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NEWS IN BRIEF
Article • March 1, 2026 • from CLN April, 2026
NEWS IN BRIEF by Alaska: Alaska News Source reported that former Bethel Police Department (BPD) Off. Jonathan Murphy, 39, was convicted on February 13, 2026, of a brutal use of force. Body-camera footage captured Murphy during a December 2023 stolen-vehicle stop as he struck the compliant driver, Bernard Mael. When …
NEWS IN BRIEF
Article • January 1, 2026 • from CLN February, 2026
NEWS IN BRIEF by Alabama: WABM in Birmingham reported that former Eleventh Judicial Circuit Presiding Judge Gilbert P. Self, 64, was sentenced to 51-­1/2 years in state prison on December 17, 2025, following his conviction the previous month on public corruption charges. As CLN reported, a jury found him guilty …
SCOTUS Holds Sixth Amendment Requires Case-Specific Necessity Determination to Screen Child Witnesses, Rejecting Reliance on Mandatory State Statutes Based on Generalized Legislative Findings
Article • December 15, 2025 • from CLN January, 2026
Filed under: Sixth Amendment, Confrontation Clause/Rights, Video/Closed Circuit TV Testimony, Confrontation Clause
SCOTUS Holds Sixth Amendment Requires Case-Specific Necessity Determination to Screen Child Witnesses, Rejecting Reliance on Mandatory State Statutes Based on Generalized Legislative Findings by Richard Resch by Richard Resch In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed a divided Mississippi Supreme Court decision, holding that …
NEWS IN BRIEF
Article • December 15, 2025 • from CLN January, 2026
NEWS IN BRIEF by Alabama: In a rare victory for ethics enforcement in the Cotton State, a Lauderdale County jury returned a guilty verdict on November 7, 2025, against a former state judge accused of public corruption. According to the Alabama Political Reporter, Gilbert Porterfield Self, Sr., former presiding judge …
NEWS IN BRIEF
Article • November 15, 2025 • from CLN December, 2025
NEWS IN BRIEF by Alabama: The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama sentenced former Centre Police Department (CPD) Off. Michael Kilgore, 41, to four years in federal prison on October 8, 2025, after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in a wild evidence-­planting scheme to …
Fifth Circuit Announces When Initial § 2255 Petition Not Decided on Merits and Appeals Court Later Recalls Mandate Dismissing Direct Appeal and Affirms Conviction, Subsequent § 2255 Petition Not ‘Seco...
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: Habeas Corpus, AEDPA
Fifth Circuit Announces When Initial § 2255 Petition Not Decided on Merits and Appeals Court Later Recalls Mandate Dismissing Direct Appeal and Affirms Conviction, Subsequent § 2255 Petition Not ‘Second or Successive’ Under AEDPA by Douglas Ankney In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for …
News in Brief
Article • July 1, 2025 • from CLN July, 2025
Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Shootings, Dogs, Police--Excessive Force, Brady Violations, Home Search, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Brady Rule violations, Perjury/Perjured Testimony
News in Brief by Arkansas: The downward spiral of former Hot Spring County Sheriff Derek “Scott” Finkbeiner, 47, continued with his fourth arrest on May 2, 2025, reported KATV out of Little Rock. The arrest stemmed from Finkbeiner’s attempt to contact a witness, co-­defendant Jordan Hammond, through the Signal app, …
Mississippi Supreme Court Vacates Convictions, 
Holding Multiple Errors by State Resulted in ‘Legal Chaos’ 
That Deprived Defendant of Right to Fair Trial 
Under ‘Cumulative-Error Doctrine’
Article • May 15, 2025 • from CLN June, 2025
Filed under: Fifth Amendment, Prejudicial Spillover, Hearsay Evidence, Graphic and Inflammatory Evidence
Mississippi Supreme Court Vacates Convictions, Holding Multiple Errors by State Resulted in ‘Legal Chaos’ That Deprived Defendant of Right to Fair Trial Under ‘Cumulative-Error Doctrine’ by Jeffrey Cohen Sitting en banc, the Supreme Court of Mississippi reversed both the trial court and Court of Appeals’ decisions that the State’s multiple …
News in Brief
Article • February 1, 2025 • from CLN February, 2025
Filed under: News in Brief
News in Brief by Arizona: Phoenix resident Penny McCarthy, 66, endured a terrifying ordeal after United States Marshals arrested her at gunpoint in her home, mistaking her for a fugitive, according to KNXV. Body camera footage shows officers refusing to confirm her identity despite McCarthy repeatedly asking them. “I truly …
News in Brief
Article • December 15, 2024 • from CLN January, 2025
Filed under: News in Brief
News in Brief by Alabama: A former Huntsville, Alabama police officer, William “Ben” Darby, was sentenced again on October 26, 2024, to 25 years for the fatal shooting of a suicidal man in 2018, according to the Slate Report. Darby was convicted for the second time in May 2024 of …
Mississippi Supreme Court: Defendant’s Guilty Plea Not Knowing and Voluntary Because He Was Not Informed of His Habitual Offender Status
Article • December 1, 2024 • from CLN December, 2024
Filed under: Resentencing, De Facto Career Offender, Knowingly and Voluntarily Made
Mississippi Supreme Court: Defendant’s Guilty Plea Not Knowing and Voluntary Because He Was Not Informed of His Habitual Offender Status by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The Supreme Court of Mississippi held that a defendant’s guilty plea to two forged prescription drug charges was not knowing and voluntary because he …
The Catch-22 of Qualified Immunity
Article • August 15, 2024 • from CLN September, 2024
Filed under: Police Misconduct, Qualified Immunity, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified
The Catch-22 of Qualified Immunity by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Judge Don Willett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Judge Carlton Reeves of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi have authored opinions excoriating the doctrine of qualified immunity (“QI”). QI …
News in Brief
Article • August 1, 2024 • from CLN August, 2024
Filed under: News in Brief
News in Brief by
After Mississippi Supreme Court Announcement, Courts Unprepared to Ensure Poor Defendants Have a Lawyer Throughout the Criminal Process
Article • December 15, 2023 • from CLN December, 2023
Filed under: Appointment of Counsel, Counsel - Right to
After Mississippi Supreme Court Announcement, Courts Unprepared to Ensure Poor Defendants Have a Lawyer Throughout the Criminal Process by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott The Mississippi Supreme Court mandated on April 13, 2023, that poor criminal defendants must have an attorney throughout the entire criminal process. In re …
News in Brief
Article • November 1, 2023 • from CLN November, 2023
Filed under: News in Brief
News in Brief by Alabama: According to The New York Times, the most notable sack and fumble of the Jefferson County high school football game on September 14, 2023, came after the game ended and the police were in the process of clearing the stadium. In the tradition of historically …
Mississippi Ends ‘Dead Zone’
Article • September 1, 2023 • from CLN September, 2023
Filed under: Pretrial Detention and Detainees, Pre-Indictment Delay
Mississippi Ends ‘Dead Zone’ by Jordan Arizmendi by Jordan Arizmendi In April 2023, the Mississippi Supreme Court unanimously amended the state’s Rules of Criminal Procedure to eliminate the “dead zone.” Essentially, Rule 7.2 of Mississippi declares that counsel must be provided to an indigent defendant after they have been indicted. …
Mississippi Supreme Court: Court of Appeals Improperly Permitted State to Supplement Record on Appeal in Reviewing Habitual Offender Determination
Article • August 1, 2023 • from CLN August, 2023
Filed under: Appeals/Appellate Jurisdiction, Sentences - Prior/Unrelated
Mississippi Supreme Court: Court of Appeals Improperly Permitted State to Supplement Record on Appeal in Reviewing Habitual Offender Determination by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Court of Mississippi, sitting en banc, held that the Court of Appeals (“COA”) improperly permitted the State to add to the record on …
Former DHS Agent Cut and Pastes Fake DNA Tests Results in Paternity Scandal
Article • June 23, 2023
Filed under: Police Misconduct, DNA Testing/Samples
Former DHS Agent Cut and Pastes Fake DNA Tests Results in Paternity Scandal by A former DHS agent and police officer in Hancock County, Mississippi was arrested on May 8, 2023, for allegedly failing to comply with court ordered child support payments. Sun Herald reported that the former “Sheriff’s Narcotics …
Body Camera Footage Captures Fatal Arrest by Three Mississippi Officers
Article • June 23, 2023
Filed under: Police Misconduct, Videotaping, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Arrest/Arraignment
Body Camera Footage Captures Fatal Arrest by Three Mississippi Officers by On May 24, 2023, authorities in Jackson, Mississippi announced that three former police officers were indicted by a grand jury in connection with the death of a Black man in their custody on Dec. 31, 2022. The man was …
News in Brief
Article • September 15, 2022 • from CLN October, 2022
Filed under: News in Brief
News in Brief by Alabama: On August 4, 2022, the Vincent City Council voted to fully dissolve the city’s police force after racist text messages by a top officer were discovered, CNN reported. The city is home to about 2,000 residents and until the vote by the council, had just …
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