COVID-19 Causing Some Pretrial Detainees to Spend More Time in Jail by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In New York, persons accused of felonies are brought before a judge who decides whether to impose bail. Then prosecutors must present the evidence before a grand jury within six days and obtain …
News in Brief by California: The death of David Glen Ward of Petaluma was declared a homicide by the Marin County coroner in May 2020, followed by a lawsuit from David’s mother, Ernestine Ward, alleging wrongful death, excessive force and negligent supervision by Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies. Leading up to …
NY Court of Appeals: Right to Review Suppression Decision When Decision Relates Solely to a Count Satisfied by Plea but Isn’t Count to Which Defendant Pled by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Court of Appeals of New York held that N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law (“CPL”) 710.70(2) grants a defendant …
Second Circuit: Three Important Rulings Under First Step Act by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit made three important favorable rulings on April 24, 2020, concerning relief under the First Step Act for career offenders, those who get released while their motion …
Cooper v. Clancy, NY, Complaint, Wrongful Death, 2020 Case 9:19-cv-00362-AMN-ML Document 52 Filed 06/15/20 Page 1 of 11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ------------------------------------------------------------------------ X TRACY YVONNE COOPER, as Administrator of the Estate of TERRY L. COOPER, JR., Plaintiff, -againstCorrection Officer PATRICK M. CLANCY, in his …
Fordham Urban Law Journal, NY, Officer Use of Force and the Failure of Oversight of New York City Jails, 2020 Fordham Urban Law Journal Volume 47 Number 5 Article 4 2020 Officer Use of Force and the Failure of Oversight of New York City Jails Jennifer Ferentz Follow this and …
No Price on Justice, NY, New York's Ferguson Problem, 2020 New York’s Ferguson Problem How the state’s racist fee system punishes poverty, lacks transparency, and is overdue for reform I NT R O D U CTIO N After police in Ferguson, Missouri, killed Michael Brown in 2014, a U.S. Department …
New York City Board of Correction, NY, the Death of Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco, 2020 NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF CORRECTION1 The Death of Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco 1991-2019 June 23, 2020 Authored by Kate McMahon, Deputy General Counsel. Special thanks and acknowledgment to all Board staff and others who assisted or …
Federal Judge Issues Order Reducing 40-Year Stacked § 924(c) Sentence Based on First Step Act Changes to Compassionate Release by Chad Marks by Chad Marks On a cold February 2003 night, my life was shattered. That is when I was arrested and charged with a crack cocaine conspiracy along with …
News in Brief by Arizona: Tucson has a new ordinance topunish those who fail to stay outside designated crime scene perimeters, the Tucson Star reports. The law aims to halt “cop haters” with cameras, but the potential fallout is a stifling of First Amendment rights. While people should not provoke …
Second Circuit: Habeas Petition Not Moot Where It Attacked Inactive Original Order That Gave Rise to Current Active Order Restraining Petitioner’s Liberty by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a habeas petition is not moot where it attacks an earlier …
Divide and Conquer: New Algorithm Examines Crime-Scene Bullets Segment by Segment by by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce On the morning of March 22, 1915, residents of the small town of West Shelby, New York, awoke to a horrific scene. A woman clad only …
New York Police Department Plays Loose with Freedom of Information Act Laws by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss The New York Police Department (“NYPD”) has a history of denying freedom of public information requests, especially when it concerns surveillance equipment and information gathering technology. Muckrock, an online records request monitoring …
Wrongfully Convicted NY Man Freed After 24 Years by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins There were many times Pablo Fernandez could have given up. Yet after spending over half his life behind bars, he never wavered in maintaining his innocence. ‘‘It was so difficult for me to be in prison …
New York Court of Appeals Orders Resentencing Because Trial Court Relied on Testimony from Improperly Unsealed Record by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The New York Court of Appeals ordered that the defendant (not identified by name) be resentenced because the trial court had imposed an enhanced sentence based on …
News in Brief by Arizona: A sheriff’s deputy who roughed up a 15-year-old quadruple amputee during an arrest at a state-operated group home in September 2019 will not face excessive use of force charges, the Pima County Attorney’s Office announced March 10, 2020. “The teen, in a group home after …
DNA Contamination Threatened Conviction of Innocent Man by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss The NYC Medical Examiner’s office (“ME”) reviewed the DNA analysis procedure in a burglary case that was the only evidence used to charge Darrell Harris with the crime. They found that the DNA sample could have been …
Doe v. Hansell, NY, Petition, Release of Juveniles COVID-19, 2020 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK EX REL. LISA FREEMAN, Esq. On behalf of JOHN DOES 1 – 7,1 Index No. _______________ Petitioners, WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS …
Letter from Board of Correction re: NYC Jails and COVID-19, 2020 Jacqueline Sherman, Interim Chair Stanley Richards, Vice-Chair Robert L. Cohen, M.D. Felipe Franco Jennifer Jones Austin James Perrino Michael J. Regan Steven M. Safyer, M.D. Margaret Egan Executive Director BOARD OF CORRECTION CITY OF NEW YORK 1 CENTRE STREET, …
New York to Seal Convictions for Small Amounts of Marijuana by The state of New York is abuzz about a new law that eases penalties for low-level marijuana possession and expunges thousands of low-level cannabis convictions. The new law gives fines instead of jail time of up to 90 days …
