Search | Criminal Legal News

Massachusetts Supreme Court: Brady Requires Disclosure of Exculpatory Material Revealed During Immunized Testimony Before Grand Jury

Article • November 15, 2020 • from CLN December, 2020

Filed under: Excessive Force (Police), Brady Violations, Evidence - Failure to Disclose

Massachusetts Supreme Court: Brady Requires Disclosure of Exculpatory Material Revealed During Immunized Testimony Before Grand Jury by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirmed an order of a trial judge requiring a district attorney to disclose to defense attorneys details of misconduct by two police …

Civic Responses to Police Violence - Harvard University 2020

Publication • October 29, 2020

Filed under: Excessive Force (Police)

Civic Responses to Police Violence - Harvard University 2020 Civic Responses to Police Violence∗ Desmond Ang† Harvard University Jonathan Tebes‡ Harvard University October 29, 2020 Abstract Roughly a thousand people are killed by American law enforcement officers each year, accounting for more than 5% of all homicides. We estimate the …

DOJ Report: Massachusetts Narcotics Bureau Relied on Excessive Use of Force

Article • October 15, 2020 • from CLN November, 2020

Filed under: Excessive Force (Police), Reporting Requirements, Pattern of Improper Conduct

DOJ Report: Massachusetts Narcotics Bureau Relied on Excessive Use of Force by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss The Narcotics Bureau (“NB”) of the Springfield Police Department (“SPD”) regularly used excessive force in the commission of its duties, covering its violations through deficiencies in its use of force reporting system. That’s …

News in Brief

Article • September 15, 2020 • from CLN October, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: Marissa Cruz and Paea Tukuafu filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of San Jose police in August 2020, claiming they were “battered and bruised” by cops and subject to unreasonable search and entry. The two were celebrating ahead of Cruz’s 22nd birthday at …

Slew of Civil Rights Advocates File Amicus Briefs Urging First Circuit to Require Warrants for Searches of Devices at Border

Article • September 2, 2020

Filed under: Briefs, Electronically Stored Information, Immigration Detention

Slew of Civil Rights Advocates File Amicus Briefs Urging First Circuit to Require Warrants for Searches of Devices at Border by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell Several amicus briefs on behalf of dozens of civil rights groups and First Amendment scholars were filed in an appeal in the U.S. Court …

Extending the Surveillance State During the Pandemic

Article • August 15, 2020 • from CLN September, 2020

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, COVID-19, Police State-Surveillance, Warrantless Searches

Extending the Surveillance State During the Pandemic by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso Police departments are using the coronavirus pandemic to expand their use of surveillance tools in the name of public health and safety. Privacy advocates are concerned about the encroachment of the carceral state on civil liberties, …

News in Brief

Article • July 15, 2020 • from CLN August, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: A series of racist and anti-Muslim posts on social media allegedly has ties to a private group of active and retired San Jose Police officers calling themselves 10-7ODSJ, a reference to the police code for “off duty,” mercurynews.com reports. In June 2020, four of them …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: GPS Monitoring Unreasonable When It Doesn’t Further Any Governmental Interest

Article • July 15, 2020 • from CLN August, 2020

Filed under: Condition of Probation, GPS Tracking Device

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: GPS Monitoring Unreasonable When It Doesn’t Further Any Governmental Interest by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that imposition of GPS monitoring as a condition of bail was an unreasonable search because the monitoring did not further any legitimate governmental …

Massachusetts Supreme Court: Officer’s Handling of Cellphone Exceeded Scope of Inventory Search

Article • July 15, 2020 • from CLN August, 2020

Filed under: Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Probable/Proximate Cause, Searches - Inventory

Massachusetts Supreme Court: Officer’s Handling of Cellphone Exceeded Scope of Inventory Search by Anthony Accurso by Anthony Accurso The Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“SJC”) upheld a superior court’s order suppressing evidence obtained from a cellphone because the search of the cellphone was unsupported by probable cause, …

Police Use of Robotic Technology Raises Civil Liberty Concerns

Article • July 15, 2020 • from CLN August, 2020

Filed under: junk science, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance

Police Use of Robotic Technology Raises Civil Liberty Concerns by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney While Sleepy Hollow had the Headless Horseman, the Massachusetts State Police (“MSP”) had the headless dog. Spot — a one-time member of MSP’s bomb squad — is a semi-autonomous robotic dog that MSP leased for …

Courts Oppose Prosecutors’ Attempts to Right Past Wrongs

Article • June 15, 2020 • from CLN July, 2020

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction

Courts Oppose Prosecutors’ Attempts to Right Past Wrongs by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Over the past 10 years, a growing number of reform-minded prosecutors has emerged across the U.S., seeking not only to reform current tough-on-crime practices but also to acknowledge mistakes of the past. For example, in 2018, …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Clarifies Standards for Exit Order and Patfrisk

Article • May 15, 2020 • from CLN June, 2020

Filed under: Body Frisk

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Clarifies Standards for Exit Order and Patfrisk by Anthony Accurso by Anthony Accurso The Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts affirmed the suppression of evidence resulting from a patfrisk that was conducted after the defendant had exited his vehicle unprompted by police, and twice …

News in Brief

Article • April 15, 2020 • from CLN May, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

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 …

First Circuit: Home Search Affidavit Failed to Establish Nexus of Crime and Evidence

Article • April 15, 2020 • from CLN May, 2020

Filed under: Nexus between crime and property, Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

First Circuit: Home Search Affidavit Failed to Establish Nexus of Crime and Evidence by David Reutter by David Reutter The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the suppression of evidence seized from a suspected drug dealer’s home as fruit of the poisonous tree. Jamal Roman was alleged …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Reverses Murder Conviction Due to Insufficient Evidence

Article • April 15, 2020 • from CLN May, 2020

Filed under: Murder/Felony Murder, Insufficiency of the Evidence

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Reverses Murder Conviction Due to Insufficient Evidence by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts reversed Jean Carlos Lopez’s murder conviction because the evidence was insufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Lopez knowingly participated in the killing with the requisite …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Police Must Inform Arrested Driver That Passenger Can Assume Custody of Vehicle if Lawful and Practical as Alternative to Impoundment

Article • March 18, 2020 • from CLN April, 2020

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Police Must Inform Arrested Driver That Passenger Can Assume Custody of Vehicle if Lawful and Practical as Alternative to Impoundment by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that, where officers are aware that a passenger could lawfully assume control of …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: When Exit Order is Unlawful, Evidence Obtained from Subsequent Search Must be Suppressed

Article • February 18, 2020 • from CLN March, 2020

Filed under: Searches

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: When Exit Order is Unlawful, Evidence Obtained from Subsequent Search Must be Suppressed by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that when officers unlawfully issue an order commanding a suspect to exit a vehicle, any evidence obtained from the subsequent …

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the State Auditor, 2020

Publication • January 9, 2020

Filed under: Medical, Medication, Release and Reentry, Mental Health

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the State Auditor, 2020 Official Audit Report – Issued January 9, 2020 Massachusetts Department of Correction For the period July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018 State House Room 230  Boston, MA 02133  auditor@sao.state.ma.us  www.mass.gov/auditor January 9, 2020 Ms. Carol Mici, Commissioner …

Massachusetts Supreme Court Suppresses Evidence Obtained After Miranda Warnings Translated into Spanish Deemed Incapable of Conveying Meaningful Advice

Article • November 18, 2019 • from CLN December, 2019

Filed under: Arrest and Booking

Massachusetts Supreme Court Suppresses Evidence Obtained After Miranda Warnings Translated into Spanish Deemed Incapable of Conveying Meaningful Advice by David Reutter by David Reutter The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirmed the suppression of custodial statements where the translation of Miranda warnings into Spanish was inadequate to apprise the defendant …

Massachusetts Supreme Court Suppresses Evidence Obtained Following Illegally Prolonged Traffic Stop, Orders New Trial

Article • November 16, 2019 • from CLN December, 2019

Filed under: New Trial Motions, Traffic stop

Massachusetts Supreme Court Suppresses Evidence Obtained Following Illegally Prolonged Traffic Stop, Orders New Trial by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the convictions of Paulos Tavares, ruling that the trial court failed to suppress evidence that was obtained as the result of an officer extending a …