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 ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Minnesota held that Minn. Stat. § 609.749(2)(6) (“stalking by mail”) and Minn. Stat. § 609.695(1)(3) (“mail harassment”) are facially overbroad. Juvenile defendant “A.J.B.” was convicted of stalking by mail and mail harassment stemming from a series of vicious “tweets” he simultaneously sent to ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts suppressed illegally obtained CSLI, ruling that the Commonwealth failed to meet its burden under the Fourth Amendment of proving police did not exploit the illegally obtained evidence to obtain the defendant’s consent to search.
After Josener Dorisca was indicted for ...
by Douglas Ankney
Snohomish County, Washington, agreed to pay Michelle Vincent $1 million to settle her claim that the county killed her husband Michael with a chemical cloud.
On April 21, 2011, Sergeant Rogers of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department (“SCSD”) led Deputies Chad Humphries, Michael Valfeados, and Michael Sutherland ...
by Douglas Ankney
A new study published by a team from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (“LLNL”) in California concludes their method of proteomics sequencing of short, single strands of hair will revolutionize the forensic criminalistic science of the future.
“Protein-based human identification has the potential to be a powerful ...
by Douglas Ankney
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney Craig Stedman spent more than $21,000 of drug forfeiture money to lease a 2016 Toyota Highlander. After Stedman was ordered to release records of hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional expenditures from “drug-related” forfeitures, he appealed to the Court of Common ...
