by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the issue of whether an accused person’s waiver of his Miranda rights was knowing and intelligent is a separate and distinct inquiry from the issue of whether the statement was voluntary.
Jeremy Outland was arrested for ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the Sentencing Commission’s policy statement in U.S. Sentencing Guidelines § 1B1.13 is inapplicable to a prisoner’s own motion for compassionate release filed under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i).
Francesk Shkambi filed a motion in the U.S. District ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Illinois affirmed a decision of the appellate court that ruled a motion to suppress inculpatory statements should have been granted where statements were given after police prolonged a traffic stop to investigate offenses unrelated to the purpose of the traffic stop.
Cordell Bass ...
by Douglas Ankney
In recent months, Baltimore and St. Louis city officials voted unanimously to spare their residents from further invasions of their privacy by terminating a “panoptic aerial surveillance system” that was designed to protect soldiers on the battlefield.
From April to October 2020, Baltimore residents were subjected to ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of West Virginia held that an Emergency Protective Order (“EPO”) issued pursuant to West Virginia Code § 48-27-403 (2006) (“EPO Statute”) is not a de facto search warrant.
Jeffery Alan Snyder’s ex-wife petitioned ex parte for an EPO against him. The magistrate court issued ...
by Douglas Ankney
Since the Supreme Court decided Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), the idea has been that death sentences are reserved for only those murders committed by the worst of the worst killers. But in August 1991, Charles Burton helped five other men rob an AutoZone ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ordered a new trial and invoked its rarely used power to assign the case to a different judge where defendants were denied a meaningful opportunity to prove juror bias due to the district judge’s mishandling of the case. ...
by Douglas Ankney
Larry Krasner is Philadelphia’s well-known progressive and reform-minded District Attorney. He was elected in 2017, promising he would work toward ending mass incarceration and radically change the way Philadelphia’s criminal justice system handles crime, substance abuse issues, and mental health. Since taking office, Krasner has pushed for ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Minnesota clarified the meaning of “mentally incapacitated” as used in Minn. Stat. § 609.341, subdivision 7 (2020).
A jury convicted Francios Momolu Khalil of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a mentally incapacitated or physically helpless complainant in violation of § 609.344, subdivision 1(d) ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that a second handshake that was “more deliberate” and longer in duration than an earlier handshake failed to provide officers reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigative stop pursuant to Terry v Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) (“ ...
