More from this issue:

1. Police State: From Social Justice to Social Dominance, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
2. Sixth Circuit Vacates Firearms Possession Conviction; Government Showed Jury Unauthenticated Prejudicial Facebook Video Not Admitted as Evidence, by Matthew Clarke
3. Tenth Circuit: Deputy ‘Trying to Help’ Doesn’t Make Search Permissible Under Community Caretaking Exception to Warrant Requirement, by Douglas Ankney
4. Attacking the Guilty Plea: Establishing Prejudice in the Guilty Plea Context, by Dale Chappell
5. Report Finds NYPD Officers Accidentally Deploy Tasers 25% of the Time, by Douglas Ankney
6. California Supreme Court: § 459.5(b) Prohibits Charging Shoplifting and Theft for Same Property, by Douglas Ankney
7. Fourth Circuit: IAC for Counsel’s Bad Advice That Open Plea Would Allow Appeal Denial of Motion to Suppress, by Dale Chappell
8. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: GPS Monitoring Unreasonable When It Doesn’t Further Any Governmental Interest, by Douglas Ankney
9. D.C. Circuit Reverses Nearly 50-Year-Old Murder Conviction Over Faulty Hair Evidence, by Dale Chappell
10. Minnesota Supreme Court: Non-Identifying Information About CI Must Be Disclosed Upon Request, by Anthony Accurso
11. Michigan Supreme Court Announces Court Must Inform Defendant of Consecutive Sentencing Authority When Accepting Plea, by David Reutter
12. Massachusetts Supreme Court: Officer’s Handling of Cellphone Exceeded Scope of Inventory Search, by Anthony Accurso
13. Seventh Circuit Reverses Denial of Motion to Suppress Because Police Lacked Reasonable Suspicion to Frisk, by Douglas Ankney
14. FOIA Redaction Limbo: How Low They Will Go, by Edward Lyon
15. U.S. District Court Chooses Judicial Remedy, Instead of § 2255, to Allow Out-of-Time Appeal, by Dale Chappell
16. California Court of Appeal: Trial Court Abused Discretion Denying Compassionate Release Where Statutory Criteria Are Met, by Dale Chappell
17. Colorado Supreme Court: Warrant Allowing General Search of Cellphone Unconstitutional Violation of Particularity Requirement, by Douglas Ankney
18. Eleventh Circuit Holds Georgia Terroristic Threats Conviction Overbroad for ACCA, by Dale Chappell
19. Policing is irrelevant for public safety — but these alternatives are proven to work, by Justin Podur/Independent Media Institute, AlterNet.com
20. Myth of Technology as an Equalizing Force in Criminal Justice, by Anthony Accurso
21. Kansas Supreme Court: District Court Failed to Apprise Defendant of Right to Jury Trial, by Douglas Ankney
22. Fourth Circuit Requests Further Information on Stingray Device to Determine Whether It Violates Fourth Amendment Rights, by Anthony Accurso
23. Oklahoma Enacts Jailhouse Informant Law, Joins Other States, by Dale Chappell
24. South Carolina Supreme Court Overturns Murder Conviction Where State Presented Improper Testimony Regarding Trace DNA Evidence, by Douglas Ankney
25. Iowa Supreme Court Announces That ‘Good Cause’ in Newly Amended Appeals Statute Means ‘a Legally Sufficient Reason’, by Douglas Ankney
26. South Carolina Supreme Court: State Cannot Appeal Guilty Plea, by David Reutter
27. Two New Forensic DNA Standards Added to the OSAC Registry
28. Big Brother, as Well as Big Business, Are Tracking You: the Snitch in Your Own Pocket, Purse, or Belt Holder, by Edward Lyon
29. Neuroscience and Criminal Cases, by Jayson Hawkins
30. Maine Supreme Judicial Court Vacates Conviction on Double Jeopardy Grounds, by Douglas Ankney
31. Eighth Circuit Affirms Habeas Relief Decades After Conviction Because Prosecutor Destroyed Evidence Prior to Trial, by Dale Chappell
32. Eleventh Circuit Vacates Firearm Conviction Based on Rehaif, by Douglas Ankney
33. Washington Supreme Court: Defendant Detained for Search at Border Was ‘In Custody’ for Miranda Purposes, by Douglas Ankney
34. Never Convicted but Never Exonerated, Either, by Edward Lyon
35. Fourth Circuit: Erroneous Career Offender Sentence Correctable in First Step Act Resentencing, by Dale Chappell
36. Government Study Finds Facial Recognition Sorely Lacking in Accuracy, by Dale Chappell
37. Idaho Exoneree Fights for Wrongful Conviction Compensation, by Edward Lyon
38. Fifth Circuit Clarifies AEDPA Time Limit Tolling for Louisiana Prisoners Filing Federal Habeas Corpus, by Dale Chappell
39. Missouri Shows Indifference to Human Life by Proceeding with Execution Amid Pandemic, by Douglas Ankney
40. Dogs Can Detect One-Billionth of a Teaspoon of Gasoline, by Douglas Ankney
41. Fulton County Prosecutor in Georgia to Expunge MLK and Other Civil Rights Leaders’ Records, But not Everyone Agrees, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
42. Survey: California Cops Abusing Privacy Rights with Auto Plate Readers, by Jayson Hawkins
43. FBI Provides Fitness App in Exchange for Users’ GPS Coordinates, by Douglas Ankney
44. Strategies to Help Police Address Citizens With Special Needs, by Anthony Accurso
45. Devastating Consequences of Chicago Gang Database – And No Way to Be Removed, by Bill Barton
46. New Method to Determine Time of Death for Forensic Investigators, by Kevin Bliss
47. Using Doctor-Prescribed Marijuana Could Send Some People Back to Prison, by Douglas Ankney
48. Minnesota Lab Figures Out How to Tell Between Legal Hemp and Illegal Marijuana, by Dale Chappell
49. Unrest After Kentucky Cops Shoot Sleeping Black Woman to Death in Her Bed While Serving No-Knock Warrant, by Edward Lyon
50. Small Forensics Lab Finds Niche in Analyzing Tiniest Bits of Evidence, by Dale Chappell
51. $8 Million Settlement for Wrongfully Convicted and Imprisoned Missouri Man, by Kevin Bliss
52. Police Use of Robotic Technology Raises Civil Liberty Concerns, by Douglas Ankney
53. New York Police Act With Impunity During Protests, by Kevin Bliss
54. News in Brief

More from Dale Chappell:

• Federal Habeas Corpus for State Prisoners: Proving Unreasonableness Under AEDPA, Feb. 1, 2025
• Federal Court Rules Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Laws Violate Constitution, Dec. 1, 2024
• Refuting the Government’s Argument Against Nonretroactive Changes in Law as Grounds for Compassionate Release, Oct. 1, 2024
• Federal Habeas Corpus: Getting Around Procedural Default, July 15, 2024
• The Death of the Savings Clause, May 15, 2024
• Federal Habeas Corpus: Understanding Second or Successive Petitions for State Prisoners, April 15, 2024
• Fourth Circuit Reinstates Relief From Death Penalty, Citing State’s Forfeiture of Argument Against Relief, May 15, 2023
• Federal Habeas Corpus: The Evidentiary Hearing for Federal Prisoners, April 15, 2023
• Federal Habeas Corpus: How to Raise a Fourth Amendment Claim, Feb. 15, 2023
• Will Overturning Roe v. Wade Kill the Right to Abortion Under BOP Policy?, Jan. 1, 2023

More from these topics:

• ‘Fictional Pleas’ and ‘Hidden Departures’: Failure to Collect Data on Binding Federal Plea Bargains Hinders Researchers, Feb. 15, 2025. Databases, Disclosure of Records, Public Records Act, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
• 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.
• Ninth Circuit: Defense Counsel Ineffective for Failing to Move to Suppress Evidence Obtained as a Result of Police Officer Trespassing on Curtilage of Defendant’s Home, Feb. 1, 2025. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Motions To Suppress, Searches - Home/Curtilage, Suppression.
• Guard Pleads Guilty to Using Excessive Force at Indiana Jail Sued Nine Times in Two Years, Jan. 15, 2025. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
• 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.
• Kansas Supreme Court Announces Defendant-Witness Retains Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Compelled Self-Incrimination After Guilty Plea and Sentencing as Long as Testimony Sought Presents Legitimate Risk of Incrimination, Dec. 15, 2024. Self Incrimination, Self-Incrimination Clause, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
• First Circuit Holds Government Breached Plea Agreement by Implicitly Arguing for Upward Variant Sentence by Including Pictures and Video of Defendant That Allegedly Depict His Criminal Tendencies in Sentencing Memo, Dec. 15, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Grounds for Variance, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas, Grounds.
• Illinois Supreme Court Announces Dismissal by Nolle Prosequi as Part of Agreement Bars State From Bringing Second Prosecution Where Defendant Satisfied Obligations and Reverses Empire Actor Jussie Smollett’s Conviction, Dec. 15, 2024. Double jeopardy, Breach of Plea/Coop./Immunity Agreements, Dismissal, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
• Third Circuit Announces Claim of Innocence Does Not Resolve Whether Defendant Would Have Accepted Plea Offer Absent Counsel’s Error and Holds Counsel Ineffective for Failing to Properly Advise Defendant About Mandatory Sentences If Plea Offer Rejected, Dec. 15, 2024. Actual Innocence/Claim of Innocence, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Mandatory Minimum Sentence, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas, Rejection.
• Plea Deal Falls Apart for Accused 9/11 Masterminds, Dec. 15, 2024. Guard Brutality/Beatings, CIA, Guards/Staff, Torture, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.