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Articles by Douglas Ankney

Wisconsin Supreme Court Holds That Statute Doesn’t Require Habeas Petitioner to Plead Timeliness, Overruling Smalley v. Morgan

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. ...

Fifth Circuit: Confrontation Clause Violated When Officer’s Testimony Relates Incriminating Information Received From Non-Testifying Informant

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 ...

Ninth Circuit: Running From Police Alone Doesn’t Give Rise to Reasonable Suspicion Justifying Stop and Frisk

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 ...

Georgia Supreme Court Announces New Evidence Code Abrogates Categorical Exclusionary Rule of Mallory

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 ...

Private Citizens Carrying Guns Commit Fewer Crimes Than Cops

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 ...

Massachusetts Supreme Court: Discharge From Civil Commitment 
Required When Examiners Conclude Defendant Is Not Sexually Dangerous

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 ...

West Virginia Supreme Court Announces Parole Eligibility Statute for Prisoners Who Committed Crimes as Minors is Retroactive

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 ...

California Supreme Court: Prop 47 Requires Dismissal of Conviction Based on a Predicate Felony That Is Later Reduced to a Misdemeanor

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. ...

Hawai’i Supreme Court Remands for Resentencing Where Circuit Court Considered Defendant’s Refusal to Admit Guilt in Imposing Consecutive Sentences

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 ...

Maryland Court of Appeals Rules That Courts Must Ask Non Compound ‘Strong Feelings’ Question Upon Request During Voir Dire

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 ...

 

 

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