by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision that a prosecutor does not enjoy absolute immunity from suit for fabricating evidence during a preliminary investigation.
In November 1999, 14-year-old C.A. was reported missing by Floyd Bledsoe. C.A. was the younger sister ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that the Superior Court abused its discretion when it failed to conduct an evidentiary hearing on a habeas petitioner’s Brady claim and ruled the Appellate Division abused its discretion when it failed to conduct an evidentiary hearing ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Minnesota ruled that forcing a suspect to undergo an anoscopy to retrieve a baggie from his rectum was an unreasonable search even though police had obtained a warrant permitting the procedure.
Guntallwon Karloyea Brown was arrested after an informant made a controlled purchase ...
by Douglas Ankney
Most DNA testing companies will not provide customer data to law enforcement unless there is a lawful court order. But FamilyTreeDNA distinguishes itself by not just permitting police to access its consumer data but also relishes in doing so. In a company ad, the father of kidnapping-victim ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit announced that limitation of 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(1) doesn’t apply to successive § 2255 petitions and ruled that if it is appears more likely than not that the district court relied on the residual clause of 18 USC ...
by Douglas Ankney
When schoolchildren were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, a frequent answer used to be “a policeman.” But apparently that’s no longer true. Sixty-six percent of police departments across the U.S. reported a decline in applications, according to a survey of 400 law ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a district court’s judgment and remanded with instructions to grant a federal prisoner’s 28 U.S.C. § 2241 habeas petition seeking resentencing based on the savings clause of 28 U.S.C. § 2255(e).
In 2009, Deandre Beason pleaded guilty ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts explained the procedures for filing and adjudicating a motion brought under G. L. c. 278A, which allows those convicted access to forensic and scientific testing of evidence that could potentially prove their innocence, and ruled that a defendant convicted of manslaughter ...
by Douglas Ankney
In September 2013, William Roy Boatwright was arrested while exiting a house later discovered to contain 107 pounds of marijuana, 60 pounds of marijuana shake, a vacuum-sealing device, drug paraphernalia, and four grams of methamphetamine. Boatwright told officers he was helping a friend package marijuana inside the ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Board of Supervisors of San Francisco approved a settlement of $13.1 million in a claim brought by a man who had spent more than six years in prison after police framed him for murder. The decision was unanimous.
In 2010, aspiring actor and hip-hop artist Jamal ...