More from this issue:

1. News in Brief
2. St. Louis Ordered to Stop Holding Detainees Simply Because They Can’t Afford Bail, by Kevin Bliss
3. Debunked Shaken-Baby Syndrome Leads to Reduced Sentence, by Anthony Accurso
4. Video Bail Hearings Violate Rights in Many Ways, by Edward Lyon
5. Chicago Fingerprint Unit Flawed, Under Scrutiny, by Bill Barton
6. Seventh Circuit Rules Failure to Issue Summons or Warrant Means Supervised Release Not Tolled While Merely in Custody, by Anthony Accurso
7. Private Companies Use DNA Profiles to Snitch on Customers and Their Families, by Douglas Ankney
8. California Losing Millions in Civil Asset Forfeiture Funds as Law Aims to Curb Police Abuse
9. Second Circuit Holds NY Sodomy Not ‘Prior Sex Conviction’ for Purposes of Federal Statute Mandating Life Sentence for Repeat Sex Offenders, by Dale Chappell
10. Groundbreaking Empirical Study of Expungement Released, by Bill Barton
11. Sixth Circuit Announces § 2244(B)(1) Doesn’t Apply to Successive § 2255 Petitions and Rules That If the District Court Relied on Residual Clause of ACCA When Determining Prior Conviction Qualified as Predicate Felony, Then Sentence Cannot Stand, by Douglas Ankney
12. Florida Supreme Court Holds Sentencing Statute That Allows Judge to Determine Dangerousness Triggering Upward Depar-ture of Maximum Sentence Unconstitutional, by Dale Chappell
13. Minnesota Supreme Court Clarifies That State Has Burden to Prove Competency to Stand Trial, by Dale Chappell
14. Will Police Recruitment Crisis Prompt Change in Behavior?, by Douglas Ankney
15. Houston Police Cover up Crime Scene With Poor Investigation Techniques, by Kevin Bliss
16. Colorado Supreme Court Announces Sniff by Drug Dog Trained to Detect Marijuana Now Constitutes a ‘Search’ Requiring Probable Cause, by Dale Chappell
17. Tennessee Supreme Court Holds Judge Lacks Authority to Sign Search Warrant for Property Outside Court’s Jurisdiction, by Dale Chappell
18. Another Study Shows There’s No ‘War on Police’, by Bill Barton
19. 7th Circuit Instructs District Court to Grant Federal Prisoner’s Habeas Based on § 2255(e) Savings Clause, by Douglas Ankney
20. Qualified Immunity: Explained, by Emily Clark, Amir H. Ali
21. Massive Outing of Nationwide Instances of Police Misconduct Revealed, by Edward Lyon
22. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Explains Procedures of G. L. c. 278A and Rules That a Claim of Self-Defense Is a Claim of Factual Innocence, by Douglas Ankney
23. Vermont Supreme Court Rules DUI Breath Test Subject to Voluntariness Challenge Despite Implied Consent Law, by Mark Wilson
24. California Court of Appeal Announces Defendant Convicted of Felony Accessory Is Eligible for Resentencing Under Proposition 64, by Douglas Ankney
25. California Supreme Court Reverses Attempted Murder and Explains Elements Required For Kill Zone Theory Instruction, by Anthony Accurso
26. Oregon Supreme Court Holds ‘Attempt’ Requires Intent to Personally Participate in the Crime, by Dale Chappell
27. $13.1 Million Settlement Reached by Actor Framed for Murder, by Douglas Ankney
28. BOP Finally Implements First Step Act, Officially Releases 3,100 Prisoners Under ‘Good Conduct Time’, by Dale Chappell
29. Colorado Supreme Court Announces That the People Cannot Withdraw From a Plea Agreement After the Trial Court Rejects Stipulated Sentence, by Douglas Ankney
30. NYU Study Shows ‘Predictive Policing Systems’ Promote Bad Data, Bad Policing, by Dale Chappell
31. SCOTUS: SOL Governing § 1983 Claim Asserting Fabrication of Evidence Begins to Run on Date Criminal Proceedings Are Terminated in Complainant’s Favor, by Douglas Ankney
32. Indiana Supreme Court Reduces 30-Year Prison Sentence to 23-Year Community Corrections Placement in Rare Case, by Chad Marks
33. New Jersey Supreme Court: Prosecution May Appeal Drug Court Sentence Only When Sentence Is Illegal, by Douglas Ankney
34. Sixth Circuit: Prosecutor’s Numerous Improper Comments Constitute Flagrant Misconduct Depriving Defendants of a Fair Trial, by Anthony Accurso
35. Fourth Circuit Reverses Lower Court for Giving Dispositive Weight to Plea Agreement Language Rather Than Fact-Based Evaluation of Weight of Evidence in IAC Claim, by David M. Reutter
36. Taking Notes Influences Jurors’ Verdicts, by Douglas Ankney
37. Colorado Supreme Court Announces That Claims of Insufficient Evidence Not Preserved at Trial Are Subject to De Novo Review on Appeal, by Douglas Ankney
38. Refusing to Permit Attorney to Make Offer of Proof Is Abuse of Discretion, Says Indiana Supreme Court, by Douglas Ankney
39. Change to New York Misdemeanor Definition May Benefit Non-Citizens, by Michael Berk
40. Montana Supreme Court Rules Leaving a Brewery Doesn’t Provide Particularized Suspicion of DUI, by Anthony Accurso
41. Massachusetts Supreme Court Holds Statute Requiring GPS Monitoring of Probationers Convicted of Sex Offenses Unconstitutional ‘as Applied’, by Douglas Ankney
42. Oregon Supreme Court: Claim Based on New Rule of Constitutional Law Cognizable in Untimely Oregon PCR Action, by Mark Wilson
43. Virtual Imprisonment as Big Brother Interactively Listens From Cradle to School to Prison to Parole to Grave, by Edward Lyon
44. Column: Obtaining Relief Under 'Davis' in the Wake of 'Johnson', by Dale Chappell
45. Seventh Circuit: Woman Answering Door of Suspect’s Residence Wearing Bathrobe Does Not Constitute Apparent Authority to Consent to Search, by Chad Marks
46. The Role of Police Misconduct in Wrongful Convictions, by Matthew Clarke

More from Douglas Ankney:

• Community Supervision: America’s Hidden Wellspring to Mass Incarceration, Feb. 15, 2025
• Rikers Island Continues Long Practice of Denying Education to Young Adults, Feb. 15, 2025
• Monterey County Pays $1 Million to Settle Suit Over Detainee Suicide by Toilet Tissue; Wellpath Pays Another Undisclosed Sum, Feb. 15, 2025
• Sixth Circuit Revives Challenge by Kentucky Prisoner Left Three Weeks in “Rancid” Paper Undershorts, Feb. 15, 2025
• California Court of Appeal: Evidence Insufficient to Show Robbery Victim Moved ‘Substantial Distance’ to Support Simple Kidnapping Conviction and Amendments to § 186.22 Require Vacatur of Gang Enhancements, Feb. 15, 2025
• Fourth Circuit Revives Claims Against Virginia Jailers by Detainee They Allegedly Manhandled While Handcuffed, Feb. 15, 2025
• Fourth Circuit Reinstates North Carolina Prisoner’s Failure-to-Protect Claim Against Guard in Stabbing, Feb. 15, 2025
• Minnesota Supreme Court Announces No Duty to Retreat When Using Reasonable Force in Defense of Another and Provides Framework for Analyzing Such Claims, Feb. 1, 2025
• NIJ Partners With Doctor to Develop Better Screening Method to Detect and Identify Drugs Postmortem, Jan. 15, 2025
• Fines and Fees Destroy the Impoverished and Perpetuate Mass Incarceration, Jan. 15, 2025

More from these topics:

• 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, Feb. 15, 2025. Habeas Corpus, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Exculpatory No Doctrine, Confrontation Clause/Rights, Witnesses - Prior Statements/Testimony, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
• Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Grants Habeas Relief in ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ Case, Feb. 1, 2025. junk science, Habeas Corpus, Forensic Sciences, Child Abuse/Abusers, Evidence - Admissibility.
• California Prisoner Awarded Over $1.26 Million in Suit Challenging Withheld Legal Mail Which Resulted in Habeas Loss, Jan. 15, 2025. Settlements, Habeas Corpus, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail.
• Georgia Supreme Court Grants Habeas Relief Where Both Trial and Appellate Counsel Provided Ineffective Assistance by Failing to Challenge Indictment for Residential Burglary That Failed to Allege Defendant Illegally Entered a ‘Dwelling’, Jan. 15, 2025. Habeas Corpus, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Constitutional Challenges/Law.
• Ninth Circuit Holds District Courts Have No Authority Under Rule 4 of Rules Governing § 2254 Cases to Dismiss Habeas Petition on the Merits, Dec. 15, 2024. Habeas Corpus, Dismissal, Authority and Jurisdiction.
• Ninth Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to California Prisoner on Napue Claim Because Prosecution Failed to Correct Informant’s False Testimony That He Did Not Receive Any Benefit In Exchange for His Testimony, Dec. 1, 2024. Informants, Habeas Corpus, Informants and Paid Witnesses, False Testimony.
• Public Defender Files Habeas Petitions for Detainees at “Horrific” Baltimore Lockup, Nov. 15, 2024. Failure to Treat, Conditions of Confinement, Hygiene Supplies, Disclosure of Records, Habeas Corpus.
• Ninth Circuit Denies Habeas Relief to Prisoner Who Invoked Fifth Amendment Right to Counsel During Custodial Interrogation but Made Incriminating Statements to Undercover Informant Posing as Fellow Prisoner Because Right to Counsel Not Violated, Nov. 1, 2024. Habeas Corpus, Custodial Interrogations/Statements, Counsel - Right to.
• Georgia Supreme Court Grants Habeas Where Defense Counsel Failed to Understand State Self-Defense Statute Provides Complete Defense to Felony Murder Based on Felon-in-Possession Charge, Oct. 1, 2024. Habeas Corpus, Felon in Possession Statute, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Murder/Felony Murder.
• Third Circuit Orders Evidentiary Hearing on State Prisoner’s Petition Seeking Federal Habeas Relief Because Both State and Federal Courts Denied Relief Without Holding Hearing on IAC Claim That, if Proven, Would Entitle Him to Relief, Aug. 1, 2024. Evidentiary Ruling, Habeas Corpus, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Counsel - Effective Assistance of.