More from this issue:

1. Zombie Forensics: Discredited Science Stalking the Courtroom, by Chuck Sharman
2. New Jersey Supreme Court Announces “Shaking Without Impact” Expert Testimony Inadmissible, Holding Shaken Baby Syndrome Diagnosis Lacks Required General Acceptance Within Biomechanical Engineering Community Under Frye, by David Kim
3. First Circuit Clarifies Mitigating Role Analysis – Sentencing Courts Must Consider All Identifiable Participants in Drug Shipment, Not Just Crew Members, and Use § 3B1.2 Factors to Assess Relative Culpability, Not Guilt, by Douglas Ankney
4. Ninth Circuit Grants Equitable Tolling Under AEDPA Where Attorney Abandoned Prisoner by Failing to Communicate for Nine Months and Prison Officials Delayed Processing Filing Documents, by David Kim
5. Maryland Supreme Court Announces Public Defender Act Requires Effective Assistance of Counsel in Certiorari Petition Where Public Defender Appointed Panel Attorney for Direct Appeal and Certiorari Petition, by Sagi Schwartzberg
6. Ninth Circuit Affirms Exclusion of Plea Agreement’s Factual Basis, Holding Unaccepted “Type A” Plea Agreement Unenforceable to Trigger Waiver of Rule 410 Protections, by Anthony Accurso
7. When AI Invents the Pixels: Challenging AI-Enhanced Video Evidence in Criminal Cases, by Richard Resch
8. Jury Returns Record $80 Million Verdict for Wrongful Conviction Based on DA Misconduct, by Jo Ellen Nott
9. Ninth Circuit Announces Abandonment Doctrine Applies to Cellphones but Courts Must Analyze Intent to Abandon Device Separately From Intent to Abandon Data, by David Kim
10. Seventh Circuit Announces One-Year Time Limit in Rule 35(b) Is Nonjurisdictional Claim-Processing Rule, Overruling Prior Precedent in Light of Supreme Court’s Hamer Decision, by David Kim
11. California Supreme Court Announces Pre-2009 Provocative Act Murder Convictions Are Not Categorically Ineligible for Resentencing Under § 1172.6, by Sagi Schwartzberg
12. Police AI and “Sycophancy”: New Evidence Tools May Tell Cops Exactly What They Want to Hear, by Michael Thompson
13. Mass Surveillance for Profit: Flock’s AI Reports “Suspicious” Movement to Police, by Sagi Schwartzberg
14. SCOTUS Holds Sixth Amendment Requires Case-Specific Necessity Determination to Screen Child Witnesses, Rejecting Reliance on Mandatory State Statutes Based on Generalized Legislative Findings, by Richard Resch
15. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces Presentence Confinement on Probation Detainer Must Be Credited to New Sentence Where Same Conduct Triggered Both Detainer and New Charges, by Matthew Clarke
16. The Legal Fight for Homeowner Compensation After SWAT Raids, by Jo Ellen Nott
17. Minnesota Supreme Court Announces Warrantless Buccal Swab Pursuant to Discovery Order Violates Fourth Amendment, Overrules Inevitable Discovery Precedent, and Clarifies Accomplice-Corroboration Statute Applies Only to Sworn Testimony, by David Kim
18. NEWS IN BRIEF

More from David Kim:

• Buried in Plain Sight: How Digital Discovery Turns Disclosure Itself Into Concealment, Aug. 15, 2026
• 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
• 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
• Michigan Supreme Court Holds Miranda Waiver Invalid Where LSD-Intoxicated, Hospitalized Defendant Lacked Capacity to Understand Rights Read to Him, Aug. 1, 2026
• Ninth Circuit Announces Murder-for-Hire Resulting in Death Under 18 U.S.C. § 1958(a) Is Not Categorically Crime of Violence and Cannot Serve as Predicate Offense for Solicitation Under 18 U.S.C. § 373(a), Aug. 1, 2026
• SCOTUS Announces Appeal Waivers in Plea Agreements Unenforceable When Enforcement Would Produce a Miscarriage of Justice, Adopting Majority Circuit Approach, July 1, 2026
• 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
• SCOTUS Holds Mississippi Supreme Court Unreasonably Applied Batson and Unreasonably Found Waiver Where Trial Court Skipped Third Step of Inquiry, July 1, 2026
• Hawai’i Supreme Court Holds Trial Court Failed to Consider HAWJIC 3.19A Factors and “Effect of Suggestiveness on Reliability” When Evaluating Field Show-Up Identifications, July 1, 2026
• Second Circuit Clarifies Limits on Sentencing Court’s Use of Unrelated Co-Defendant Conduct as § 3553(a) “Context”, June 1, 2026

More from these topics:

• Washington DOC Barred from Putting Prisoners on Lockdown and Calling It “Programming”, Sept. 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Liberty Interests, Notice of Rules, Lockdowns, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
• Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement, Aug. 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Immigration Detention, Monell Liability.
• New Mexico Supreme Court Holds Corrections Department Regulations Do Not Exempt Use-Of-Force Documents from Public Records Disclosure, Aug. 1, 2026. Disclosure of Records, Public Records, Public Records Act, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Authority and Jurisdiction.
• 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.
• Florida Supreme Court Announces District Courts of Appeal Have Jurisdiction to Review Denial of Downward Departure Sentence, Holding Sentencing Order Is Final Order Appealable as Matter of Right, Aug. 1, 2026. Constitution, state, Appealable Issues/Orders, Abuse of Discretion Standard, Sentences - Adjustments and Departures, Authority and Jurisdiction.
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces Theft by Deception Is Not Continuing Offense While Receiving Stolen Property Continues Only Until Defendant Disposes of Stolen Property, Aug. 1, 2026. Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Lack of Evidence, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Statutes of Limitation and Laches.
• Ninth Circuit Announces Murder-for-Hire Resulting in Death Under 18 U.S.C. § 1958(a) Is Not Categorically Crime of Violence and Cannot Serve as Predicate Offense for Solicitation Under 18 U.S.C. § 373(a), Aug. 1, 2026. Conspiracies, Attempts, Solicitations, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence, Concurrent and Consecutive Sentences.
• Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Postconviction Forensic Testing Statute Permits Digital Forensic Analysis of Cellphones, Holding Chapter 278A Not Limited to Tangible Evidence Testable for Biological Material, Aug. 1, 2026. Forensic Sciences, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Failure to Consult/Investigate/Raise, Relevance.
• SCOTUS Continues to Hack Away At First Step Act, July 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, PLRA, Post-release, ex-offender, re-entry, Sentences - Corrections or Modifications of, Compassionate Release.
• Oregon Supreme Court: Jail Credit Statute Focuses Upon Legal Custody Not Physical Custody Location, July 1, 2026. Civil Procedure, Sentencing, Appeals/Appellate Jurisdiction, Criminal Justice, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.