More from this issue:

1. Oregon Supreme Court Announces 60-Day Limit on Pretrial Custody Applies to Retrials, by Matthew Clarke
2. Georgia Supreme Court Grants Habeas Relief Where Both Trial and Appellate Counsel Provided Ineffective Assistance by Failing to Challenge Indictment for Residential Burglary That Failed to Allege Defendant Illegally Entered a ‘Dwelling’, by Anthony Accurso
3. Understanding Timestamps in Digital Forensics, by Michael Thompson
4. Protect Yourself Against Police Invasion of Your Cellphone, by Douglas Ankney
5. Touch-Transfer DNA Remains Misunderstood and Still Poses High Risk of Wrongful Conviction, by J.D. Schmidt
6. From the Editor, by Richard Resch
7. Illinois Supreme Court Announces Dismissal by Nolle Prosequi as Part of Agreement Bars State From Bringing Second Prosecution Where Defendant Satisfied Obligations and Reverses Empire Actor Jussie Smollett’s Conviction, by Sam Rutherford
8. You’d Better Watch Out: The Surveillance State Is Making a List, and You’re On It, by John W. Whitehead, Nisha Whitehead
9. Third Circuit Announces Claim of Innocence Does Not Resolve Whether Defendant Would Have Accepted Plea Offer Absent Counsel’s Error and Holds Counsel Ineffective for Failing to Properly Advise Defendant About Mandatory Sentences If Plea Offer Rejected, by Sam Rutherford
10. Kansas Supreme Court Announces Defendant-Witness Retains Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Compelled Self-Incrimination After Guilty Plea and Sentencing as Long as Testimony Sought Presents Legitimate Risk of Incrimination, by Sam Rutherford
11. 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, by Sam Rutherford
12. California Supreme Court Announces Retroactivity of 2022 Version of Penal Code § 1170 to Upper-Term Sentences Imposed Before Its Enactment, by Sam Rutherford
13. Colorado Supreme Court Announces When Deciding Defendant’s Pro Se Motion Requesting Counsel on Postconviction Review, Trial Court Must Either Deny Entire Motion or Permit All Claims If Any Have Arguable Merit, by Sam Rutherford
14. Ninth Circuit Holds District Courts Have No Authority Under Rule 4 of Rules Governing § 2254 Cases to Dismiss Habeas Petition on the Merits, by Sam Rutherford
15. Scent of Death Evidence Admitted at Indiana Murder Trial, by Sam Rutherford
16. Recovering Deleted Messages, by Michael Thompson
17. Washington Supreme Court Declines to Expand Scope of Attenuation Doctrine Under State Constitution and Reverses Murder Conviction Based on Unlawfully Seized, by Sam Rutherford
18. Las Vegas Jury Finds Detectives Fabricated Evidence Against Woman Who Spent 15 Years in Prison for Murder and Awards Her $34 Million, by James Mills
19. Why Aren’t Eligible Individuals Taking Advantage of Expungement Laws?, by Michael Thompson
20. Maryland Supreme Court Announces New Constitutional Rule Requiring Voir Dire Questions Related to Child-Witness Credibility and Abrogates Prior Inconsistent Case Law, by Sam Rutherford
21. California Court of Appeal Announces Postconviction Discovery Permitted in Resentencing Under Penal Code § 1172.6 for Felony Murder and Natural and Probable Consequences Murder Convictions, by Sam Rutherford
22. Eleventh Circuit Announces Defendant Must Know Leaving Residential Facility Without Permission Is ‘Unlawful’ for Escape Conviction Under 28 U.S.C. § 4082(a), by Matthew Clarke
23. Federal Law Enforcement Using Banks to Circumvent Warrant Requirement in Surveilling Sensitive Financial Data of Americans, by James Mills
24. Sixth Circuit Announces Ohio’s Standard for Judicial Bias Contrary to Clearly Established Federal Law, Holds Trial Judge Unconstitutionally Biased in Capital Case and Defendant Denied Right to Present Mitigating Evidence, Grants Habeas Relief, by Sam Rutherford
25. 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, by Sam Rutherford
26. DNA on Fired Cartridge Casings: Promising Advances to Link Suspects to Crime Scenes
27. News in Brief

More from Sam Rutherford:

• Ninth Circuit Affirms $3.84 Million Jury Verdict in Death of San Bernardino Jail Detainee from Acute Alcohol Withdrawal, March 1, 2026
• Shelby County DA Oversees Retesting After Forensic Analyst’s Dismissal for ‘Unethical Conduct’, July 1, 2025
• Self-Harming Wisconsin Prisoner Settles Failure-to-Protect Suit for $7,000, April 1, 2025
• SCOTUS Clarifies It Had Already Been ‘Clearly Established Federal Law’ in 2004 for Purposes of AEDPA That Evidence at Trial Can Be So Prejudicial as to Violate Due Process, March 15, 2025
• Ninth and Tenth Circuits Find Bivens Extension Orders Not Immediately Appealable, March 1, 2025
• New Mexico Corrections Department Continues Pattern of Abuse With Contract Medical Provider Wexford Health Sources, Feb. 15, 2025
• Hawai’i Supreme Court Reverses Murder Conviction for Prosecutorial Misconduct Based on Prosecution’s Improper Statements During Closing Arguments, Feb. 15, 2025
• Third Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to Prisoner on Confrontation Clause and Ineffective Assistance Claims Based on Trial Court Reading Entire Criminal Information Into the Record of Co-Conspirator Who Pleaded Guilty, Feb. 15, 2025
• Fourth Circuit Decision on Claim of Retaliation for Exercising First And Sixth Amendment Rights Highlights Police Corruption, Feb. 15, 2025
• Washington DOC Physician Assistant Surrenders Medical License in Wake of Malpractice Allegations, Feb. 15, 2025

More from these topics:

• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Ends Mandatory Life Without Parole Sentence for Felony Murder, Sept. 1, 2026. Life without Parole (LWOP), Constitution, state, Constitutional Challenges/Law, Murder/Felony Murder, Mandatory Minimum Sentence.
• 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.
• Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Adoption of Transferred Intent Self-­Defense, Jan. 1, 2026. Murder/Felony Murder, Burden of Proof, Negligence/Reckless Endangerment.
• California Supreme Court Announces Pre-2009 Provocative Act Murder Convictions Are Not Categorically Ineligible for Resentencing Under § 1172.6, Dec. 15, 2025. Jury Instructions, Retroactivity, Murder/Felony Murder, Accessories and Accomplices.
• 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.
• Philadelphia Agrees to $9.1 Million Settlement for Wrongful Murder Conviction, Feb. 15, 2025. Settlements, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Murder/Felony Murder.
• 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.
• California Court of Appeal Announces Equal Protection Entitles Youth Offenders Convicted of Special Circumstances Murder Predicated on Robbery or Burglary to Franklin and Parole Hearings Under Cal. Penal Code § 3051, Feb. 15, 2025. Equal Protection Clause/Claims, Murder/Felony Murder, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release.
• Vermont Supreme Court Eliminates Year-and-a-Day Rule in Murder Prosecutions, Feb. 1, 2025. Prison/Jail Murders, Murder/Felony Murder, Pre-Trial Motions.
• Sixth Circuit Announces Ohio’s Standard for Judicial Bias Contrary to Clearly Established Federal Law, Holds Trial Judge Unconstitutionally Biased in Capital Case and Defendant Denied Right to Present Mitigating Evidence, Grants Habeas Relief, Dec. 15, 2024. Murder/Felony Murder, Bias/Discrimination, Evidence - Failure to Disclose.