by David M. Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held a district court erred in failing to grant an evidentiary hearing on a claim that counsel rendered ineffective assistance by advising him to reject a favorable plea agreement without having reviewed the case file.
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by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Court of Ohio held that when trial counsel fails to request a waiver of costs on behalf of a defendant who has previously been found indigent, the reviewing court must make a prejudice determination under the ineffective assistance of counsel analysis.
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by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Court of Michigan held a trial court erred in denying a defendant’s request for a self-defense instruction on the basis that a defendant who claims another person committed the homicide is not entitled to a self-defense instruction. It also held it …
by David M. Reutter
The admission of expert opinion based on science is powerful evidence that is supposed to assist the jury in determining the truth surrounding an event. When a flawed opinion comes into play, the scales of justice become tilted.
Those scales were titled when …
by David M. Reutter
More light must be shed on the plea-bargaining process, concludes a law review article published by Texas A&M University School of Law.
Transparent data is needed to “promote negotiation effectiveness, competence in representation, and procedural justice.”
The article was written by …
by David M. Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated the sentences imposed via plea agreements of two defendants due to errors regarding the mandatory minimum sentences they would have faced. The Court held that their prior state convictions were not prior drug convictions …
by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Court of Iowa reversed a motion court’s denial of a motion to suppress. The Court held a police officer failed to develop a reasonable suspicion of other criminal activity before unreasonably prolonging a traffic stop.
Johnson County Sheriff Office Deputy Cody …
by David M. Reutter
A Texas judge, Ramona Franklin, declared Otis Mallet “actually innocent” of selling crack cocaine to a Houston police officer, saying “What a miscarriage of justice we have all witnessed with your case, Mr. Mallet.”
That finding may be the tip of the iceberg …
by David M. Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held the search of a home listed as the residence of a parolee was legal despite the fact the parolee no longer lived at the residence. The Court further found the conditions of supervised release …
by David M. Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that an attorney rendered ineffective assistance of counsel by advising the defendant that the crime to which he was pleading guilty carried a “mere possibility” of deportation when, in fact, it carried mandatory deportation.
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