More from this issue:

1. The Debunking of Forensic Science: A Decade of Increased Scrutiny Reveals Forensic Processes Prone to Bias and Error, by Casey Bastian
2. California Court of Appeal: At Felony-Murder Resentencing Hearing, Court May Not Deny Relief Based on Findings That Are Inconsistent With Previous Acquittal, by Douglas Ankney
3. You’d Better Watch Out: The Surveillance State Is Making a List, and You’re On It, by John W. Whitehead, Nisha Whitehead
4. Montana Supreme Court: Odor of Marijuana by Itself Insufficient to Prolong Traffic Stop, by Anthony Accurso
5. Fifth Circuit: ‘Nonsubstantial Overcrowding’ of Vehicle Used in Transporting Illegal Aliens Insufficient for Imposition of Sentencing Enhancement Under Guidelines § 2L1.1(b)(6), by Douglas Ankney
6. Florida Supreme Court Announces Completed ‘Purchase’ of Drugs Under Trafficking Statute Requires Exchange of Money and Possession, by David Reutter
7. California Court of Appeal: Kill-Zone Theory Principles Articulated in Canizales Are Retroactive to Judgments That Were Final at Time of Decision, by Jacob Barrett
8. Police Digitally Frame Activists in India, but It Can Happen Anywhere, by Jayson Hawkins
9. Eleventh Circuit: Prosecutor Denied Absolute Prosecutorial Immunity for Failure to Ensure Cancellation of Material Witness Warrant, by David Reutter
10. Fifth Circuit: District Court Erred in Finding That a Fourth Amendment Stop Did Not Occur, by Harold Hempstead
11. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Where Trial Counsel Believed, Erroneously, He Had Ethical Duty to Tell Prosecution Location of Key Incriminating Evidence Not in Counsel’s Possession, by Douglas Ankney
12. Los Angeles: Police Union Resists Changes to Pretextual Stops, by Jayson Hawkins
13. Police Find It Easier to Influence Public Opinion Than to Protect and Serve, by Benjamin Tschirhart
14. Tenth Circuit: Unreasonable Determination of Downward Variance of Guidelines Resulted in Plain Error, by David Reutter
15. Ninth Circuit Suppresses Evidence as Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Where Officer Lacked Probable Cause to Arrest Man Who Displayed Handgun in Open Carry State, by Douglas Ankney
16. California Court of Appeal Announces the People Are Not Entitled to Have Privately Retained Psychological Expert Testify at Trial of SVPA Petition, by Douglas Ankney
17. Connecticut Supreme Court Announces ‘John Doe’ Warrant Based on Suspect’s General Description and Partial DNA Profiles, Which May or May Not Include Suspect’s DNA, Fails to Satisfy ‘Particularity Requirement’ of Fourth Amendment, by Douglas Ankney
18. Tenth Circuit: Prisoner Convicted of Covered Drug Offense but Sentenced to Mandatory Life Sentence Via Cross Reference for Murder Under Pre-Booker Guidelines Has Standing to Request First Step Act Sentence Reduction, by Douglas Ankney
19. NYC: The First DNA Gun Crimes Unit in America, by Harold Hempstead
20. Traditional Forensic Ballistics Comparisons Giving Way to Virtual 3D Methods, by Casey Bastian
21. Sixth Circuit: Unarmed Bank Robber Who Ordered Tellers to Get on the Floor Not Subject to Enhancement for Physical Restraint, by Matthew Clarke
22. The National Registry of Exonerations 2021 Annual Report: 161 Exonerations Comprising 1,849 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment, by Casey Bastian
23. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Ends Practice of Juvenile Courts Granting Continuances for Sole Purpose of Extending Delinquent’s Period of Detention, by Douglas Ankney
24. Mislabeling of Marijuana Products Is a National Problem, by Kevin Bliss
25. Review of Prior Research Identifies Three Main Sources of Bias in Jury Decision-Making Processes, by Casey Bastian
26. Police Foundations: The Impossible Task of Separating the World of Policing From the World of Corporate Money, by Casey Bastian
27. Charlotte Is Ground Zero for New FBI Asset Forfeiture Tip Line Program, by Casey Bastian
28. People Convicted of Sex Crimes Remain Incarcerated 25 Years After Completing Their Prison Sentences, by Douglas Ankney
29. Theft of Public Funds or Accounting Incompetence? Kansas Police Agencies Can’t Accurately Track Property Forfeitures, by Jacob Barrett
30. 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:

• Ohio Supreme Court Announces Post-Verdict Judgment of Acquittal Is Not “Final Verdict” Under R.C. 2945.67(A) and Overrules Contrary Precedent, Holding State May Appeal Such Judgment by Leave of Court of Appeals but Not as of Right, Aug. 1, 2026. Double jeopardy, Appealable Issues/Orders, New Trial/Judgment of Acquittal, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
• Michigan Supreme Court Holds Miranda Waiver Invalid Where LSD-Intoxicated, Hospitalized Defendant Lacked Capacity to Understand Rights Read to Him, Aug. 1, 2026. New Trial/Judgment of Acquittal, Witnesses - Prior Statements/Testimony, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Brady/Giglio/Jencks Act Issues, Exculpatory Evidence - Disclosure Obligations.
• New Jersey Supreme Court Announces Brady and Carter Materiality Standards Differ, Holding Carter’s “Probably Change the Jury’s Verdict” Test for New Trial More Stringent Than Brady’s “Reasonable Probability” Standard, Aug. 1, 2026. New Trial/Judgment of Acquittal, Failure to Disclose, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Brady/Giglio/Jencks Act Issues, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence.
• South Carolina Supreme Court Announces Formal Adoption of Fourth Circuit’s Three-Step Cheek Framework for Evaluating Improper Third-Party Contacts With Jurors Under Remmer, Reverses Murdaugh Murder Convictions, and Overrules Ethier Regarding Juror Testim, July 1, 2026. Sixth Amendment, New Trial/Judgment of Acquittal, Impartial Jury, Jury Deliberations, Juror Misconduct Issues.
• Illinois Supreme Court Announces State Common Law and Statutory Issue Preclusion Protections Exceed Federal Double Jeopardy Protections, Holding Currier v. Virginia Does Not Constrain Illinois’s Independent Doctrine, July 1, 2026. Double jeopardy, New Trial/Judgment of Acquittal, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
• 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.
• Eleventh Circuit Announces Hobbs Act Robbery Requires Force Before or During Taking, Reversing Conviction Where Defendant Used Force Only After Co-Conspirator Had Surreptitiously Stolen Property and Departed, March 1, 2026. New Trial/Judgment of Acquittal, Theft, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Predicate Acts/Offenses, Hobbs Act.
• Georgia Supreme Court Clarifies Framework for Evaluating Extraordinary Motions for New Trial Based on Scientific Developments, Holding Trial Court Applied Incorrect Legal Standard in Denying “Shaken Baby Syndrome” Challenge, Feb. 1, 2026. Forensic Sciences, New Trial/Judgment of Acquittal, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Daubert Standards, Expert and Opinion Testimony.
• Illinois Supreme Court Announces Six-Element Jeffries Test Governs Self-Defense Jury Instructions in Cases Involving Force Against Police Officers, Rejecting Appellate Court Approaches That Either Created Separate Threshold Inquiry or Automatically Requir, Feb. 1, 2026. Excessive Force (Police), Abuse of Discretion Standard, Jury Instructions in Jury Room, Plain/Harmless Error, Factual Disputes/Findings.