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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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% ...
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 ...
