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:

• Sixth Circuit Holds Kentucky Deficient-Counsel Belated-Appeal Procedure Tolls Federal Habeas One-Year Limitations Period, Sept. 1, 2026. Limitations, Habeas Corpus, AEDPA, Failure to Preserve Challenge, Tolling of Statutes of Limitations and Laches.
• Louisiana Supreme Court Announces Strickland Governs Collateral Claims That Defense Counsel Prevented Defendant From Testifying, May 1, 2026. Fourteenth Amendment, rights, Strickland Standard, Failure to Address/Advise Defendant, Grounds for Relief, Right to Testify/Remain Silent.
• Oregon Supreme Court Announces Trial Courts Must Give Complete Oral Final Jury Instructions at Conclusion of Trial, Preliminary Instructions Cannot Substitute for the ORCP 59 B Charge, May 1, 2026. Jury Instructions, Jury Instructions in Jury Room, Grounds for Relief, Denial of Due Process, Right to Testify/Remain Silent.
• New Jersey Supreme Court Reverses Drug Convictions Under Cumulative Error Doctrine, Holding Combined Effect of Improper References to Television Series, Gun Violence, and Search Warrants Deprived Defendant of Fair Trial, March 1, 2026. Background Evidence, Prejudice - Potential for Undue, Bad Acts Evidence, Improper Comments, Plain Error.
• Second Circuit Holds Exclusion of Evidence Corroborating Defendant’s Testimony About Third-Party Statements Bearing on Intent Was Error, Clarifying That Rule 404(b) Does Not Bar Non-Propensity Evidence Offered to Support Credibility, March 1, 2026. Evidentiary Claims, Abuse of Discretion Standard, Motive/Opportunity/Intent/Identity Evidence, Character/Reputation/Propensity, Plain/Harmless Error.
• Washington Supreme Court Holds Courts Must Meaningfully Consider Youth When Assessing Miranda Waiver and Clarifies That Res Gestae Exception Requires Temporal Proximity to Charged Crime, Feb. 1, 2026. Police Interrogations, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders, Bad Acts Evidence, Custodial Interrogations, Denial of Due Process.
• Aphantasia: Why Truthful Witnesses Can Sound Like Liars, Jan. 1, 2026. Jury Instructions, False Statements/Perjury, Self-Authentication, Voir Dire, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Eyewitness Identification, Character/Reputation/Propensity.
• 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, Dec. 15, 2025. Public Defenders, Indigent Defense, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Strickland Standard.
• 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.
• Kansas Supreme Court: Trial Court Erred by Admitting Evidence of Prior Crimes Without Proper Foundation Because State Failed to Prove Defendant Committed Those Crimes, Nov. 15, 2025. Lack of Evidence, Motive/Opportunity/Intent/Identity Evidence, Prejudice - Potential for Undue, Character/Reputation/Propensity, Bad Acts Evidence.