More from this issue:

1. Your Car Is Spying on You, by Michael Thompson
2. People of Maine at Forefront of Battle to Keep Government Security Apparatus in Check, by Douglas Ankney
3. A Nation of Snitches: DHS Is Grooming Americans to Report on Each Other, by Nisha Whitehead, John W. Whitehead
4. Montana Supreme Court: Retroactive Application of Montana’s Sex Offender Registration Law, as Amended Since 2007, Violates Ex Post Facto Clause of State Constitution, by Douglas Ankney
5. Checking In With Community Supervision, by Anthony Accurso
6. New Jersey Takes First Steps in Eliminating Public Defender Fees, by Jordan Arizmendi
7. Ninth Circuit: Younger Abstention Doctrine Inapplicable Where Habeas Petitioner Seeks Stay While § 1172.6 Petition in State Court Being Litigated and Petitioner Entitled to Stay of Habeas Proceedings While State Petition Pending, by Douglas Ankney
8. Advent of ‘Green’ Ammunition Prompts Forensic Science to Analyze Organic and Inorganic Gunshot Residue and Establish Benchmarks for CSI, by Jo Ellen Nott
9. Colorado Supreme Court Announces ‘Self-Serving Hearsay’ Statements Introduced Under Rule of Completeness Not Hearsay and Do Not Render Defendant Impeachable, by Richard Resch
10. Michigan Supreme Court Holds Guilty Plea Cannot Be ‘Voluntary and Knowing’ When Induced by Inaccurate Understanding of Minimum and Maximum Prison Sentence, by David Reutter
11. Study Reveals Important Details About iPhone’s Building Level Registration Reliability, by Jo Ellen Nott
12. California Supreme Court Clarifies Harmless-Error Analysis of Alternative-Theory Error, Reverses and Remands Where Court of Appeal Applied Incorrect Standard, by Douglas Ankney
13. Ninth Circuit Explains Martinez ‘Cause’ and ‘Prejudice’ to Excuse Procedural Default in Federal Habeas Proceeding Where Claim of IAC in State Proceedings Was Procedurally Defaulted Due to Postconviction Counsel’s Failure to Timely Raise Claim, by Douglas Ankney
14. 10th Circuit Reverses Guidelines Enhancement Because Possession of Ammo Does Not Facilitate Possession of a Firearm, by Anthony Accurso
15. Study: ‘Inconclusive Finding’ by Examiner of Cartridge Casing Should Be Finding of ‘Excluded’ 85% of the Time, by Douglas Ankney
16. Facial Recognition Software Gives Unreliable Results with Black Individuals and Leads to Unlawful Arrests, by Jo Ellen Nott
17. ICE Employees Caught (Again) Misusing Access to Databases, by Jordan Arizmendi
18. Fourth Circuit: Evidence Suppressed Where Officers Seized Defendant Without Reasonable Suspicion and Forced Him to Prove He Was Not Armed, by Anthony Accurso
19. Electrocution by Taser Is Not Death From Excited Delirium, by Douglas Ankney
20. New Jersey Supreme Court Announces Presumption in Favor of In-Person Interpreter for Criminal Trials and Issues Guidelines for Use of Video Remote Interpreting, by Matthew Clarke
21. Sheep and Sheepdogs: Use and Abuse of Non-Lethal Crowd Control Weapons, by Benjamin Tschirhart
22. Arizona Attorney General Settles Lawsuit, Agrees to Toss Unconstitutional Law Banning the Recording of Cops, by Jo Ellen Nott
23. Fourth Circuit Vacates Denial of First Step Act Relief Where Record Unclear Whether District Court Considered All Nonfrivolous Arguments Raised by Defendant, by Douglas Ankney
24. Sixth Circuit: Plain Error Where District Court Required Defendant at Resentencing to Admit Guilt in Order to Fully Consider Defendant’s Evidence of Rehabilitation, by Douglas Ankney
25. Colorado’s Amendments to Post-Conviction DNA Testing Statute Allows Greater Number of Affected Persons to Seek Testing, by Douglas Ankney
26. Gunshot Detection Technology Continues to Acquire New Business Despite Major Clients Dropping Contracts and Researchers Questioning Its Effectiveness, by Jo Ellen Nott
27. Tenth Circuit Announces District Court Erred in Applying Attempted Murder Cross-Reference Under U.S.S.G. § 2A2.1 Based on Malice Aforethought, Without Finding Intent to Kill, by Douglas Ankney
28. Computing Fear in Black and Brown Communities, by Michael Thompson
29. DOJ Concludes Louisville Police Engaging in Patterns of Unconstitutional Conduct, by Douglas Ankney
30. ICE Tramples Over the Judicial System, by Jordan Arizmendi
31. U.K. Study of Consistency Among Pairs of Child Witnesses Shows Surprising Results, by Matthew Clarke
32. Third Circuit Announces COA Required for Federal Prisoner Appealing District Court’s Choice of Remedy in § 2255 Proceeding, by Douglas Ankney
33. West Virginia Supreme Court Announces in the Absence of a Deadline, Trial Court Must Permit Defendant to Stipule to Prior Conviction During Trial, by Douglas Ankney
34. Geofencing January 6th, by Michael Thompson
35. Three’s a Crowd: Issues of DNA Mixture Analysis and Interpretation, by Eike Blohm, MD
36. New Mexico Supreme Court Announces Trial Courts Retain Common Law Jurisdictional Authority to Correct Illegal Sentences, Allows Defendant to Withdraw Plea After Sentence Correction Involving Additional Parole Time, by Anthony Accurso
37. News in Brief

More from Jo Ellen Nott:

• Study Highlights Limitations in Forensic DNA Analysis Involving Lower Genetic Diversity Groups, Feb. 1, 2025
• New AI Tool Harnesses Microbiomes for Forensic and Medical Breakthroughs, Feb. 1, 2025
• First Step Act Linked to Modest Reductions in Time Served by Federal Prisoners, Feb. 1, 2025
• Chicago PD Continues Racial Profiling While Underreporting Incidents of Traffic Stops, Nov. 1, 2024
• ICE’s Deadly Force Problem: A Culture of Impunity, Nov. 1, 2024
• A New Approach to Drug Testing: Electrochemical Sensors and Raman Spectroscopy, Nov. 1, 2024
• Study Finds That Black Americans Want Both Police Presence and Reform: Looking Beyond the Headlines, Oct. 1, 2024
• Louisiana Becomes First State in Nation to Allow Judges to Order Surgical Castration for Sex Offenders, Oct. 1, 2024
• AI-Generated Police Reports Must Have Guardrails for Inaccuracy, Bias, Transparency, and Review, Sept. 1, 2024
• Maryland Governor Pardons Thousands of Low-Level Marijuana Convictions, Seeking to Right Historical Wrongs, Sept. 1, 2024

More from these topics:

• Reining in Police Monitoring of Social Media, Feb. 15, 2025. Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Racial/Ethnic Bias/Profiling, Social Media, Racial Bias Exception.
• Law Enforcement Obscures Use of Facial Recognition Technology, Feb. 15, 2025. Computer Searches, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Police/Govt Misconduct.
• A Gift America Can’t Return: The Police State Is America’s New Crime Boss, Feb. 15, 2025. Police State-Surveillance.
• Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Grants Habeas Relief in ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ Case, Feb. 1, 2025. junk science, Habeas Corpus, Forensic Sciences, Child Abuse/Abusers, Evidence - Admissibility.
• Colorado Bureau of Investigation Admits Over 1,000 Cases Affected by DNA Test Misconduct, Feb. 1, 2025. Judicial Misconduct, DNA Testing/Samples, junk science, Forensic Sciences.
• Chicago’s Police Body Cam Transparency, Feb. 1, 2025. Videotaping, Police, Police State-Surveillance.
• Careful What You Search For, Feb. 1, 2025. Computer Searches, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance.
• Seeking Justice for Two: The DNA Scandal That Shook a Community, Jan. 15, 2025. DNA Testing/Samples, junk science, Wrongful Conviction, DNA Evidence/Testing.
• Touch-Transfer DNA Remains Misunderstood and Still Poses High Risk of Wrongful Conviction, Dec. 15, 2024. DNA Testing/Samples, junk science, DNA Evidence/Testing.
• Federal Law Enforcement Using Banks to Circumvent Warrant Requirement in Surveilling Sensitive Financial Data of Americans, Dec. 15, 2024. Police State-Surveillance, Exception to Warrant Requirement, Bank/Financial Institution.