by David M. Reutter
“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.”
– Marcel Proust
When jurors weigh evidence in a criminal trial, few types of evidence are more persuasive than a witness pointing across a courtroom and declaring with …
by Douglas Ankney
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the Government breached its plea agreement with Dehaven Darnell Craig when it successfully argued for sentencing enhancements based on “total relevant conduct” to which the parties had not stipulated in the plea agreement.
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by Sagi Schwartzberg
The Supreme Court of Michigan held that the smell of marijuana, by itself, does not establish probable cause to search a motor vehicle. In doing so, the Court overturned People v. Kazmierczak, 605 N.W.2d 667 (Mich. 2000), which held that “the smell of marijuana alone …
by Anthony W. Accurso
In an era of expanding government surveillance, protecting your digital privacy is more critical than ever. This article offers practical steps to safeguard your data from government and corporate surveillance. As digital threats evolve in 2025, with increasing use of AI for tracking and …
by John & Nisha Whitehead
This column was originally published on September 9, 2025, on Rutherford.org. It has been reprinted with permission.
“The greatest tyrannies are always perpetuated in the name of the noblest causes.” – Thomas Paine
They said it was …
by Douglas Ankney
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that where a state prosecutor flooded the jury trial with evidence of defendant Kelvin Rosa’s prior bad acts, his defense attorney was ineffective for failing to seek contemporaneous limiting instructions and for failing to …
by Sagi Schwartzberg
The Supreme Court of California held that a defendant was entitled to retroactive application of an amended ameliorative statute because a criminal case’s judgment is not final until the entire prosecution, including the sentencing phase, is complete.
Background
In October 2014, Oscar Lopez …
by Anthony W. Accurso
In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Idaho held that the warrantless search of a patient who was in civil protective custody violated the Fourth Amendment because the State failed to establish that the search fell within a recognized exception or …
by Douglas Ankney
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed its longstanding precedent that a District Court cannot sua sponte dismiss an untimely petition for a writ of habeas corpus without giving the petitioner prior notice and an opportunity to respond.
Background
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by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, reversed a superior court’s denial of Misael Padron’s motion to vacate his conviction for carjacking because he failed to “meaningfully understand, defend against, or knowingly accept” the immigration consequences of his plea.
Background
In …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine vacated Rochelle Gleason’s conviction for aggravated trafficking of a scheduled drug that caused the death of a person after applying the holding of Smith v. Arizona, 602 U.S. 779 (2024), in which the United States Supreme Court rejected the …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that “art. 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights prohibits the police from executing an anticipatory search warrant absent compliance or equivalent compliance with the future triggering event, regardless of whether the factual allegations in the warrant affidavit …
by Anthony W. Accurso
The Supreme Court of Michigan held that a search warrant was insufficiently particular in violation of the Fourth Amendment because it permitted investigators to search “any and all data” on the defendant’s cellphone with the only instruction limiting the scope of the search was …
by Jo Ellen Nott
The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) is facing scrutiny over its unauthorized practice of harvesting DNA from nearly 2,000 U.S. citizens, including children, and submitting their genetic profiles to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (“CODIS”), as reported by Wired. This large-scale expansion, which …
by Douglas Ankney
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the untruthful responses of Namrata Patnaik and Kartiki Parekh on visa applications could still be found by a jury to be fraud if the government relied on those responses when deciding to issue …
by Jo Ellen Nott
A Manhattan judge vacated the convictions of Brian Boles and Charles Collins for a 1994 Harlem murder, the Innocence Project reported. Judge Ruth Pickholz ended the nearly three-decade ordeal, which stemmed from a coerced and factually impossible confession from Brian Boles, who was just …
by Anthony W. Accurso
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee erred by applying an ACCA enhancement at sentencing because the District Court, not a jury, determined that the relevant offenses occurred on …
by Jo Ellen Nott
Police adoption of drone-as-first-responder (“DFR”) programs is increasing and now integrating with automated license plate reader (“ALPR”) technology to create a potent new form of surveillance, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”) reports. Companies like Flock Safety are marketing their drones, specifically the Aerodome, as …
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2025
published in Criminal Legal News
November, 2025, page 50
California: Former Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Joseph Dessert, 42, was sentenced to nine years in prison on August 8, 2025, for sexually abusing his teenage daughter. According to The Modesto Bee, County Superior Court Judge Jeff Mangar said that the lawman violated his office’s trust in the …
