More from this issue:

1. The Malleable Mind in the Courtroom: Why Confident Eyewitnesses Often Provide the Least Reliable Evidence, by David Reutter
2. Fourth Circuit: Government Breached Plea Agreement by Successfully Arguing for Sentencing Enhancement Based on “Total Relevant Conduct” Not Stipulated to in Plea Agreement, by Douglas Ankney
3. Michigan Supreme Court Announces Smell of Marijuana Alone Is No Longer Sufficient to Establish Probable Cause to Search Vehicle, by Sagi Schwartzberg
4. Protecting Your Digital Privacy, by Anthony Accurso
5. How Tyranny Becomes Entrenched: 9/11 and the Police State’s Endless Power Grabs, by John & Nisha Whitehead
6. Third Circuit: Where Prosecutor “Flooded” Jury Trial With Evidence of Defendant’s Prior Bad Acts, Counsel Was Constitutionally Ineffective in Not Seeking Contemporaneous Limiting Instructions and Not Objecting When Evidence Went Beyond Limited Purpose –, by Douglas Ankney
7. California Supreme Court Announces Judgment Not Considered Final Under Estrada for Retroactive Application of Amended Gang Enhancement Statute When Conviction Affirmed on Appeal but Sentencing Issues Remain Pending Following Remand, by Sagi Schwartzberg
8. Idaho Supreme Court Announces Warrantless Search of Civilly Committed Individual Violates Fourth Amendment, by Anthony Accurso
9. Ninth Circuit Reaffirms Longstanding Precedent That District Court Cannot Sua Sponte Dismiss Untimely Habeas Corpus Petition Without Giving Petitioner Prior Notice and Opportunity to Respond, by Douglas Ankney
10. California Court of Appeal Reverses Superior Court’s Denial of Motion to Vacate Conviction Where Defendant Established His Failure to Understand the Immigration Consequences of Plea, by Douglas Ankney
11. Maine Supreme Judicial Court Vacates Conviction Based on Confrontation Clause Where Toxicologist Testified About Toxicology Tests Performed by Others, Which SCOTUS Rejected in Smith v. Arizona, by Douglas Ankney
12. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Police Cannot Execute Anticipatory Warrant Absent Triggering Event Regardless of Whether Factual Allegations in Warrant Affidavit Independently Give Rise to Probable Cause to Search, Thereby Providing Greater, by Douglas Ankney
13. Michigan Supreme Court Announces Guidance on Standards for Search Warrants of Cellphones to Satisfy Particularity Requirement of Fourth Amendment That “Reasonably Direct” Search to Uncovering Evidence of Criminal Activity Identified in Warrant, by Anthony Accurso
14. DHS Has Been Quietly Collecting DNA From U.S. Citizens for Years, Funneling It Into FBI’s CODIS Without Oversight, by Jo Ellen Nott
15. Ninth Circuit Holds Untruthful Responses to Questions Government Is Not Permitted to Ask on Visa Application Is Still Fraud if Responses Could Have Influenced Decision to Grant Request for Visa, by Douglas Ankney
16. NYC Murder Convictions Vacated After Withheld Evidence Reveals “Factually Impossible” Coerced Confession, by Jo Ellen Nott
17. Sixth Circuit: Erlinger Error Requires Resentencing Where Government Cannot Prove Beyond Reasonable Doubt That Jury Would Find Prior Offenses Committed on Different “Occasions”, by Anthony Accurso
18. Drones and License Plate Readers: Police Creating Warrantless Aerial Surveillance Networks, by Jo Ellen Nott
19. NEWS IN BRIEF

More from Douglas Ankney:

• 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
• Idaho Legislature Moves to Hide Execution Protocol from Judicial Scrutiny, Sept. 1, 2026
• New Jersey Court Rules That Denial of Transgender Prisoner’s Transfer Request Violates Neither Discrimination Law nor Equal Protection Clause, Sept. 1, 2026
• Federal Court Upholds Consultants’ Finding that Oklahoma Is Not Honoring Its Consent Decree to Provide Mental Health Treatment, Sept. 1, 2026
• BOP Denies Providing Substandard Dialysis Treatment Despite Prisoners’ Deaths, Court Filings, Understaffing and Lack of Oversight, Sept. 1, 2026
• New Jersey Supreme Court Orders Plenary Hearing Before Special Adjudicator on Reliability of Fingerprint Evidence, Holding Century of Judicial Acceptance Did Not Satisfy Trial Court’s Gatekeeping Obligation Under N.J.R.E. 702, Aug. 1, 2026
• En Banc Eleventh Circuit Announces All Parents, Including Those Convicted of Child-Sex Offenses, Enjoy Fundamental Right to Live With Their Children, Holding Alabama Residency Prohibition Subject to Strict Scrutiny, Aug. 1, 2026
• Seventh Circuit Announces Courts May Examine Individual Officer’s Subjective Purpose When Assessing Whether Warrantless Administrative Inspection Was Pretextual, Holding Suppression Required Where Trooper’s Sole Motive for Stop Was Criminal Investigati, Aug. 1, 2026

More from these topics:

• Last of 11 Guards Sentenced in Death of New York Prisoner, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), False Statements/Perjury, Obstruction of Justice.
• 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.
• San Diego Guard Sentenced for Shoving a Shackled Detainee, Aug. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, False Statements/Perjury, Wrongful Use of Force.
• 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.
• ICE Stops Reporting Deaths of Recently Released Detainees, July 1, 2026. Misconduct/Corruption, Medical, Conditions of Confinement, Immigration Law/Offenses, Civil Rights Actions or Offenses/Bivens Actions.
• Rikers Island Captain Nicknamed “Terror of the Tombs” Indicted for Extortion, Wage Theft, July 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Threats by Staff, DOC/BOP misconduct, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Fraud and Deceit.
• Louisiana Supreme Court Declares Unconstitutional Statute Stripping Courts of Authority to Order Payment of Indigent Defense Expert Funds, Holding the Law Infringes on Judiciary’s Constitutionally Granted Jurisdiction Over Felony Cases, July 1, 2026. Indigent Defense, Constitution, state, Discretionary/Inherent Powers, Indigent Defendants - Fees and Expenses, Authority and Jurisdiction.
• Fourth Circuit Announces ICE’s Execution of a Removal Warrant Following a Final Removal Order Does Not Constitute a “Pending Proceeding” Under 18 U.S.C. § 1505, Vacating Noncitizen’s Obstruction Conviction in Issue of First Impression, June 1, 2026. Deportation/Removal/Exclusion, Obstruction of Justice, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Authority and Jurisdiction.
• Auditor Demands Private Prison Company Pay $7.4 Million to Mississippi, June 1, 2026. Management and Training Corporation, Contractor Misconduct, Staffing, Fraud and Deceit.
• Arkansas Supreme Court Bows to Governor’s Board of Correction Takeover, June 1, 2026. Government Misconduct, Cost of Prison Systems, Settlements, State Legislation, Authority and Jurisdiction.