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Articles by Jacob Barrett

Seventh Circuit: State Court Decision Not Entitled to AEDPA Deference Due to Incorrect Legal Standard, Pro Se Habeas Petition Granted Based on Trial Counsel’s Failure to Present Expert Witness on Determinative Issue of Guilt Resulting in IAC

by Jacob Berrett

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana’s order granting Dewayne A. Dunn’s petition for habeas corpus based upon ineffective assistance of counsel and prejudice where trial counsel failed to consult a forensic pathologist in ...

New Jersey Supreme Court: Edwards Violation When Police Fail to Cease Interrogation After Suspect Makes Ambiguous Invocation of Right to Counsel and ‘Initiates’ Request for Further Communication with Police

by Jacob Barrett

The Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled that under the Edwards rule the defendant did not “initiate” further communications with police officers at the conclusion of an unlawful interrogation, so all evidence obtained during the subsequent interrogation must be suppressed.

In February 2014, Abayuba Rivas reported to ...

California Court of Appeal: Kill-Zone Theory Principles Articulated in Canizales Are Retroactive to Judgments That Were Final at Time of Decision

by Jacob Barrett

The Court of Appeal of California, Fourth Appellate District, reiterated the kill zone theory principles set forth by the California Supreme Court in People v. Canizales, 442 P.3d 686 (Cal. 2019), and held that Canizales applies retroactively to judgments that were final at the time Canizales ...

Theft of Public Funds or Accounting Incompetence? Kansas Police Agencies Can’t Accurately Track Property Forfeitures

by Jacob Barrett

In 2019, Kansas enacted a law that requires police agencies to accurately track and report amounts seized from property forfeitures — known as civil asset forfeiture. As of 2022, more than half of the police agencies have failed to do so.

Under the law, the Kansas Bureau ...

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Criminal Record Alone Does Not Justify Patfrisk, Gun Discovered in Waistband Suppressed

by Jacob Barrett

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts upheld a Superior Court’s order granting a motion to suppress a firearm that was discovered during an unlawful patfrisk because the motorist’s criminal record together with his behavior during the traffic stop did not create a reasonable suspicion that he was ...

Washington Supreme Court Announces Race and Ethnicity Are Relevant Factors in Analysis of Whether Someone Has Been ‘Seized’

by Jacob Barrett

In a case of first impression in Washington, the Supreme Court of Washington clarified its seizure analysis by expressly holding that race and ethnicity are relevant factors in determining whether a person has been seized.

In April 2019, Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Rickerson was on patrol ...

First Circuit Announces Courts May Consider First Step Act’s Non-Retroactive Changes to Sentencing Law in Determining Whether ‘Extraordinary and Compelling’ Reason Exists for Compassionate Release in Prisoner-Initiated Motion

by Jacob Barrett

In a case of first impression in the
circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that District Courts adjudicating a prisoner-initiated motion for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i) are not bound by the Sentencing Commission’s current policy statement in U.S. Sentencing ...

Louisiana Supreme Court Announces Conviction of Lesser Included Offense Subsequently Vacated as Unconstitutional Constitutes Implied Acquittal of Higher Charge; Double Jeopardy Bars Retrial on Higher Charge

by Jacob Barrett

In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Louisiana held double jeopardy bars the reinstatement and retrial of a defendant on a higher charge when he has been lawfully convicted of a lesser included offense, even though the conviction was later vacated, and further held ...

Prosecutorial Misconduct Cause of More Than 550 Death Penalty Reversals and Exonerations

by Jacob Barrett

A study by the Death Penalty Information Center (“DPIC”) found more than 550 death penalty reversals and exonerations were the result of extensive prosecutorial misconduct. DPIC reviewed and identified cases since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned existing death penalty laws in 1972. That amounted to over 5.6% ...

Seventh Circuit: Indiana Statute on Dealing Methamphetamine Facially Overbroad and Does Not Qualify as Aggravated Felony for Immigration Purposes

by Jacob Barrett

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) to remove Jonathan Aguirre-Zuniga for a conviction for dealing methamphetamine under Indiana code § 35-48-4-1.1, holding it did not qualify as an aggravated felony for the purpose of ...

 

 

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