by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging Idaho’s Sexual Offender Registration Notification and Community Right-to-Know Act, Idaho Code § 18-8301 et seq. (“SORA”).
In July 1993, Idaho initially passed a ...
by Dale Chappell
Criminal cases are often riddled with errors. Judges err, prosecutors err, and of course defense lawyers are far from perfect. But when it comes to federal habeas corpus, not all errors are worth raising. Perhaps the most challenging part to federal habeas corpus may be identifying claims ...
by Anthony Accurso
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit vacated a defendant’s sentence after ruling the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado improperly applied an enhancement under § 2K2.1(a)(4)(A) of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines for having a prior crime of violence that is not, in ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, held that a trial court abused its discretion by denying Rene Avila’s motion to strike prior convictions pursuant to People v. Superior Court (Romero), 917 P.2d 628 (Cal. 1996), (“Romero Motion”). The Court further held ...
by Matt Clarke
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit handed down an opinion on December 21, 2020, holding that the prohibition against a subsequent resentencing in § 404(c) of the First Step Act can be waived by the Government. Therefore, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern ...
by Douglas Ankney
The California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, vacated the denial of Patrick Sean O’Hearn’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea after concluding that defense counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate O’Hearn’s mental health history.
In October 2018, police responded to two elderly women, Rachel D. ...
by Dale Chappell
In a case broadening the scope of relief for crack cocaine offenders under the First Step Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held on December 7, 2020, that all three provisions under 21 U.S.C. § 841 dealing with crack cocaine were “modified” by ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Michigan held that police must limit a search of digital data from a cellphone in a manner reasonably directed to uncover evidence of the specified criminal activity alleged in the warrant.
On August 6, 2016, Lisa Weber agreed to stay all night at ...
by Matt Clarke
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana’s denial of qualified immunity to two police officers who allegedly fatally beat, kicked, and tasered a man who was on the ground in a fetal position and ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of North Carolina held that a superior court abused its discretion when it flatly prohibited the defense’s questions during voir dire regarding racial bias and bias related to the shooting of Black men by police.
Police arrived at a parking garage in response to ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (“TCCA”) held that permitting a witness to testify via two-way video based on reasons that did not further an important public policy violated the rights of James Ray Haggard under the Confrontation Clause.
Haggard was tried on charges related to alleged ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a district judge may not delegate to a probation officer the decision to require inpatient, rather than outpatient, treatment because of the liberty interests at stake.
Abran Martinez tested positive for cocaine use while on supervised ...
by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Court of Kansas held that when an appellate court determines a district court abuses its discretion by applying the wrong legal standard to its consideration of a plea withdrawal prior to sentencing, the correct disposition is to remand to the district court to ensure ...
by Anthony Accurso
The Supreme Court of Indiana held that a defendant’s right to a speedy trial was violated where he was made to wait six-and-a-half years before he was retried on a pending 30-year habitual-offender enhancement.
Stanley V. Watson was convicted by a jury in 2001 of dealing cocaine ...
by Anthony Accurso
A police raid on the home of aFlorida data scientist involving officers who aimed loaded firearms at young children draws attention to issues of police misuse of force, outdated technology laws, and the possible misuse of law enforcement to retaliate against a whistleblower.
According to reporting by ...
by Derek Gilna
Hundreds of innocent people may have gone to jail based on potentially flawed or falsified test results by San Francisco Office of Chief Medical Examiner (“OCME”) forensic analyst Justin Volk.
This alleged misconduct was uncovered after the August 31, 2020, arrest of Volk for possession of methamphetamine ...
by Jayson Hawkins
The calls for social justice coming from nearly every city and town in America in 2020 were fueled primarily by two issues. The first was that people of color, often unarmed and without cause, were being killed by law enforcement in the streets and even in their ...
