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Articles by Matthew Clarke

Sixth Circuit Announces Due Process Right to ‘Prompt’ Post-Seizure Hearing While Government Deciding Whether to Initiate Forfeiture Proceedings and Holds Wayne County’s Vehicle Forfeiture Program Violates Due Process

by Matt Clarke

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the policies and practices of Wayne County, Michigan, in pursuing the civil forfeiture of vehicles seized by police violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause because prosecutors took months to decide whether to proceed with forfeiture ...

Indiana Supreme Court Announces Civil Forfeiture Triggers Right to Jury Trial

by Matt Clarke

The Supreme Court of Indiana held that civil forfeiture triggers the right to a jury trial.

As Alucious Kizer fled from a traffic stop, he discarded 74 grams of methamphetamine, 67 grams of fentanyl,12 grams of cocaine, and 10 grams of crack cocaine. Police recovered the drugs ...

Car Culture Dramatically Increases Number of Cop Confrontations

by Matt Clarke

In the early 20th century, mass production of automobiles caused a fundamental shift in American culture. One aspect of the emergent Car Culture was an increased number of interactions between police and the public that was largely absent during the horse-and-buggy era. Many of the police interactions ...

One Solution to Jurors Giving Too Much Weight to Improper Forensic Testimony: 4-Minute Training Video Based on DOJ Guidelines

by Matt Clarke

Improper forensic evidence played a part in 1 out of 5 wrongful convictions listed in the National Registry of Exonerations as of September 2023. Studies show that jurors cannot distinguish between low-quality and high-quality forensic testimony. Yet, those same jurors are overconfident in believing they understand the ...

Use of Forensic Genetic Genealogy Searches to Identify Suspects Needs Regulation and Can Be Challenged

by Matthew Clarke

Ever since it was used to identify the Golden Gate Killer in 2018, Forensic Genetic Genealogy (“FGG”) has been accepted by law enforcement as a tool for identifying unknown suspects. Most people view it as just another DNA profiling method, similar to that used to create the ...

First Circuit: Justification for Upward Sentencing Departure Following Supervised Release Revocation Must Be Ade-quately Explained

by Matt Clarke

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico’s upward variant sentence after revocation of supervised release in a case for conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute was “procedurally and substantively unreasonable because ...

Kentucky Supreme Court Clarifies When Lesser-Included Offense Instruction Must Be Provided, Reverses Convictions Based on Trial Court’s Failure to Properly Instruct Jury

by Matt Clarke

The Supreme Court of Kentucky reversed convictions for first-degree wanton endangerment (“FDWE”) and first-degree persistent felony offender, holding that the trial court erred by failing to give a second-degree wanton endangerment (“SDWE”) jury instruction when the admitted evidence supported such an instruction.

Dwight Taylor met A.P. at ...

California Supreme Court Reinstates Petition for Resentencing Under SB 1437 Because Trial Court Misapprehended Le-gal Requirements for Proving Aiding and Abetting Implied Malice Murder

by Matt Clarke

The Supreme Court of California reinstated a prisoner’s petition for resentencing pursuant to Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017-2018 Reg. Session) (“SB 1437”) after finding that the trial court had misapprehended the legal requirements for proving aiding and abetting implied malice murder.

When he was 15 years old, ...

New Jersey Supreme Court Announces Presumption in Favor of In-Person Interpreter for Criminal Trials and Issues Guidelines for Use of Video Remote Interpreting

by Matt Clarke

In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that there is a presumption in favor of in-person interpreting services, rather than video remote interpreting (“VRI”), for criminal trials and promulgated guidelines for determining whether a criminal defendant should be provided in-person ...

U.K. Study of Consistency Among Pairs of Child Witnesses Shows Surprising Results

by Matt Clarke

A recent report on a study of the consistency among pairs of child witnesses published in the U.K. journal Legal and Criminological Psychology showed the surprising result that neither the age of the paired children nor the consistency of the details the pairs of child witnesses report ...

 

 

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