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Fourth Circuit: Disparate Sentence of 30 Years for Two § 924(c) Convictions Constitutes ‘Extraordinary and Compelling Reason’ for Early Release and § 3553(a) Sentencing Factors ‘Overwhelmingly’ Favor ...

Article • December 15, 2023 • from CLN December, 2023

Filed under: COVID-19, First Step Act, Compassionate Release

Fourth Circuit: Disparate Sentence of 30 Years for Two § 924(c) Convictions Constitutes ‘Extraordinary and Compelling Reason’ for Early Release and § 3553(a) Sentencing Factors ‘Overwhelmingly’ Favor Sentence Reduction by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that Kelvin Brown’s disparate sentence …

Patterson v. Virginia Department of Corrections, VA, Complaint, Gender Discrimination-Strip Search, 2023

Brief • November 9, 2023

Filed under: Discrimination, Gender Discrimination -- Women, Strip Searches

Patterson v. Virginia Department of Corrections, VA, Complaint, Gender Discrimination-Strip Search, 2023 Case 3:23-cv-00757-DJN Document 1 Filed 11/09/23 Page 1 of 23 PageID# 1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA Richmond Division MALLORY PATTERSON, EMILY COMER, and CARLA MCDOWNEY, on behalf of themselves and …

Fourth Circuit: Evidence Suppressed Where Officers Seized Defendant Without Reasonable Suspicion and Forced Him to Prove He Was Not Armed

Article • November 1, 2023 • from CLN November, 2023

Filed under: Reasonable Suspicion, Arrest - Search Incident to, Suppression of Identity Evidence

Fourth Circuit: Evidence Suppressed Where Officers Seized Defendant Without Reasonable Suspicion and Forced Him to Prove He Was Not Armed by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held a district court erred in denying a defendant’s suppression motion regarding an unreasonable …

Fourth Circuit Vacates Denial of First Step Act Relief Where Record Unclear Whether District Court Considered All Nonfrivolous Arguments Raised by Defendant

Article • November 1, 2023 • from CLN November, 2023

Filed under: First Step Act, Policy Considerations, Reduction of Sentence

Fourth Circuit Vacates Denial of First Step Act Relief Where Record Unclear Whether District Court Considered All Nonfrivolous Arguments Raised by Defendant by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated the denial of a motion seeking a sentence reduction under § 404(b) of …

News in Brief

Article • September 1, 2023 • from CLN September, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: Reported by KHSL in Chico/Redding, Nicholas Lee Rush, 49, a Chico Police Officer, has been charged with providing marijuana to an underage family member, 17, and also encouraging the teen to share the stash with his girlfriend. In 2022, an investigation into whether Rush was …

Interrogating a Suspect With an Intellectual Disability Using the Reid Technique: Recipe for a False Confession

Article • September 1, 2023 • from CLN September, 2023

Filed under: Murder/Felony Murder, False Confessions, Mental Retardation/Intellectual Disability

Interrogating a Suspect With an Intellectual Disability Using the Reid Technique: Recipe for a False Confession by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott On April 25, 2023, the Virginia Supreme Court issued an order refusing to hear the case of Michael L. Ledford, a man who was convicted of …

Estate of Robert Lee Boley v. Armor Correctional Health Services, VA, Disbursement Sheet, Wrongful Death, 2023

Brief • July 7, 2023

Filed under: Wrongful Death, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Estate of Robert Lee Boley v. Armor Correctional Health Services, VA, Disbursement Sheet, Wrongful Death, 2023 Case 2:21-cv-00197-RCY-LRL Document 219-1 Filed 07/07/23 Page 1 of 1 PageID# 4197 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA Norfolk Division JAMES A. BOLEY, JR., ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF ROBERT …

Fourth Circuit: Denial of Motion for Compassionate Release Abuse of Discretion Where District Court Failed to Properly Address Numerous Health Issues, Advanced Age, and Relevant § 3553(a) Factors

Article • June 15, 2023 • from CLN July, 2023

Filed under: Parole Board Misconduct, Cancer, Section 3553(a) Factors, Compassionate Release

Fourth Circuit: Denial of Motion for Compassionate Release Abuse of Discretion Where District Court Failed to Properly Address Numerous Health Issues, Advanced Age, and Relevant § 3553(a) Factors by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that a District Court’s denial of …

News in Brief

Article • April 15, 2023 • from CLN May, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by News in Brief Alabama: It was announced by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 20, 2023, that a police officer in Madison was arrested, accused of sexual misconduct. AL.com and WHNT in northern Alabama reported that the officer, Kevin Walter, 35, was arrested on Feb. …

Fourth Circuit: Immigration Judge’s Failure to Inform Noncitizen of Right to Appeal Deportation Order Was Prejudicial and Invalidated Later Indictment for Illegal Reentry

Article • March 15, 2023 • from CLN April, 2023

Filed under: Cause and Prejudice, Deportation/Removal/Exclusion, Failure to Inform

Fourth Circuit: Immigration Judge’s Failure to Inform Noncitizen of Right to Appeal Deportation Order Was Prejudicial and Invalidated Later Indictment for Illegal Reentry by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that an immigration judge’s failure to inform an undocumented noncitizen of …

Police Departments’ Purchase of Tracking Tool Collecting Location Data Without a Warrant Raises Fourth Amendment Concerns

Article • February 19, 2023

Filed under: Police State-Surveillance, Cell-Phones, Cell Site Location Information ("CSLI"), Electronic Surveillance, Fourth Amendment

Police Departments’ Purchase of Tracking Tool Collecting Location Data Without a Warrant Raises Fourth Amendment Concerns by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott In July 2022, the Virginia State Police paid $15,000 to purchase a subscription from Fog Data Service for its Fog Reveal tracking tool according to ABC …

News in Brief

Article • January 15, 2023 • from CLN February, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: WBMA in Birmingham reported that a former probation officer in Fayette County was convicted of sexual misconduct on Dec. 8, 2022. The former officer, Michael Steven Painter, 51, was found guilty on charges of using his office for personal gain and custodial sexual misconduct — …

Wall v. Rasnick, VA, Plaintiff's Request for Live Evidentiary Hearing and Brief in Support of Discovery Sanctions, Spoliation of Video Evidence, 2022

Brief • October 11, 2022

Filed under: Videotaping, Video Recordings

Wall v. Rasnick, VA, Plaintiff's Request for Live Evidentiary Hearing and Brief in Support of Discovery Sanctions, Spoliation of Video Evidence, 2022 Case 7:17-cv-00385-JPJ-PMS Document 141 Filed 10/11/22 Page 1 of 34 Pageid#: 1626 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA ROANOKE DIVISION GARY WALL, …

SCOTUS Holds Attempted Hobbs Act Robbery Not a ‘Crime of Violence’ Under a § 924(c)(3)(A)

Article • August 15, 2022 • from CLN September, 2022

Filed under: Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence, Hobbs Act

SCOTUS Holds Attempted Hobbs Act Robbery Not a ‘Crime of Violence’ Under a § 924(c)(3)(A) by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell In resolving a split among U.S. Courts of Appeals, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) held on June 21, 2022, that an attempted Hobbs Act robbery is …

Wall v. Rasnick, VA, Opinion, Spoliation of Video Evidence, 2022

Brief • July 25, 2022

Filed under: Videotaping, Video Recordings

Wall v. Rasnick, VA, Opinion, Spoliation of Video Evidence, 2022 PUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 21-6553 GARY WALL, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. E. RASNICK, Correctional Officer of R.O.S.P.; J. HICKS, Correctional Officer of R.O.S.P.; E. HESS, Correctional Officer of R.O.S.P.; C. HOLBROOK, Correctional Officer …

Fourth Circuit: Good Cause Not Required to Withdraw Consent to Magistrate Judge’s Jurisdiction Prior to Other Parties Consenting

Article • June 15, 2022 • from CLN July, 2022

Filed under: Appeals/Appellate Jurisdiction, Unpublished/Withdrawn/Redacted Decisions

Fourth Circuit: Good Cause Not Required to Withdraw Consent to Magistrate Judge’s Jurisdiction Prior to Other Parties Consenting by Harold Hempstead by Harold Hempstead The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that a party who consents to the jurisdiction of a magistrate judge and then requests to …

Cops in Virginia Beach Used Fake DNA Reports During Interrogations

Article • June 15, 2022 • from CLN July, 2022

Filed under: False Exculpatory Statements, DNA Evidence/Testing

Cops in Virginia Beach Used Fake DNA Reports During Interrogations by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Apparently, cops in Virginia Beach are not troubled by a lack of DNA evidence when investigating crimes. Their remedy is to simply create fake certificates of analysis (“COA”) purported to be from the Virginia …

Punitive Surveillance, 2022

Publication • 2022

Filed under: COVID-19, Bail Bonds, GPS Tracking Device, Electronic Surveillance, Bail/Pretrial Release, Effects of Mass Incarceration

Punitive Surveillance, 2022 COPYRIGHT © 2022 VIRGINIA LAW REVIEW ASSOCIATION PUNITIVE SURVEILLANCE Kate Weisburd* Budget constraints, bipartisan desire to address mass incarceration, and the COVID-19 crisis in prisons have triggered state and federal officials to seek alternatives to incarceration. As a result, invasive electronic surveillance—such as GPS-equipped ankle monitors, smartphone …

Martinsville Seven Pardoned 70 Years After Execution

Article • May 15, 2022 • from CLN June, 2022

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Pardons/Clemency, Lethal Injection Method of Execution

Martinsville Seven Pardoned 70 Years After Execution by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso Governor Ralph Northam (D-VA) signed posthumous pardons for seven Black men denied due process in a criminal case following a rape allegation involving a white woman in Martinsville, Virginia, in 1949. On January 8, 1949, 32-year-old …

News in Brief

Article • March 15, 2022 • from CLN April, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Techdirt reports that police in Brookside have routinely violated the law in traffic enforcement. By early February 2022, it was clear that the local police department in the small town had been racking up staggering amounts of income in traffic fines, receiving more than $600,000 …