by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Wisconsin held that neither Wisconsin Statute (“Wis. Stat”) § (Rule) 809.51 nor principles of equity impose a “prompt and speedy” pleading requirement in a habeas petition. In so doing, the Court overruled State ex rel. Smalley v. Morgan, 565 N.W.2d 805 (Ct. ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that when a testifying officer relates the statement of a non-testifying confidential informant that facially incriminates a defendant, it violates the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him.
Coy Marshall Jones was arrested on May ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that running from police, by itself, does not provide reasonable suspicion to justify stopping and frisking the person.
Sandra Katowitz — an employee of the YWCA in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington — called 911 and ...
by Douglas Ankney
On May 6, 2019, the Supreme Court of Georgia held that the categorical exclusionary rule first announced in Mallory v. State, 409 S.E.2d 839 (Ga. 1991), is no longer the law in Georgia because the rule was abrogated by the “new” evidence code that took ...
by Douglas Ankney
According to a study by the Crime Prevention and Research Center (“CPRC”), citizens with a permit to carry a concealed weapon “are convicted of misdemeanors and felonies at less than a sixth of the rate for police officers.” John R. Lott, Jr., president of CPRC, said.
“With ...
by Douglas Ankney
Following convictions for two counts of rape of a child in 1977, Wayne Chapman was sentenced to prison for a term of 15 to 30 years. But later that same year, Chapman was found to be a sexually dangerous person and committed to the Massachusetts Treatment Center ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of West Virginia announced that the provision of the Juvenile Sentencing Reform Act of 2014 that applies to parole eligibility for persons who committed crimes when they were less than 18 years of age is to be applied retroactively.
Sixteen-year-old Christopher J. sexually abused ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of California ruled that when the felony underlying a conviction for “street terrorism” is later reduced to a misdemeanor, then the street terrorism conviction must be vacated and the charge dismissed.
In 2013, Luis Donicio Valenzuela and his associate Timothy Medina confronted Mannie Ramirez. ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Hawai’i remanded for resentencing in a case where the circuit court based the sentence, in part, on the defendant’s refusal to admit guilt.
In 2015, Ronald Melvin Barnes was convicted by a jury of four counts of first-degree sexual assault against a minor ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeals of Maryland reaffirmed that, upon request, trial courts must ask non-compound “strong feelings question” of potential jurors during voir dire in the following form: “Do any of you have strong feelings about [crime with which defendant is charged]?”
During voir dire in Gordon ...
