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Articles by Anthony Accurso

Carpenter Slowly Remaking Fourth Amendment Case Law

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in 2018, which has been slowly changing the way courts interpret the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in our era of mobile technology — and impacting the day-to-day investigative efforts of police.

In Carpenter v. United States, ...

California Supreme Court Announces Sentencing Law Changes Apply Until Revocation Sentence Becomes Final

The Supreme Court of California announced an extension of its prior rule of when to allow application of an amended sentencing statute, such that it may be applied to a defendant’s sentence still under appeal even though that sentence resulted when his probation was revoked.

In November ...

Fifth Circuit: Defendant Lacked Culpability in Attempting to Export Ammunition by Merely Purchasing It

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a district court clearly erred in assigning a defendant a three-level enhancement for attempting to export ammunition when he had purchased the ammunition but was yet to take further steps toward its export.

Rodolfo Rodriguez-Leos was ...

Illinois Supreme Court: Failing to Stipulate Felon Status Allowing Jury to Hear About Murder Conviction Constitutes IAC

The Supreme Court of the State of Illinois reversed a defendant’s conviction because his attorney failed to stipulate his felon status at trial, and the jury was likely prejudiced by knowing his previous conviction was for murder.

Leslie Moore was pulled over in Joliet, Illinois, because he ...

Interpreting Emojis as Court Evidence

Emojis on cellphones and other digital devices have advanced their popularity as a way to express emotion. It should be no surprise then that their ubiquity has brought them into court cases. However, the accepted meanings of the emojis has not caught up to their ubiquity. Enter ...

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Clarifies Standards for Exit Order and Patfrisk

The Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts affirmed the suppression of evidence resulting from a patfrisk that was conducted after the defendant had exited his vehicle unprompted by police, and twice looked back into it during his encounter with officers.

Manuel Torres-Pagan (“Torres”) was pulled ...

First Circuit: Securing a Weapon Not Used in Offense Is Not Exigent Circumstance Permitting Warrantless Entry and Search of Suspect’s Home

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed a district court’s order denying a defendant’s motion to suppress on the basis that exigent circumstances did not exist solely because officers wanted to secure the defendant’s service weapon, absent the weapon’s proximate use to the crime ...

California Supreme Court: Refusing to Testify Insufficient to Constitute Accessory After the Fact

The Supreme Court of California held that a defendant with alleged knowledge of a crime cannot be prosecuted under Penal Code § 32 as an accessory after the fact to the crime for refusing to testify when presented with a valid subpoena.

In 2006, Starletta Partee allowed ...

Seventh Circuit Vacates Sentence for Failure to Explain Extreme Departure of Guidelines Range

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated a defendant’s sentence because the district court failed to explain its reasoning for a 160 percent upward departure on remand where the original sentence involved only a 10 percent upward departure.

Jesse J. Ballard pleaded guilty to ...

Wyoming Supreme Court Finds IAC Where Counsel Failed to Challenge Prolonging of Traffic Stop After Citation Completed

The Supreme Court of Wyoming held that a defendant’s counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the extension of the traffic stop that eventually uncovered evidence resulting in his conviction on multiple drug-related charges.

On July 10, 2017, Deputy Kyle Borgialli received notification from DCI agents regarding ...

 

 

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