by Dale Chappell
The Supreme Court of Michigan held that a trial judge’s discretion plays no part in appointing an expert witness for a defendant; instead, a defendant must show a “reasonable probability” the expert’s assistance would be needed to prevent a violation of due process. In doing so, the ...
by Dale Chappell
The Supreme Court of Colorado held that amendments to statutes favorable to defendants apply retroactively to non-final convictions, unless the statute contains language that expressly provides it applies only prospectively, resolving a conflict between statutes and its own precedent.
John Stellabotte owned a towing company, illegally towed ...
by Dale Chappell
The New York Court of Appeals reversed a conviction in which an “excited utterance” overheard in the background on a 911 call ostensibly identifying the shooter was used as evidence against a defendant because it could not be established that the person making the utterance personally observed ...
by Dale Chappell
The Supreme Court of Kentucky held that the state statute determining intellectual disability for disallowing imposition of the death penalty was unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment after recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, overturning the death sentence of a man on death row for over 20 years.
Robert ...
by Dale Chappell
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that a defendant’s failure to appear (“FTA”) for trial after the prosecution had already violated its duty to provide a speedy trial did not excuse the prosecution’s violation, requiring dismissal of the charges with prejudice.
Daniel Barbour was charged in two ...
by Dale Chappell
The Supreme Court of Colorado held that the burden of proof in determining whether a person voluntarily consented to a warrantless search is a preponderance of the evidence, rather than the higher clear and convincing evidence standard, thereby clarifying a misapplication by the lower courts over the ...
by Dale Chappell
A Pierce County judge hit the City of Tacoma, Washington, with nearly $300,000 in fines and fees for violating the state’s Public Records Act (“PRA”), when it failed to turn over records on its use of stingray devices.
The court said the city deliberately withheld documents that ...
by Dale Chappell
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that a superseding indictment based on the same conduct as the original indictment does not reset the Sixth Amendment speedy trial clock and affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the charge in the indictment.
In March 2011, ...
by Dale Chappell
Announcing a new rule to protect the constitutional rights of criminal defendants who face both probation revocation and new criminal charges, the Nevada Supreme Court held that testimony and evidence from a probation revocation hearing cannot be used against a criminal defendant at a later criminal proceeding, ...
by Dale Chappell
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that a “generic appeal waiver does not affect a defendant’s ability to appeal his sentence on yet-to-arise ineffective-assistance-of-counsel grounds.”
An unnamed defendant in a sealed case signed a plea agreement, on counsel’s advice, that included a generic ...
