by Matt Clarke
On August 27, 2020, the Supreme Court of Mississippi held that a change in the guidelines of the American Board of Forensic Odontology (“ABFO”) prohibiting testimony that bite mark comparison could be used to identify an individual constituted new evidence that could be used in postconviction proceedings ...
by Matt Clarke
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled U.S.S.G. § 5Gl.3(b)(l)’s “a court shall adjust the sentence” for time served on a related state crime is mandatory once the section’s requirements are met. Acknowledging a circuit split on the issue, it ruled that a § ...
by Matt Clarke
The Supreme Court of Michigan ruled that a probation officer who found heroin during a compliance check after the probation had ended and then been unlawfully extended conducted an unauthorized warrantless search.
John D. Vandenpool was sentenced to two years of probation on June 24, 2013. On ...
by Matt Clarke
The Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, held on June 16, 2020, that the California Supreme Court’s decision limiting the kill zone theory in prosecutions for attempted premeditated murder applies retroactively. The court reversed 11 convictions each for two habeas petitioners.
Juan Marshall Rayford and ...
by Matt Clarke
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that a criminal sentence was unreasonable where the district court failed to offer an explanation for a special condition of supervised release requiring addiction treatment, and the court failed to address the defendant’s nonfrivolous mitigation arguments. The ...
by Matt Clarke
On June 8, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit announced that federal courts are directed to use the categorical approach “to identify felony drug offenses for sentencing enhancement purposes …,” rather than a circumstance-specific analysis, and vacated a drug defendant’s sentence and remanded ...
by Matt Clarke
On March 27, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated a firearms possession conviction from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio because the Government showed the jury a social-media video of a masked person it alleged was the defendant ...
by Matt Clarke
In March 27, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated a firearms possession conviction from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio because the Government showed the jury a social-media video of a masked person it alleged was the defendant ...
by Matt Clarke
Studies have shown that racial minorities are overrepresented among the known wrongful convictions. But even this simple and easily provable statement runs afoul of several difficulties, including a lack of clear definitions for key terms.
The meaning of “race” is not clearly defined. Further, perhaps due to ...
by Matt Clarke
A lack of standardization in crime statistics and the complexity of the causes of and cures for crime have made the use of crime statistics difficult.
For instance, whether using marijuana causes crime is an important question as more states consider legalizing recreational marijuana. Legalization proponents could ...
