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 ...
by David M. Reutter
The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that in giving advice of rights police officers must use methods that reasonably convey the warnings and rights contained in Maryland’s implied consent statute. The Court’s ruling discusses whether reading a form in English to a driver with limited English ...
by David M. Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a defendant was entitled to withdraw his guilty plea because he had a plausible defense in light of Rehaif v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 2191 (2019).
Robert Triggs was indicted in May 2016 ...
by David M. Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that 18 U.S.C. § 3013 provides for an assessment to be applied on a per-offender basis, not a per-count basis.
Before the Court was the appeal of Paul Haverkamp. He exchanged over 400 messages on the ...
by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Court of Georgia held a habeas corpus petitioner was denied the effective assistance of counsel due to counsel’s failure to advise him of his absolute statutory right to withdraw his guilty plea prior to sentencing.
Morocco Jacobi Wilkey was indicted in 2014 for possession ...
by David M. Reutter
he Supreme Court of Colorado held that the “plea provisio [in Colo Rev. Stat. § 18-1-409(1) (2019)] does not preclude an appeal related to the manner in which the sentence was imposed, including the sufficiency and accuracy of the information on which the sentence was imposed.” ...
by David M. Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit granted conditional habeas corpus relief to a Michigan prisoner who alleged that the use of shackles upon him during trial was unconstitutional and prejudiced his guilt determination. The majority of the Court’s opinion focused on the proper ...
by David M. Reutter
In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Michigan held “that MCR 6.302(B)(2) requires the trial court, in cases where such advice is relevant, to advise a defendant of its discretionary consecutive-sentencing authority and possible consequences of that authority for defendant’s sentence.”
The Court’s ...
by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Court of South Carolina dismissed the State’s appeal of a guilty plea and affirmed denial of motions to reconsider the sentence for recusal of the trial court.
The Court’s order came in an appeal the State brought in the prosecution of Rick Quinn, Jr. ...
by David M. Reutter
As governments act to contain COVID-19, tracing persons who have come in contact with infected persons is at the forefront of the move to contain the disease’s spread. Tracing people via location surveillance may prove to be an effective tool, but at what cost?
The Electronic ...