More from this issue:

1. Police Misconduct Reform: Forcing Police Officers to Have ‘Skin in the Game’ by Creating Financial Incentives with Insurance Premiums, by David Reutter
2. Sixth Circuit: Sentence Procedurally Unreasonable Where District Court Failed to Explain Decision to Impose Consecutive Sentences and Substantively Unreasonable Where Court Improperly Weighed Sentencing Factors, by Douglas Ankney
3. Closed Circuit Cameras: Not the Objective Lenses We’re Told, by Benjamin Tschirhart
4. Database Containing 450,000 Records of NYPD Misconduct Now Available, by Douglas Ankney
5. Ninth Circuit Announces District Courts Have Discretion to Consider Non-­Retroactive Changes in Post-­Sentencing Decisional Law in Assessing ‘Extraordinary and Compelling Reasons’ for Sentence Reduction, by Douglas Ankney
6. New Tool Used by Police to Improve Interviewing Skills, by Jordan Arizmendi
7. New York Court of Appeals Suppresses Evidence Because Police Lacked Reasonable Suspicion Necessary for Level 3 Stop and Frisk Under De Bour Framework, by Richard Resch
8. Kansas Supreme Court: Defendants May File a Motion to Correct Illegal Sentence in Appellate Court While on Direct Review, by Douglas Ankney
9. U.S. Sentencing Commission Publishes Compassionate Release Datafile for Fiscal Years 2020-­2022, by Casey Bastian
10. SCOTUS Announces Pending Investigation or Proceeding Is Not Required for an Offense to be ‘Related to Obstruction of Justice’ and Qualify as ‘Aggravated Felony’ in Removal of Noncitizen, by Douglas Ankney
11. We’re All Suspects in a DNA Lineup, Waiting to be Matched with a Crime, by Nisha Whitehead, John W. Whitehead
12. California Supreme Court Vacates Second Degree Murder Conviction Where Jury Instructed on Now Invalid Felony-­Murder Theory, by Douglas Ankney
13. U.S. Supreme Court Announces § 2255(e)’s ‘Saving Clause’ Does Not Enable Prisoners to File § 2241 Petition Based on AEDPA’s Rule Against Second or Successive § 2255 Motions, by Douglas Ankney
14. ‘Data for Defenders’: Valuable New Resource for Defense Counsel and Pro Se Litigants, by Jordan Arizmendi
15. Maryland Supreme Court: Firearms Identification Methodology Does Not Provide Reliable Basis for Expert’s Unqualified Opinion That Bullets Recovered at Crime Scene Were Fired From Defendant’s Gun, by Douglas Ankney
16. California Court of Appeal: Trial Court Abused Discretion in Failing to Recall Terminally Ill Prisoner’s Sentence Following CDCR’s Recommendation for Compassionate Release, by Douglas Ankney
17. American Bar Association’s 2023 Plea Bargain Task Force Report, by Carlo Difundo
18. Fourth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Habeas Petition Where District Court Failed to Review Magistrate’s Report De Novo After Characterizing Petitioner’s Objections as ‘Attempt to Reargue Case’, by Douglas Ankney
19. D.C. Circuit Orders New Trial Due to Brady Violations Involving Source of Information, Not Withholding of Information Itself, by Richard Resch
20. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Holds Granting Motion for New Trial Because ‘Verdict Is Contrary to Law and Evidence,’ Without Further Explanation, Bars Retrial, by Matthew Clarke
21. Third Circuit Vacates Possession of Cocaine Conviction Due to Insufficient Evidence to Support Weight Element, by David Reutter
22. How the Backdoor Loophole Enables the FBI to Search Your Communications Without a Warrant, by Michael Thompson
23. Ninth Circuit Announces No Deference to Application Note 1 to Guideline § 4B1.2(b) Because It Impermissibly Expands Definition of ‘Controlled Substance Offense’, by Douglas Ankney
24. Third Circuit Vacates Denial of First Step Act Relief Because District Court’s Failure to Expressly Identify Which § 841(b) Provision Supported Sentence Precludes Appellate Review, by Douglas Ankney
25. Digital Voiceprinting Is Not Ready for Court, by Anthony Accurso
26. Oregon Supreme Court Clarifies Mansor Ruling for Search Warrants for Digital Data and Announces Framework for Suppression When Warrant Contains Both Constitutional and Unconstitutional Search Categories, by Anthony Accurso
27. News in Brief

More from Douglas Ankney:

• Beyond a Reasonable Doubt? Fingerprint Evidence’s Troubling Flaws, April 15, 2025
• Tenth Circuit Stretches PLRA to Deny Claim of Colorado Prisoner Shot by Guard While Shackled, April 1, 2025
• Fourth Circuit Excuses Maryland Prisoner From Exhaustion Requirement in PREA Claim, April 1, 2025
• Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces State Wiretap Statute Requires Suppression of Both Audio and Video Components of Audiovisual Footage of Unlawfully Intercepted Oral Communication Showing Defendant as Party to Communication, March 15, 2025
• California Court of Appeal Vacates Sentence Where Trial Court Imposed Sentence Under ‘One Strike’ Enhancement Statute Enacted After Crimes Were Committed, March 15, 2025
• Nevada Supreme Court: Theft Offenses and Possessing or Receiving Stolen Property Offenses Are Mutually Exclusive and Double Jeopardy Protections Bar Conviction for Both Offenses When Based on Same Conduct, March 15, 2025
• Maryland Supreme Court: Trial Court Abused Its Discretion by Failing to Exercise That Discretion Where It Summarily Refused Requested Jury Instruction Because It Was a Non-Pattern Instruction and ‘Some Evidence’ Supported the Instruction, March 15, 2025
• $100,000 Settlement Reached in New York Prisoner’s Solitary Confinement Suit, After Jury for First Time Finds Practice Violates Eighth Amendment, March 1, 2025
• 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

More from these topics:

• Virginia Parole Board Skirts New Transparency Rules, Governor Walks Back Expanded Sentence Credits—Again, March 1, 2025. Local Rules, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Credits.
• Former South Carolina Jailer Spared Prison After Testimony Fails to Convict Former Sheriff, Feb. 15, 2025. Guard Brutality/Beatings, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Sentences - Adjustments and Departures, Offense of Conviction.
• The Murky Waters of Parole, Feb. 1, 2025. Parole/Probation Searches, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Parole Liability, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release.
• Oregon Supreme Court: Governor Can’t Revoke Commutation After Sentence Expires, Jan. 15, 2025. Parole/Probation Searches, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Resentencing, Revocation Proceedings, Overreaching.
• After Florida Appellate Court Holds Crimes of ‘Attempt’ Eligible for Incentive Gain Time, Supreme Court Refuses Review, Jan. 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Conspiracies, Attempts, Solicitations, Attempts/Incomplete Acts, Credits, Sentences - Adjustments and Departures.
• Seventh Circuit Announces Maximum Revocation Sentence for Violation of Supervised Release Based on Classification of Underlying Offense at Time of Conviction, Not at Time of Revocation, Dec. 15, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Revocation Proceedings.
• California Supreme Court Announces Retroactivity of 2022 Version of Penal Code § 1170 to Upper-Term Sentences Imposed Before Its Enactment, Dec. 15, 2024. Retroactivity, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
• First Circuit Holds Government Breached Plea Agreement by Implicitly Arguing for Upward Variant Sentence by Including Pictures and Video of Defendant That Allegedly Depict His Criminal Tendencies in Sentencing Memo, Dec. 15, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Grounds for Variance, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas, Grounds.
• Fifth Circuit Judges Battle in Louisiana Over-Detention Cases, Dec. 15, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Overdetention, Credits.
• California Supreme Court Announces Uncharged and Unproven Offense-Specific Enhancements May Not Be Imposed Under § 1172.6(e) Resentencing, Dec. 1, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Resentencing, Sentence Enhancements/Departures.