Skip navigation

Search

40 results
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, …
Fifth Circuit: Sentence Enhancement for Maintaining Drug Premises Not Satisfied Solely by Defendant’s Single, Conclusory Statement That He ‘Maintained’ Premises When Record Shows Mere ‘Use’ of Premises by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the U.S. District Court …
Article • March 15, 2025 • from CLN April, 2025
Maryland Supreme Court: Trial Court Abused Its Discretion by Failing to Exercise That Discretion Where It Summarily Refused Requested Jury Instruction Because It Was a Non-Pattern Instruction and ‘Some Evidence’ Supported the Instruction by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Court of Maryland held that when there is “some …
Third Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to Prisoner on Confrontation Clause and Ineffective Assistance Claims Based on Trial Court Reading Entire Criminal Information Into the Record of Co-Conspirator Who Pleaded Guilty by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court …
Ninth Circuit Announces ‘Clear Error’ Review Applies to District Courts’ Factual Findings for Brady Challenges and Affirms District Court’s Mid-Trial Order Excluding Witness Testimony and Imposing Monetary Sanctions for Government’s Brady Violation by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the U.S. …
Article • December 15, 2024 • from CLN January, 2025
Sixth Circuit Announces Ohio’s Standard for Judicial Bias Contrary to Clearly Established Federal Law, Holds Trial Judge Unconstitutionally Biased in Capital Case and Defendant Denied Right to Present Mitigating Evidence, Grants Habeas Relief by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit granted an …
Article • December 15, 2024 • from CLN January, 2025
Eleventh Circuit Announces Defendant Must Know Leaving Residential Facility Without Permission Is ‘Unlawful’ for Escape Conviction Under 28 U.S.C. § 4082(a) by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed a federal criminal defendant’s escape conviction for leaving a residential reentry facility without …
Louisiana Supreme Court Finds Prosecution Withheld Favorable Impeachment and Exculpatory Evidence in Violation of Brady by Matthew Clarke The Supreme Court of Louisiana vacated four 23-year-old convictions and death sentences because the prosecution withheld impeachment and exculpatory evidence in violation of the defendant’s due process rights. In 2001, Darrell J. …
Prosecutors Receive Absurdly Lenient Sentence of Probation for Brady Violation That Resulted in an Innocent Man Spending More Than Four Years in Prison by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The District of Columbia Court of Appeals gave prosecutors Mary Chris Dobbie and Reagan Taylor an absurdly lenient sentence of one …
HRDC Files Civil Rights Action on Behalf of Wrongly Convicted Florida Man Who Spent 45 Years in Prison by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford   On April 17, 2024, the Human Rights Defense Center (“HRDC”), CLN’s non-profit publisher, and the civil rights law firm of Loevy and Loevy filed suit …
Williams v. Ritchey, FL, Complaint, Wrongful Conviction, 2024 Case 3:24-cv-00367 Document 1 Filed 04/17/24 Page 1 of 40 PageID 1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA JACKSONVILLE DIVISION Willie Williams, Plaintiff, No.24-cv-367 v. Charles David Ritchey, W. J. Mooneyham, J.R. Starling, the Estate of …
Williams v. Ritchey, FL, Complaint, Wrongful Conviction, 2024 Case 3:24-cv-00367 Document 1 Filed 04/17/24 Page 1 of 40 PageID 1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA JACKSONVILLE DIVISION Willie Williams, Plaintiff, No.24-cv-367 v. Charles David Ritchey, W. J. Mooneyham, J.R. Starling, the Estate of …
Article • March 15, 2024 • from CLN March, 2024
Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Failure to Disclosure Mental Health Report Showing Key Witness Was a Sociopath Constitutes Brady Violation That Prejudiced Defendant by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania upheld the ruling of a lower court granting a writ of habeas corpus upon finding that the …
The Daniel Buffington Dilemma: Does His Expert Witness Testimony Satisfy Daubert? by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott Twenty-seven states in the U.S. have the death penalty. Those states and the federal government carry out the sentence by injecting a lethal mix of one, two, or three drugs as …
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Trial Court Deprived Defendant of Opportunity to Present Complete Defense by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney  The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas held that the trial court erred when it prohibited William Rogers from presenting evidence to support his claim of self-defense and also …
New Jersey Supreme Court: Allowing Jury to Hear Defendant’s Invocation of Right to Counsel in Recorded Statement Together With Prosecutor Inferring Guilt Based on Request for Counsel Entitles Defendant to New Trial by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed the convictions and sentence of …
Article • February 15, 2023 • from CLN March, 2023
Ohio Supreme Court: Defendant Has Reasonable and Legitimate Basis to Withdraw Guilty Plea Before Sentencing When He Discovers Evidence That Would Have Affected Decision by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Court of Ohio held that Terry Barnes Sr. had a reasonable and legitimate basis to withdraw his guilty …
Article • February 15, 2023 • from CLN March, 2023
Seventh Circuit: Defendant Entitled to Present Entrapment Defense Where ‘Some Evidence’ Exists of Government Inducement and Lack of Predisposition to Commit Crime by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that Robert Shawn Anderson was entitled to present his entrapment defense to …
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Where Trial Counsel Believed, Erroneously, He Had Ethical Duty to Tell Prosecution Location of Key Incriminating Evidence Not in Counsel’s Possession by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that an actual conflict of interest existed that …
Article • May 15, 2022 • from CLN June, 2022
Sixth Circuit: Evidence Withheld by Prosecutor Opens Door for Successive Habeas Petition by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell After the discovery that the prosecution withheld key pieces of evidence that may have exonerated a man convicted and sentenced to death, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held …
Page 1 of 2. | 1 2 | Next »