by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that when officers unlawfully issue an order commanding a suspect to exit a vehicle, any evidence obtained from the subsequent search should be suppressed.
Boston police received information from an unidentified informant that a green Volvo station wagon containing a ...
by Douglas Ankney
In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Alaska announced that when a trial court forces a defendant to testify at his or her trial, it is a structural error not subject to harmless error analysis but always requires reversal.
Paino Manuel Alvarez-Perdomo was tried ...
by Douglas Ankney
On December 16, 2019, the Supreme Court of Colorado clarified and modified the analytical framework courts are to follow when conducting proportionality reviews of sentences in general and habitual offender sentences in particular.
Belinda May Wells-Yates was found guilty of second-degree burglary, theft, possession with intent to ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Hawai’i held that the restraint necessary to support a kidnapping conviction under Hawai’i Revised Statutes (“HRS”) § 707-720(1)(d) must be restraint that is “in excess of any restraint incidental to the infliction or intended infliction of bodily injury or subjection or intended subjection ...
by Douglas Ankney
More than 100 criminal cases in Louisiana’s Iberia Parish have been thrown out due to a federal investigation into Sheriff Louis Ackal’s reign.
And now hundreds more may also get the boot. First Assistant District Attorney Robert Vines sent “Brady letters” (named after Brady v. Maryland ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated the conviction of Bryan Moran because his sister, Alysha, had neither actual nor apparent authority to consent to a search of several closed, opaque, black plastic garbage bags he had placed in Alysha’s storage unit. Bryan had ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of South Carolina granted a new trial to Oscar Fortune after the Court determined Fortune’s due process rights were violated by prejudicial remarks from the prosecutor during closing argument.
At Fortune’s murder trial, evidence was presented that both Fortune and victim Anthony Shields possessed ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that an attorney’s failure to investigate the properties of methylone after the pre-sentence report (“PSR”) stated the drug was analogous to methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (“MDMA” or “ecstasy”) constituted ineffective assistance of counsel.
While Peter Sepling was on bond awaiting ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeals of New York ruled that police officers may be questioned about prior acts of dishonesty, subject to the trial court’s discretion, just like any other witness.
In August 2013, a person fired a single gunshot at a group of teenagers on a street ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Georgia clarified that a criminal defendant need not “admit” anything — in the sense of acknowledging that any facts alleged in the charges against him are true — in order to raise an affirmative defense.
Carlos Richard McClure was found guilty of violating ...
