Experts Say Cross-Racial Eyewitness Identification Errors Are Widespread and Contribute to Thousands of Wrongful Convictions
by Derek Gilna
In a time where much of the American criminal justice system is justifiably under intense pressure to eliminate potential racial bias, there is at least one issue that could be resolved without …
by Dale Chappell
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a nearly 20-year sentence after the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas cited what the Government might have been able to prove (but didn’t) to justify imposing a sentence that was almost eight times …
by Dale Chappell
Wouldn’t it be nice if the U.S. Supreme Court actually said when its decision constitutes a new rule and whether it applies retroactively? If only things were so easy.
I remember the first time I heard a lawyer say that a new Supreme Court decision wasn’t a …
by Michael Fortino, Ph.D.
Fueled by a “moral panic” that evolved through the 1990s and into the mid-2000s, the war on “sex offenders” paralleled the war on drugs and was slated to eventually replace it as the drug war seemed to wane in popularity and success. Congress passed statutes and …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the phrase “reason to believe the suspect is within” in Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573 (1980), means that when police enter a third-party’s residence without a search warrant to execute an arrest warrant, …
by Dale Chappell
The Supreme Court of Colorado held on December 14, 2020, that dividing up multiple images of child pornography in order to charge a defendant with multiple counts of possession of child pornography violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of both the Colorado and U.S. Constitutions.
The case came …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that the Government is barred – on double jeopardy grounds – from seeking the death penalty at the retrial of Alexis Candelario-Santana because the jury’s verdict that did not impose the death sentence at Candelario’s first trial …
by Dale Chappell
The fired San Francisco Police Department (“SFPD”) officer who shot and killed an unarmed carjacking suspect in December 2017 faces multiple charges, including manslaughter, by the new district attorney who vowed to hold police accountable.
The incident happened when SFPD officer Christopher Samayoa was riding with his …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that reasonable suspicion permitting police to conduct a traffic stop did not provide police with probable cause to open the car’s door and lean inside.
Officer Kolby Willmes spotted Malik Ngumezi’s vehicle parked at a gas station and observed that the …
by Dale Chappell
In a case that hinged on the time of death to convict the defendant, the Supreme Court of California granted habeas corpus relief where defense counsel failed to obtain an expert to testify on the time of death.
In 2005, Kimberly Long was convicted of second-degree murder …
Civil asset forfeiture laws, which allow police to seize property without trial, are frequently justified as tools to seize millions from kingpins. A new study reveals the median amount taken is as low as $369 in some states.
by Ian MacDougall for ProPublica
In 2015, New Mexico lawmakers unanimously passed a bill to all but end civil asset forfeiture, the process that lets police keep cash or property they seize, even if they never charge the owner with a crime, so long as they suspect that it’s linked to criminal activity. High-profile lawsuits and press attention had prompted some states to reexamine their forfeiture laws.
Law enforcement officials howled in outrage. In New Mexico, sheriffs and prosecutors implored the governor to veto the legislation. Eliminating civil forfeiture, they argued, would hand the bad guys a win and put public safety at risk. “You’ll get less law enforcement,” predicted the chair of the state sheriffs’ association, Ken Christesen, who noted that police departments use forfeitures to help fund their budgets. (The bill still allowed forfeiture, but only through criminal court, which imposes a much more stringent burden of proof on prosecutors than its civil counterpart.)
Criminal organizations would grow richer and more powerful, …
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeals of New York reversed the decision of the appellate division that had affirmed a county court’s denial of Everett D. Balkman’s motion to suppress because the People’s evidence was insufficient to show the traffic stop was lawful.
Balkman was the passenger in a …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Kansas clarified that state law does not require consent to search to be verbal and that nonverbal conduct may constitute consent under the totality of the circumstance.
Responding to a complaint of an odor of marijuana, officers Robert McKeirnan and Kelly Smith decided …
by Anthony Accurso
On Election Night, November 3, 2020, Michigan voters approved a ballot measure amending the state constitution to add electronic data and communications to the category of items protected from unreasonable searches and seizures.
After all the wrangling over the Office of the President and control of Congress …
by Dale Chappell
In a question of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated an enhanced sentence that was based on the “use of a minor to commit a crime” provision under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (“U.S.S.G.”) § 3B1.4, where the defendant merely purchased a firearm …
by Dale Chappell
In a case where the Government failed to prove that firearm enhancements applied at sentencing, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee was required to take a fresh look at the case and …
by Douglas Ankney
In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Illinois held that a plea of guilty doesn’t bar a defendant from later asserting an actual innocence claim under Illinois’ Post-Conviction Hearing Act, 725 ILCS 5/122 et seq. (West 2016) (“Act”) and announced the procedural framework for …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Illinois ruled that the predicate offenses of the home invasion statute, 720 ILCS 5/12-11 et seq., are lesser-included offenses of that statute.
A jury convicted Alejandro Reveles-Cordova of criminal sexual assault and of home invasion predicated upon criminal sexual assault. On appeal, Reveles …
by Anthony Accurso
The Supreme Court of Montana ruled that the district court abused its discretion and denied defendant a fair trial by allowing expert witness testimony on statistics about false reports of sexual abuse.
Philip Bryson Grimshaw was charged with sexual intercourse without consent, in violation of § 45-5-503, …
by Dale Chappell
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held on December 9, 2020, that as long as one of the drugs in a multidrug offense involved crack cocaine, the offense still qualifies as a “covered offense” for the First Step Act’s retroactive crack sentence reductions.
It …
by Dale Chappell
In a decision highlighting the deference to state court decisions under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”), the Supreme Court of the United States held on December 14, 2020, that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit failed to give a state court …
by Dale Chappell
In a case reiterating the Court’s hard rule that every claim must be addressed in a habeas petition before it is disposed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held on November 13, 2020, that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama’s …
by Douglas Ankney
On November 19, 2020, New Yorker Jaythan Kendrick was exonerated of murder and freed from prison after serving 25 years. The Queens County Supreme Court vacated his 1995 conviction based on newly discovered evidence that included DNA and eyewitness testimony.
In November 1994, a 70-year-old woman was …
by Dale Chappell
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held on September 17, 2020, that the Supreme Court’s ruling adding a “knowing” element to a statute requires automatic dismissal of an indictment that lacked that element.
The case came before the Court after Omar Qazi was charged …
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2021
published in Criminal Legal News
February, 2021, page 34
The internet age has brought a whole range of problems to go along with the marvels of convenience and efficiency. One of these problems stems from the “connectivity” so often touted as a benefit of social networks. In this case, the connectivity in question is the ease with which sexual …
by Anthony Accurso
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that a law enforcement officer lacked reasonable suspicion of illegality when he initiated a traffic stop of a commercial vehicle based solely on the fact that commercial vehicles need a permit to travel in the area in …
by Anthony Accurso
The Court of Appeal of California, Fourth Appellate District, ruled that a defendant’s right to confront his accuser under the Six Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was violated where the superviser of the lab tech who actually performed the drug testing, rather than the tech herself, testified …
by David M. Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held Private Probation Services, Inc., (“PPS”) acted in a quasi-judicial capacity by making sentencing decisions and that it was not impartial because its revenue depended on whether and how it made those decisions. The Court further held …
by Anthony Accurso
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a defendant’s conviction for possessing a firearm after determining officers lacked reasonable suspicion to stop and search him.
Raymond L. McKinney was standing with friends on a sidewalk near a gas station in San Antonio, Texas. It …
by Dale Chappell
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that defense counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel (“IAC”) for failing to object to jury instructions that relieved the prosecution of its burden to prove that a defendant intended for his friend to kill someone in order …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that Jeremy Hogenkamp was entitled to know, before he was released from prison, what the terms and conditions of his supervised release were to be.
Hogenkamp was sentenced to a term of 10 years’ imprisonment followed by …
by Jayson Hawkins
Stories about unarmed Black men shot by police make the news, a merciless backdrop against which the conflicts between social justice activists and champions of the status quo play out. The shootings can distract public attention from less telegenic cases of violence that can be just as …
by Casey Bastian
The District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences (“DFS”) is a $220 million facility built in 2012. Its construction was highly lauded and was expected to effectively process crime scene evidence. DFS is an independent agency analyzing forensic DNA, firearm, and fingerprint evidence for various law enforcement …
by Jayson Hawkins
The rules for jury trials vary a great deal from state to state, but one rule that is almost universal is the requirement that the jury’s decision be unanimous. This rule is “almost” universal because two states, Louisiana and Oregon, have historically allowed non-unanimous convictions by juries. …
by Casey Bastian
In July 2014, college student James King was walking to a job when Grand Rapids, Michigan, Detective Todd Allen and FBI Special Agent Douglas Brownback stopped King, believing he was a fugitive in a Michigan crime. Allen and Brownback were operating as part of a multi-agency task …
by Michael Fortino, Ph.D.
The cause for incidents of police violence in recent years, particularly in the sequence of events that played out in the spring and summer of 2020, has been ascribed predominantly to systemic and implicit racism by law enforcement.
But it is possible that much broader and …
by Casey Bastian
Having a criminal record, for even minor offenses, can make it very difficult to obtain housing, employment, or education and vocational training. In an effort to alleviate some of these difficulties, lawmakers in Michigan have passed bipartisan legislation titled “Clean Slate,” which expands and automates some criminal …
by Ed Lyon
A 2018 lawsuit by Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown filed against the city of Milwaukee alleging police used excessive force ended with a $750,000 settlement.
Milwaukee city attorney Tearman Spencer and assistant city attorney Robin A. Pederson sent a letter to the city’s Common Council on November …
by Dale Chappell
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the grant of habeas corpus relief on December 18, 2020, agreeing that the Arkansas Supreme Court wrongly denied a defendant’s right to represent himself at trial.
Elliott Finch repeatedly told the state trial court that he wanted …
by Casey Bastian
Americans are asking: What is preventing the meaningful reforms in policing that are clearly needed? The answer may be police unions. While there are a plethora of issues to be addressed, unions have become an organized force actively resisting safer, less aggressive, and more accountable policing. Members …
by Jayson Hawkins
Like millions of Americans, Teresa Hunter was hit hard by the financial repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic. But what the Hot Springs resident never imagined was that her temporary inability to afford housing could put her behind bars.
Renters in Arkansas face the unique and unfortunate possibility …
by Casey Bastian
We have turned a corner in America when it comes to the public automatically trusting in the nostalgic image of law enforcement. No longer can law enforcement just assume the mantle of the “good guys” who operate with impeccable motives for the greater good of society.
Hundreds …
by Kevin Bliss
The 2020 elections saw California police unions losing a lot of ground in their battle to hold power over a more liberal state perspective to criminal justice reform.
Historically, law enforcement unions have been a powerful lobbying force for certain political candidates and criminal justice bill proposals …
by Casey Bastian
Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz were arrested on minor charges in 2017 by the New York Police Department (“NYPD”) – Clark in Manhattan and Aziz in Brooklyn. Clark and Aziz are devout Muslims who wear the appropriate head scarves or hijabs. Muslim women wear the hijab when …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (“SJC”) concluded that the holding in Commonwealth v. Brown, 479 Mass. 600 (2018), which requires the Commonwealth to prove that a defendant knew a firearm was loaded in order to sustain a conviction of violating G.L. c. 269, § 10(n) …
by Casey Bastian
When a criminal defendant enters a court of law, he or she is aware that the prosecutor intends to hold them accountable for any of their conduct alleged to have violated a law. The public implicitly trusts that prosecutors will likewise follow the law and act in …
by Dale Chappell
In a case where state prosecutors delayed retrying a defendant after his conviction was vacated, the Supreme Court of Louisiana held that the State’s delay violated the speedy trial rules and vacated the murder conviction again.
After Nicholas Revish was convicted of second-degree murder and attempted murder …
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2021
published in Criminal Legal News
February, 2021, page 50
Arizona: The family of 40-year-old Ryan Whitaker, who was fatally shot in the back by a police officer investigating a noise complaint, settled in December 2020 with the city of Phoenix for $3 million by unanimous City Council vote. Whitaker was shot in the doorway of his apartment by Officer …
