Articles by David Kim
by David Kim
The Supreme Court of the United States held that a criminal defendant’s agreement not to appeal a sentence is unenforceable when enforcement would produce a miscarriage of justice. Defining the threshold, the Court stated that a waiver may be set aside only where the sentence …
by David Kim
The Supreme Court of Illinois unanimously held that issue preclusion under both Illinois common law and § 3-4(b)(2) of the Criminal Code of 2012 affords criminal defendants protections surpassing those guaranteed by the federal Double Jeopardy Clause. The Court rejected the State’s contention that Currier …
by David Kim
The Supreme Court of the United States held that the Mississippi Supreme Court unreasonably applied Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), and unreasonably determined that a capital defendant waived his opportunity to rebut the prosecutor’s asserted race-neutral reasons for peremptory strikes against four Black …
by David Kim
The Supreme Court of Hawai’i unanimously held that a circuit court erred by failing to consider the factors listed in Hawai’i Pattern Jury Instructions – Criminal (“HAWJIC”) 3.19A and the effect of suggestiveness on reliability when it denied a defendant’s motion to suppress a field …
by David Kim
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated the defendant’s sentence and remanded for full resentencing following his guilty plea to illegal receipt of a trafficked firearm, holding that the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut committed plain error by …
by David Kim
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that when the presence of a racially biased juror is discovered, or a juror is found to have made a racially biased statement, but the juror is excused before the trial court accepts a …
by David Kim
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of California held that Penal Code § 1172.6, subdivision (a)(3), which requires resentencing petitioners to allege they “could not presently be convicted of murder or attempted murder because of changes to Section 188 or 189 made effective January …
by David Kim
The Supreme Court of South Carolina unanimously held that results of the penile plethysmography test (“PPG”) are inadmissible in judicial proceedings “unless and until the science underlying the PPG becomes more fully developed and uniform,” reasoning that the pervasive lack of standardization in administering and …
by David Kim
The Supreme Court of New Jersey unanimously held that historical cell site location information (“CSLI”) may not be presented to a jury through a lay witness. Instead, because CSLI carries probative force only when the jury understands how cell towers and cellphones interact, the Court …
by David Kim
A man is arrested late on a Friday night and held overnight. By morning, detectives are ready to talk. He slept a few hours in the holding cell. He has not been awake for 24 straight hours. No one denied him food or water. At …
