by Douglas Ankney
In a case of first impression in the Supreme Court of Washington, the Court, sitting en banc, adopted the federal standard enunciated in Lawrence v. Florida, 549 U.S. 327 (2007), and held that the misconduct of a petitioner’s own attorney in a habeas …
by Douglas Ankney
Today’s RoboCops are not armed predators (yet), but they read license plates, track cellphones, and report “suspicious” persons. According to the Electronic Freedom Frontier, companies like Boston Dynamics and Knightscope market robots to law enforcement. About 100 robots from Knightscope are deployed in America’s shopping …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging Idaho’s Sexual Offender Registration Notification and Community Right-to-Know Act, Idaho Code § 18-8301 et seq. (“SORA”).
In July 1993, Idaho …
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, held that a trial court abused its discretion by denying Rene Avila’s motion to strike prior convictions pursuant to People v. Superior Court (Romero), 917 P.2d 628 (Cal. 1996), (“Romero Motion”). The Court …
by Douglas Ankney
The California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, vacated the denial of Patrick Sean O’Hearn’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea after concluding that defense counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate O’Hearn’s mental health history.
In October 2018, police responded to two elderly …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Michigan held that police must limit a search of digital data from a cellphone in a manner reasonably directed to uncover evidence of the specified criminal activity alleged in the warrant.
On August 6, 2016, Lisa Weber agreed to stay …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of North Carolina held that a superior court abused its discretion when it flatly prohibited the defense’s questions during voir dire regarding racial bias and bias related to the shooting of Black men by police.
Police arrived at a parking garage …
by Douglas Ankney
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (“TCCA”) held that permitting a witness to testify via two-way video based on reasons that did not further an important public policy violated the rights of James Ray Haggard under the Confrontation Clause.
Haggard was tried on charges …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a district judge may not delegate to a probation officer the decision to require inpatient, rather than outpatient, treatment because of the liberty interests at stake.
Abran Martinez tested positive for cocaine use …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Nevada held that a district court abused its discretion when denying Jack Paul Banka’s motion to withdraw his Alford plea (North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970)) where Banka wasn’t informed that his conviction carried a mandatory minimum …
