by Michael Berk
The Supreme Court of Kansas held that a court of appeals must consider a claim that a criminal defendant’s sentence is illegal even when raised for the first time in the appellate court.
In 1995, Billy Sartin was convicted of several crimes in Kansas. …
by Michael Berk
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals announced a new test for determining whether a prior out-of-state conviction is “substantially similar” to enumerated Texas offenses for application of enhanced penalties for repeat sex offenses, explicitly overruling two precedential decisions.
The State sought to enhance Walter …
by Michael Berk
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed the denial of a successive motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, remanding the case for resentencing where the “relevant background legal environment” demonstrated that his sentence was based on the Armed Career Criminal Act’s (“ACCA”) …
by Michael Berk
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a court determining eligibility for a sentence reduction based on an amended Guidelines range is not bound by the conclusions of a pre-sentence report (PSR) “adopted” at sentencing in the absence of explicit quantity …
by Michael Berk
An Arkansas state trooper violated a motorist’s First and Fourth Amendment rights when he arrested him for yelling “F--k you,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held in June 2019, affirming the district court’s denial of qualified immunity for the official.
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by Michael Berk
New York’s new amendment to its penal code reduces the maximum sentence for Class A misdemeanor offenses to 364 days. The previous maximum punishment was one year in jail.
The One Day to Protect New Yorkers Act, passed by the state legislature and signed …
by Michael Berk
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the denial of William Anthony Lofton’s 28 U.S.C. § 2255 petition, remanding to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa with instructions to vacate his ACCA sentence and immediately release him from …
by Michael Berk
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit remanded Jose Santos Figueroa-Coello’s case for resentencing, holding that the district court’s violation of Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure amounted to reversible plain error.
At this defendant’s sentencing hearing, counsel …
by Michael Berk
The premise that a DNA “match” conclusively overrides nearly all other evidence in a criminal case has become a deep-seated one over the 35 years since the inception of DNA profiling. Often, though, such views are not founded upon even a basic understanding of how …
by Michael Berk
The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office has put 117 criminal cases on hold in response to suspected misconduct involving DNA testing by a Fort Worth forensic scientist.
On February 27, 2019, Amanda Schaffner’s supervisor at the crime lab noticed that there was no digital …
