by David Kim
The Supreme Court of the United States held that Congress did not clearly authorize convictions under both 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i), the base offense for using, carrying, or possessing a firearm during a federal crime of violence or drug trafficking offense, and § 924(j), which …
by David Kim
Sitting en banc, the Supreme Court of Washington unanimously held that courts are not precluded from considering race and ethnicity when determining whether a suspect is in custody for purposes of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). The Court reasoned that such factors constitute …
by David Kim
The Supreme Court of Georgia clarified that the diligence requirement for extraordinary motions for new trial operates differently when such motions rest on scientific developments rather than physical evidence or eyewitness testimony. Because the materiality of scientific advancements often becomes apparent only after new theories …
by David Kim
The Supreme Court of California granted review to resolve a split among the Courts of Appeal concerning court-ordered financial obligations imposed at criminal sentencing. The Court held that a challenge to the amount of a punitive criminal fine should be reviewed in the first instance …
by David Kim
The Court of Appeal of California, Fourth Appellate District, unanimously reversed a second-degree murder conviction, holding that when a suspect invokes the right to counsel during a Perkins operation (an undercover tactic in which law enforcement operatives pose as fellow detainees to elicit information from …
by David Kim
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that expert testimony regarding the manner of a decedent’s death must be stated to a reasonable degree of certainty in order to be admissible – the identical standard governing all other expert opinion testimony. The …
by David Kim
The Supreme Court of the United States unanimously held that restitution imposed under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996 (“MVRA”) constitutes criminal punishment for purposes of the Ex Post Facto Clause. The Court reversed the Eighth Circuit’s contrary conclusion, reasoning that the statutory text …
by David Kim
The Supreme Court of California unanimously held that the rule established in People v. Vargas, 328 P.3d 1020 (Cal. 2014), requiring a trial court to dismiss one strike when two prior strike convictions arise from a single criminal act, applies equally when the defendant’s single …
by David Kim
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that the reasonableness of global positioning system (“GPS”) monitoring as a condition of probation depends in part on its duration, and thus a judge conducting the individualized determination required by Commonwealth v. Feliz, 119 N.E.3d 700 (Mass. 2019), …
by David Kim
The California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, ruled that trial courts possess inherent authority to correct unauthorized sentences whenever the issue is presented, regardless of whether the original judgment has become final or been affirmed on appeal. The Court rejected the trial court’s conclusion …
