate ‘Felony’ for 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), by Dale Chappell
10. ACLU Report Suggests Disturbing Pattern of Police Surveilling Protests to Identify People Peacefully Protesting Police Brutality
11. Plea Bargaining: An Illegitimate System to Administer Justice?, by David Reutter
12. First Circuit: Appellate Counsel’s Failure to Raise Brady Claim on Direct Appeal Constituted Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Under Strickland, § 2255 Motion Granted, by Anthony Accurso
13. Ending Eyewitness Memory Contamination, by Matthew Clarke
14. Iowa Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Where Prosecutor Allowed to Amend Trial Information at Trial to Charge a ‘Wholly New and Different Offense’, by David Reutter
15. Fourth Circuit: Bodily Injury Sentence Enhancement for Robbery Inapplicable Where Victim Sustained ‘Momentary’ Injury and Sought ‘Precautionary’ Medical Treatment, by Jacob Barrett
16. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Trial Court Did Not Abuse Discretion by Granting Rule 508 Motion to Dismiss Capital Murder Charge Where State Refused to Disclose Identity of Confidential Informant, by Douglas Ankney
17. Vermont Supreme Court Announces Rule 12.1 Doesn’t Require Notice of Diminished Capacity Defense When Expert Testimony Won’t Be Used, by Matthew Clarke
18. California Court of Appeal: Hearing on Discretionary Resentencing Under §1170.91(b)(1) for U.S. Servicemembers Requires Only That Petition Allege Defendant ‘May’ Be Suffering From a ‘Qualifying Condition’, by Douglas Ankney
19. Fifth Circuit: Aggravated Assault in Texas Does Not Qualify as Aggravated Felony Under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2), Reentry With Prior Aggravated Felony, by Jacob Barrett
20. Massachusetts Supreme Court: Prosecution Failed to Prove Defendant Knowingly, Voluntarily, and Intelligently Waived Right to Counsel After Having Asked for Lawyer Earlier But Officer Continued to Engage in ‘General’ Talk for Nearly 45 Minutes, by Anthony Accurso
21. Third Circuit, Joining Every Other Circuit That’s Addressed the Issue, Holds Hobbs Act Robbery Does Not Qualify as ‘Crime of Violence’, by David Reutter
22. A ‘Lucky’ Exoneration in Syracuse, by Jayson Hawkins
23. Ninth Circuit Announces Irizarry Didn’t Eliminate Wise Requirement That Sentencing Court Provide Notice of Special Conditions of Supervised Release Prior to Imposing Sentence, by Matthew Clarke
24. Maryland Prosecutor Covers for FBI Agent’s Lies in Defense of Junk Science, by Jayson Hawkins
25. SCOTUS Rejects ‘Opening the Door’ Rule to Correct ‘Misleading Impression’ as Exception to Confrontation Clause Allowing Admission of Unconfronted Testimonial Hearsay, by Richard Resch
26. North Dakota Supreme Court Suppresses Evidence Found in Passenger’s Backpack Located Outside Vehicle When Drug-Detection Dog Alerted to Presence of Drugs Inside Vehicle, by Anthony Accurso
27. Fear and Freedom Twenty Years Later: How Post 9/11 Security Measures Overstepped Privacy, by Ashleigh Dye
28. FBI Program Surveils Subject for 24 Days Using Spy Planes, by Anthony Accurso
29. California Court of Appeal Announces Suffering From a Nonqualifying Mental Disorder While Also Suffering From a Qualifying Disorder Does Not Bar Eligibility for Mental Health Diversion Under § 1001.36, by Anthony Accurso
30. Google Confirms Increasing Police Reliance on Geofence Warrants, by Anthony Accurso
31. Pandemic Pressures Defendants into False Guilty Pleas, by David Reutter
32. Search Your Constitution in Vain for the Fourth Amendment—the DOJ Seized It (Stealthily), by Douglas Ankney
33. NYPD Using Secret Money for Surveillance Tech, by Anthony Accurso
34. Dangers of Data Gathering by Los Angeles Police Department, by Edward Lyon
35. Geofencing Warrants Are Putting Civil Rights and Free Speech in Jeopardy, by Dale Chappell
36. Oregon Bans Police Lying to Obtain Confessions from Juveniles, by Jacob Barrett
37. Police Disparage Philadelphia Citizenry with False Report That SEPTA Riders Stood Idle While Passenger was Raped, by Douglas Ankney
38. ‘Possible Cause’ Is All That’s Needed for Geofence Warrants, by Douglas Ankney
39. News in Brief

More from Douglas Ankney:

• The Dramatic Increase in the Elderly Prison Population Is Fiscally and Morally Irresponsible, Oct. 1, 2026
• Second Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity but Clarifies that 14th Amendment ‘Objective Reasonableness’ Is Standard of Review for Pretrial Detainee’s Claim of Sexual Abuse, Oct. 1, 2026
• California Supreme Court Announces Totality-of-Circumstances Framework Focused on Defendant’s Subjective Understanding Under § 1473.7(a)(1), Holding Immigration Consequences Advisement Is Relevant but Not Dispositive, Oct. 1, 2026
• Idaho Supreme Court Holds Conflicting Affidavits About Plea Acceptance Require Evidentiary Hearing on Ineffective-Assistance Claim, Oct. 1, 2026
• Tenth Circuit Vacates Award of Costs to Prison Officials, Revives Prisoner’s Claim Alleging Denial of Access to Functioning Toilets and Exposure to Other Prisoners’ Feces, Oct. 1, 2026
• Second Circuit Vacates Above-Guidelines Firearm-Trafficking Sentence Based on Failure to Assist Law Enforcement and Unexplained Reliance on Factors Already Included in Guidelines Range, Sept. 1, 2026
• Ninth Circuit Reverses Convictions, Holding Requirement That Defendant Testify Before Displaying Hand Tattoos Violates Fifth Amendment, Sept. 1, 2026
• Ohio Supreme Court Announces Postconviction DNA-Testing Orders Need Only Identify Statutory Reason to Satisfy R.C. 2953.73(D) “Reasons” Requirement, Sept. 1, 2026
• Federal Court Upholds Consultants’ Finding that Oklahoma Is Not Honoring Its Consent Decree to Provide Mental Health Treatment, Sept. 1, 2026
• Idaho Legislature Moves to Hide Execution Protocol from Judicial Scrutiny, Sept. 1, 2026

More from these topics:

• California Supreme Court Announces § 189(e)(2) Requires Nonkiller to Aid the Actual Killer in the Lethal Act, Resolving Appellate Split, May 1, 2026. Murder/Felony Murder, Resentencing, Essential Elements of Crime, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Accessories and Accomplices.
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces Mandatory Life Without Parole for Felony Murder Unconstitutional Under State Constitution, Holding Article I, Section 13 Provides Broader Protections Than Eighth Amendment, April 1, 2026. Life without Parole (LWOP), Constitution, state, Constitutional Challenges/Law, Resentencing, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
• SCOTUS Announces Sentence ‘Has Not Been Imposed’ 
for Purposes of First Step Act Retroactivity Upon Resentencing When § 924(c) Offender Sentenced Prior to Act’s Enactment 
but Sentence Subsequently Vacated, Aug. 1, 2025. Retroactivity, First Step Act, Resentencing, Recidivist Enhancements, Stacking Mandatory Minimum Sentences.
• California Court of Appeal: Trial Court Misconstrued Elements 
of Implied Malice Theory of Provocative Act Murder Under Current Law and Reverses Denial of Petition for Resentencing, Aug. 1, 2025. Murder/Felony Murder, Resentencing, Failure to Prove.
• Florida Prisoner Returns to Custody After Overturned Conviction Reinstated, May 1, 2025. False Statements/Perjury, Resentencing, Witnesses - Prior Statements/Testimony, Effect of Vacatur, Brady/Giglio/Jencks Act Issues.
• Arkansas Supreme Court Rules § 16-93-609(b)(2)(B), Relating to Parole Eligibility for Residential Burglary Conviction, Applies Retroactively to Defendant, April 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Resentencing, Bank Fraud/Robbery/Theft, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Eligibility for Parole.
• Alabama Governor Commutes Death Sentence, April 1, 2025. Death Penalty/Death Row, Resentencing.
• 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.
• 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.
• First Step Act Linked to Modest Reductions in Time Served by Federal Prisoners, Feb. 1, 2025. First Step Act, Resentencing, Credits.