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 Jo Ellen Nott:

• Florida Kills Two Prisoners on Same Day, Both Elderly, Sept. 1, 2026
• $75 Million CoreCivic Contract to Reopen Minnesota Private Prison Creates Resistance from Activists and Lawmakers, Sept. 1, 2026
• Isolation and Medical Neglect at Illinois’ Joliet Treatment Center Drive Prisoners to Set Fatal Fires, Sept. 1, 2026
• Michigan DOC Legal Payouts Top $7 Million in FY 2025, Less than One Percent of $2.15 Billion Operating Budget, Sept. 1, 2026
• Ohio Finds Guards and Medical Staff Failed to Render Life-Saving CPR to Detainee, Sept. 1, 2026
• Troubled Illinois Lockup Sees Guard Abuses, Prisoners on Hunger Strike, Sept. 1, 2026
• New Commission to Investigate Death and Abuse of 230 Black Children at Segregated Maryland Reformatory, Sept. 1, 2026
• Four Massachusetts Guards Face Charges for Assault on Prisoners During Brawl, Sept. 1, 2026
• Wave of Staff Arrests Exposes Persistent Misconduct at South Carolina Jail, Sept. 1, 2026
• BOP Orders Prison Closures Amid Infrastructure Decay and Staff Shortages, Aug. 1, 2026

More from these topics:

• California’s Use of Jailhouse Stings Comes Under Scrutiny, Sept. 1, 2026. Racial/Ethnic Bias/Profiling, False Confessions, After Request for Counsel, Coercive Interrogations, Confessions - Coerced.
• $11 Million Paid by Boston to Exonerated Prisoner for 37-Year Wrongful Incarceration, Sept. 1, 2026. Settlements, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Monell Liability, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence.
• Alaska Supreme Court Announces “Stop and Clarify” Rule Under Article I, Sections 9 and 11 of Alaska Constitution, Holding Officers Must Cease Questioning and Clarify Ambiguous Post-Waiver Request for Counsel, Sept. 1, 2026. Constitution, state, After Request for Counsel, Police Interrogations, Custodial Interrogations, Invocation of Rights.
• Hawaii Supreme Court Announces False Evidence Standard Governs Post-Conviction Claims That Scientific Developments Invalidated Expert Testimony, Holding Prosecution Knowledge Not Required Under State Due Process Clause, Sept. 1, 2026. Forensic Sciences, Constitution, state, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Expert and Opinion Testimony, Scientific Testimony or Evidence.
• Buried in Plain Sight: How Digital Discovery Turns Disclosure Itself Into Concealment, Aug. 15, 2026. Videotaping, Suppression of Identity Evidence, Eyewitness Identification, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence.
• $13 Million Awarded to Exonerated Illinois Prisoner Tortured to Confess by Corrupt Cops, Aug. 1, 2026. Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Certificate of Innocence, False Imprisonment, Confessions - Coerced.
• Louisiana Supreme Court Announces Framework Governing Factual Innocence Claims in First Application of La. C.Cr.P. Art. 926.2, Holding Second-Step Review Encompasses All Relevant Evidence, Aug. 1, 2026. Wrongful Conviction, Forensic Sciences, Actual Innocence/Claim of Innocence, Expert and Opinion Testimony, Scientific Testimony or Evidence.
• 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. New Trial/Judgment of Acquittal, Failure to Disclose, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Brady/Giglio/Jencks Act Issues, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence.
• FBI Approves Rapid DNA Workflow for CODIS, Aug. 1, 2026. DNA Testing/Samples, Databases, Forensic Sciences, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Scientific Testimony or Evidence.
• 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. Forensic Sciences, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Daubert Standards, Fingerprint Evidence, Expert and Opinion Testimony.