by Mark Wilson
The Supreme Court of Montana held that a municipal court violated state and federal double jeopardy prohibitions when it declared a mistrial and ordered a new trial.
James Joseph Huertas was charged in Billings Municipal Court with Partner or Family Member Assault (“PFMA”). The victim was identified ...
by Mark Wilson
The Supreme Court of Oregon held that expert testimony about “grooming” children for subsequent sexual abuse is “scientific” evidence that may not be admitted without a foundational showing of scientific validity under Or. Evid. Code 702.
Robert Lewis Henley’s 11-year-old stepdaughter, identified as M, accused him of ...
by Mark Wilson
The Supreme Court of Oregon held that the “for consideration” element of a “commercial drug offense” requires proof of a completed drug sale or an existing agreement to sell drugs. The Court rejected the State’s argument that “for consideration” may be proved by evidence of drug possession ...
by Mark Wilson
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that a lower court improperly granted Puerto Rican prison officials’ summary judgment on a female guard’s gender discrimination claim.
Vilmarie Caraballo-Caraballo was hired as a guard by the Corrections Department of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ...
by Mark Wilson
An Ohio man who was convicted of a violent home invasion robbery on the basis of faulty eyewitness identifications was exonerated just minutes before being sentenced to a lengthy prison term.
On February 5, 2017, a man armed with a handgun confronted a 32-year-old woman in the ...
by Mark Wilson
"Once the lights go out, they grab you like a gang, and they forcibly throw you on the table and one officer ended up mounting me and pretty much riding me like a horse," said Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer Vito Degironimo. "I'm grabbed by other ...
"If you go to a shelter for #Irma and you have a warrant, we'll gladly escort you to the safe and secure shelter called the Polk County jail," warned Florida's Polk County Sheriff's Department Twitter Account as Category 5 Hurricane Irma made landfall on September 6, 2017. Minutes earlier, the ...
by Mark Wilson
A Bellaire, Texas woman was nearly killed in the privacy of her own home, by indiscriminate police gunfire. The officers were placed on paid administrative leave as three unarmed women were hospitalized for gunshot wounds.
Houston Police Department officers attempted to pull over a Cadillac SUV after ...
by Mark Wilson
"Giving defendants a lawyer, treating them with respect, and honoring the Constitution give them more confidence in what we’re trying to do,” observes Michigan District Court Judge Tom Boyd. “That starts with giving them the respect they deserve the minute they walk in the door.”
Sadly, that ...
by Mark Wilson
After spending 24 years behind bars for murder, Eric Kelley and Ralph Lee walked out of a New Jersey prison in November 2017. Weeks earlier, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Michael Portelli had vacated their convictions for the 1993 murder of a store clerk after new DNA ...
