by Matt Clarke
The Supreme Court of Wisconsin held that a Wisconsin Department of Corrections (“DOC”) database of persons the DOC evaluated for civil commitment as a sexually violent predator (“SVP”) is subject to discovery in SVP commitment proceedings.
In 2016, the State petitioned a circuit court …
by Matt Clarke
The Supreme Court of Illinois held that a petitioner for a certificate of innocence under § 2-702(g)(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure need only prove innocence of the offense as it was originally charged, not every possible theory of criminal liability.
The apartment …
by Matt Clarke
The Supreme Court of Mississippi held that a conviction for attempted burglary of a dwelling with the intent to commit larceny was invalid and retrial prohibited based upon the constitutional protection against double jeopardy since a mistrial was declared in the initial trial of the …
by Matt Clarke
Chemical warfare is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions, yet federal law enforcement routinely deployed against Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon, a gas used by the militaries in both world wars. Exposure to the gas can cause vomiting, nausea, loss of appetite, and respiratory …
by Matt Clarke
The Supreme Court of Kentucky held that a refusal to submit to a warrantless blood test could not be used as evidence of guilt, for enhancement of a criminal penalty, or to show why the prosecution did not produce any scientific evidence of intoxication in …
by Matt Clarke
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that 120 Code Mass. Regs. § 200.08(3)(c) (2017), a regulation promulgated by the Massachusetts Parole Board, is invalid because it “is contrary to the plain terms of the statutory framework governing parole.” The regulation prohibits the aggregation of …
by Matt Clarke
The Supreme Court of Georgia unanimously held that the cumulative effect of several trial errors required the reversal of a murder conviction.
Benjamin Finney, a drug dealer in Macon, Georgia, was the victim of a home invasion during which he and his girlfriend were …
by Matt Clarke
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York’s denial of qualified immunity to police who stopped and frisked a man based solely on an officer’s unconfirmed hunch that there might be an …
by Matt Clarke
The Supreme Court of North Carolina handed down an opinion dated December 18, 2020, reversing a woman’s three felony embezzlement convictions after determining that the trial court should have held a competency hearing before resuming trial without her presence after she attempted suicide during the …
by Matt Clarke
Faulty forensics play a major role in causing known wrongful convictions in the United States. Just how big of a role the application of science to justice plays in sending the innocent to prison depends upon your definition of “wrongful convictions.”
The Innocence Project, …
