by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Court of Kansas held that when an appellate court determines a district court abuses its discretion by applying the wrong legal standard to its consideration of a plea withdrawal prior to sentencing, the correct disposition is to remand to the district court to ensure ...
by David M. Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held Private Probation Services, Inc., (“PPS”) acted in a quasi-judicial capacity by making sentencing decisions and that it was not impartial because its revenue depended on whether and how it made those decisions. The Court further held ...
by David M. Reutter
More can be done to enhance the documentation and transparency in plea bargaining, argues Jenia I. Turner’s article in the Notre Dame Law Review. The article reviewed the plea bargaining laws and practices in the U.S. It also proposed “concrete areas in which transparency can ...
by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Court of Washington held a prosecutor committed flagrant and ill-intentioned misconduct by framing a defendant’s prosecution as representative of the war on drugs.
The Court’s opinion was issued in an appeal brought by Gregg A. Loughbom. He was convicted by a jury in October ...
by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts vacated a defendant’s guilty plea to a sentencing enhancement as involuntarily entered. In doing so, the Court held that “where a defendant makes a good faith claim that a deliberating juror reported that racial bias infected the jury’s deliberations, a ...
by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Court of Arizona held that the Court of Appeals “erred by effectively eliminating a defendant’s right to appeal a probation revocation sentence consistent with a plea agreement stipulation.”
The Court’s August 12, 2020, opinion was issued in an appeal by Demitres Robertson. She was ...
by David M. Reutter
The Court of Appeals of Maryland answered four questions concerning the application of the Justice Reinvestment Act (“JRA”). The Court’s August 24, 2020, order focused on whether defendants whose convictions were based on plea agreements and waived the right to seek modification of their sentence under ...
by David M. Reutter
When Chris Nocco was appointed sheriff of Florida’s Pasco County, he said the agency would be “proactive” in reducing property crimes. His intelligence-led policing model would use data to predict where future crimes would take place and who would be likely to commit them. An investigation ...
by David M. Reutter
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that Michigan courts unreasonably applied clearly established federal law by allowing a defendant’s appellate counsel to withdraw and failing to appoint replacement counsel. The Court ordered a new first-tier appeal in Michigan courts.
The Court’s ...
by David M. Reutter
"Plea bargaining happens in almost every criminal case, yet there is little empirical study about what actually happens when prosecutors and defense lawyers negotiate,” begins a new study in the Cardozo Law Review. That study, “The Shadow Bargainers,” used the responses of 579 attorneys to ...
