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New Jersey Supreme Court Reverses Drug Convictions Under Cumulative Error Doctrine, Holding Combined Effect of Improper References to Television Series, Gun Violence, and Search Warrants Deprived Defendant of Fair Trial by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Supreme Court of New Jersey unanimously reversed the defendant’s controlled dangerous substances …
Second Circuit Holds Exclusion of Evidence Corroborating Defendant’s Testimony About Third-Party Statements Bearing on Intent Was Error, Clarifying That Rule 404(b) Does Not Bar Non-Propensity Evidence Offered to Support Credibility by David Kim by David Kim The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated a cocaine-importation conspiracy …
Delaware Supreme Court Announces Four-Part Plain Error Framework, Aligning Prejudice Standard With Federal Approach Requiring Reasonable Probability of Different Outcome by Douglas Ankney by Doug Ankney Sitting en banc, the Supreme Court of Delaware vacated the defendant’s convictions and remanded, holding that the prosecution’s use of indirect hearsay evidence violated …
Georgia Supreme Court Clarifies Framework for Evaluating Extraordinary Motions for New Trial Based on Scientific Developments, Holding Trial Court Applied Incorrect Legal Standard in Denying “Shaken Baby Syndrome” Challenge by David Kim by David Kim The Supreme Court of Georgia clarified that the diligence requirement for extraordinary motions for new …
Maine Supreme Judicial Court Announces Trial Courts Must Rigorously Scrutinize Reliability of Expert Testimony in Unrecognized Forensic Fields, Holding Trial Court Erred in Admitting Forensic Podiatry Footprint-Comparison Testimony Without a Demonstrated by Douglas Ankney by Doug Ankney In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine held that the …
When Words Mislead: Replacing “Touch” and “Trace DNA” with “Transfer DNA” by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott The forensic community is experiencing a critical shift in how biological evidence is described in the courtroom. For decades, terms like “Touch DNA,” “Trace DNA,” and “Wearer DNA” have been staples …
Aphantasia: Why Truthful Witnesses Can Sound Like Liars by Richard Resch by Richard Resch "Close your eyes. Picture it. Now tell me exactly what you saw.” Across America, police treat this as a credibility test. Every day, truthful people fail it. That is the detective in the interview room. In …
Minnesota Supreme Court Announces Warrantless Buccal Swab Pursuant to Discovery Order Violates Fourth Amendment, Overrules Inevitable Discovery Precedent, and Clarifies Accomplice-Corroboration Statute Applies Only to Sworn Testimony by David Kim by David Kim The Supreme Court of Minnesota held that a buccal swab collected from a criminal defendant pursuant to …
When AI Invents the Pixels: Challenging AI-Enhanced Video Evidence in Criminal Cases by Richard Resch by Richard Resch When prosecutors offer “enhanced” surveillance footage or body-camera video, defense counsel must understand what enhancement actually means. Traditional forensic methods such as adjusting brightness, applying contrast filters, or using established interpolation algorithms …
Ninth Circuit Affirms Exclusion of Plea Agreement’s Factual Basis, Holding Unaccepted “Type A” Plea Agreement Unenforceable to Trigger Waiver of Rule 410 Protections by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the exclusion of the factual basis from the defendant’s …
Generative Suspicion: What Defense Lawyers Must Know About AI-Generated Police Reports by Richard Resch by Richard Resch Police departments nationwide are racing to adopt artificial intelligence that transcribes body-camera footage, translates witness statements, and drafts investigative narratives. But these tools introduce profound risks to factual accuracy and due process that …
Kansas Supreme Court: Trial Court Erred by Admitting Evidence of Prior Crimes Without Proper Foundation Because State Failed to Prove Defendant Committed Those Crimes by Sagi Schwartzberg by Sagi Schwartzberg The Supreme Court of Kansas held that a trial court erred by admitting evidence of uncharged, suspected child abuse that …
Article • October 15, 2025 • from CLN November, 2025
The Malleable Mind in the Courtroom: Why Confident Eyewitnesses Often Provide the Least Reliable Evidence by David Reutter 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 …
Third Circuit: Where Prosecutor “Flooded” Jury Trial With Evidence of Defendant’s Prior Bad Acts, Counsel Was Constitutionally Ineffective in Not Seeking Contemporaneous Limiting Instructions and Not Objecting When Evidence Went Beyond Limited Purpose – by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit …
Idaho Supreme Court Announces Warrantless Search of Civilly Committed Individual Violates Fourth Amendment by Anthony Accurso 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 …
Maine Supreme Judicial Court Vacates Conviction Based on Confrontation Clause Where Toxicologist Testified About Toxicology Tests Performed by Others, Which SCOTUS Rejected in Smith v. Arizona by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine vacated Rochelle Gleason’s conviction for aggravated trafficking of a scheduled drug that …
Article • July 1, 2025 • from CLN July, 2025
California Court of Appeal Issues Writ of Mandate Directing Superior Court to Hold Evidentiary Hearing Under State’s Racial Justice Act, Ruling Defendant Provided Sufficient Evidence to Establish Prima Facie Claim of Implicit Bias by San Diego Police by Sagi Schwartzberg The California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, granted a …
Article • July 1, 2025 • from CLN July, 2025
Biomedical Engineers Discover Pruny Fingers Yield the Same Fingerprint Patterns as Dry Ones by Jo Ellen Nott A question posed by a child in a Curious Kids column in The Conversation, a nonprofit news website written by academics, led a biomedical engineer to a discovery that could aid forensic analysis …
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 …
Los Angeles Criminal Legal System Undermined by Months of Faulty DNA Testing by Jo Ellen Nott The integrity of Los Angeles County’s justice system is under fire following the news that potentially defective DNA test kits were used for months in thousands of criminal cases.  Despite being notified in August …
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