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Angola Prisoners Granted Limited Relief From “Farm Line” Work
Article • November 15, 2024 • from CLN November, 2024
Filed under: Prison Labor, Grounds for Relief, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Angola Prisoners Granted Limited Relief From “Farm Line” Work by "No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails,” Nelson Mandela once wrote. That was also the quote chosen by Judge Brian A. Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana in …
Fourth Circuit Vacates Where Instructions Failed to Inform Jury That Mens Rea of ‘Knowingly or Intentionally’ Applies to ‘Except as Authorized’ in 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)
Article • June 15, 2024 • from CLN June, 2024
Filed under: Jury Instructions, Essential Elements of Crime, Mens Rea Element, Elements of Offense, Failure to Instruct on Scienter Requirement
Fourth Circuit Vacates Where Instructions Failed to Inform Jury That Mens Rea of ‘Knowingly or Intentionally’ Applies to ‘Except as Authorized’ in 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney   The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated the convictions of Dr. Joel Smithers because …
Minnesota Supreme Court Holds Prosecutor’s Repeated Statements During Closing Arguments That Defendant ‘No Longer Has Presumption of Innocence’ Constitutes Plain Error, Requiring a New Trial
Article • March 15, 2024 • from CLN March, 2024
Filed under: Improper Comments, Plain/Harmless Error
Minnesota Supreme Court Holds Prosecutor’s Repeated Statements During Closing Arguments That Defendant ‘No Longer Has Presumption of Innocence’ Constitutes Plain Error, Requiring a New Trial by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Supreme Court of Minnesota held that the prosecution committed plain error by repeatedly telling the jury during …
Seventh Circuit: Postconviction Relief Petition Still Pending in Illinois Court 20 Years After Filing Entitles Petitioner to Seek Federal Habeas Relief Without First Exhausting State Remedies
Article • August 1, 2023 • from CLN August, 2023
Filed under: Habeas Corpus, Exhaustion of Remedies, Grounds for Relief
Seventh Circuit: Postconviction Relief Petition Still Pending in Illinois Court 20 Years After Filing Entitles Petitioner to Seek Federal Habeas Relief Without First Exhausting State Remedies by Richard Resch by Richard Resch The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that because petitioner’s Illinois postconviction relief petition had …
California Court of Appeal: Counsel and Sentencing Court’s Misadvisement of Plea’s Immigration Consequences Require Relief From Conviction
Article • August 1, 2023 • from CLN August, 2023
Filed under: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Enforcement of Immigration Laws, Grounds for Relief
California Court of Appeal: Counsel and Sentencing Court’s Misadvisement of Plea’s Immigration Consequences Require Relief From Conviction by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, vacated a defendant’s conviction after finding the immigration consequences were not understood when he entered a plea …
First Circuit: Plain Error Where District Court Based Upward Variant From Sentencing Guidelines Range on New Information Not Already in the Record at the Time of Sentencing
Article • June 15, 2023 • from CLN July, 2023
Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Grounds for Variance, Grounds for Relief
First Circuit: Plain Error Where District Court Based Upward Variant From Sentencing Guidelines Range on New Information Not Already in the Record at the Time of Sentencing by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit found plain error where the U.S. District Court …
Fourth Circuit Reinstates Relief From Death Penalty, Citing State’s Forfeiture of Argument Against Relief
Article • May 15, 2023 • from CLN June, 2023
Filed under: Death Penalty, Scope of Forfeiture, Grounds for Relief
Fourth Circuit Reinstates Relief From Death Penalty, Citing State’s Forfeiture of Argument Against Relief by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell Refusing to uphold an unconstitutional death sentence, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held on March 22, 2023, that the State’s forfeiture of a procedural defense in …
Hawaii Supreme Court: Plain Error Not Providing ‘Incidental Restraint’ Jury Instruction Where Kidnapping Only Charge After Dismissing Abuse Charges Prior to Trial
Article • April 15, 2023 • from CLN May, 2023
Filed under: Restraints, Jury Instructions, Kidnapping, Abduction or Unlawful Restraint, Plain/Harmless Error
Hawaii Supreme Court: Plain Error Not Providing ‘Incidental Restraint’ Jury Instruction Where Kidnapping Only Charge After Dismissing Abuse Charges Prior to Trial by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson The Supreme Court of Hawaii held that a trial court plainly erred in failing to instruct the jury that the “restraint” necessary …
Tenth Circuit Deepens Circuit Split on Whether District Courts May Consider ‘Retribution’ in Deciding Whether to Revoke Supervised Release, Ruling It Is an Impermissible Factor to Consider
Article • April 15, 2023 • from CLN May, 2023
Filed under: Revocation Proceedings, Plain/Harmless Error
Tenth Circuit Deepens Circuit Split on Whether District Courts May Consider ‘Retribution’ in Deciding Whether to Revoke Supervised Release, Ruling It Is an Impermissible Factor to Consider by Richard Resch by Richard Resch The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that the U.S. District Court for the …
Michigan Supreme Court Announces Forfeited Structural Error Automatically Satisfies Third Prong of Plain Error Standard Without a Showing of Prejudice
Article • November 15, 2022 • from CLN December, 2022
Filed under: Scope of Forfeiture, Plain/Harmless Error
Michigan Supreme Court Announces Forfeited Structural Error Automatically Satisfies Third Prong of Plain Error Standard Without a Showing of Prejudice by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Court of Michigan announced that a forfeited structural error automatically satisfies the third prong of the plain error standard without a showing …
SCOTUS: Rehaif Error Doesn’t Automatically Require Reversal of Conviction, Plain-Error Test Must Be Satisfied for Re-lief
Article • February 15, 2022 • from CLN March, 2022
Filed under: Felon in Possession Statute, Firearms, Plain/Harmless Error
SCOTUS: Rehaif Error Doesn’t Automatically Require Reversal of Conviction, Plain-Error Test Must Be Satisfied for Re-lief by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell   The Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) held that for felon-in-possession cases, a Rehaif error does not establish a basis for plain-error relief unless the defendant …
North Carolina Supreme Court: Testimony That Improperly Bolstered Victim’s Credibility Was Plain Error
Article • February 15, 2021 • from CLN March, 2021
Filed under: Credibility of Declarant, Elements of Offense
North Carolina Supreme Court: Testimony That Improperly Bolstered Victim’s Credibility Was Plain Error by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Court of North Carolina upheld a decision of the Court of Appeals (“COA”) that found plain error where an investigator from the Department of Social Services Child Protective Services …
Second Circuit: District Court’s Failure to Offer Explanation for Its Sentence Constitutes Plain Error
Article • September 15, 2020 • from CLN October, 2020
Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Failure to Instruct on Materiality as an Element of Crime
Second Circuit: District Court’s Failure to Offer Explanation for Its Sentence Constitutes Plain Error by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a district court’s failure to offer an explanation for its sentence was plain error in violation of 18 U.S.C. …
South Carolina Supreme Court: Failure to Give Logan Instruction Not Harmless Error Where Evidence Almost Entirely Circumstantial
Article • September 15, 2020 • from CLN October, 2020
Filed under: Grounds for Relief, Failure to Instruct on Materiality as an Element of Crime
South Carolina Supreme Court: Failure to Give Logan Instruction Not Harmless Error Where Evidence Almost Entirely Circumstantial by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Court of South Carolina held that a trial court’s failure to charge the jury with the circumstantial evidence instruction from State v. Logan, 747 S.E.2d …
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Fifth Circuit’s Rule Barring Plain-Error Review of Unpreserved Factual Arguments
Article • May 15, 2020 • from CLN June, 2020
Filed under: Grounds for Relief
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Fifth Circuit’s Rule Barring Plain-Error Review of Unpreserved Factual Arguments by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell In an opinion that amounted to just three paragraphs, the Supreme Court of the United States held on March 23, 2020, that the Fifth Circuit’s rule barring plain error review …