More from this issue:

1. News in Brief
2. Cops Killed Nearly 13 Times More People Than Mass Shooters, by Bill Barton
3. U.S. District Judge Blows Open ATF Fake Stash-House Stings, Wants to Know Why They Only Target Minorities, by Dale Chappell
4. New Jersey Tightens Reins on Civil Asset Forfeiture, by Douglas Ankney
5. Nevada Supreme Court: 26-Month Delay Between Charges and Arrest Constitutes Speedy Trial Violation, by Anthony Accurso
6. New York to Seal Convictions for Small Amounts of Marijuana
7. Warrant Gives Police Access to DNA Database, by Jayson Hawkins
8. Rhode Island Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Due to Prosecutor’s Remarks and Jury Consideration of Inadmissible Evidence, by Douglas Ankney
9. Colorado Supreme Court Announces Implied Bias the Same as Actual Juror Bias, Requiring Automatic Reversal, by Anthony Accurso
10. Racial Disparity at Sentencing on the Rise, by Anthony Accurso
11. NYC Drug Prosecutor Bucks Trend of Releasing List of Cops with Credibility Issues, by Douglas Ankney
12. Louisiana Supreme Court: State Abused Charging Authority by Dismissing and Reinstituting Charges to Circumvent Adverse Court Ruling, by Anthony Accurso
13. Jury Nullification as a Cure for Prosecutorial Overreach, by Anthony Accurso
14. New Lie Detectors Are On the Way, But Are They Better Than the Old One?, by Anthony Accurso
15. California Supreme Court: Positioning Computer Monitor to Obstruct Defendant’s View of Complaining Witness Violates Confrontation Clause, by Douglas Ankney
16. Ohio Supreme Court: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Analysis Applies to Failure to Seek Waiver of Court Costs, by David M. Reutter
17. 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
18. California Court of Appeal: Hunch That Proves Correct Is Not Reasonable Suspicion for Traffic Stop, by Douglas Ankney
19. Sex Offenders Go to W.A.R., by Edward Lyon
20. New Orleans Sheriff’s Office Tracked Cellphones Absent Warrants, by Chad Marks
21. Nevada Supreme Court: Duress Defense May be Used for Non-Death Penalty Charges, Even When Connected to Charges Punishable by Death, by Dale Chappell
22. Reform-Minded Prosecutors Use Charging Discretion to Benefit Communities, by Anthony Accurso
23. Kansas Supreme Court: Claim of Illegal Sentence Raised for First Time on Appeal Entitled to Merits Review, by Michael Berk
24. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Holds Retention of Defendant’s ID Card Constitutes ‘Seizure’ for Fourth Amendment Purposes, by Dale Chappell
25. Sex Offender Registries Grounded in False Notions, by Anthony Accurso
26. Third Circuit Holds ‘Bare’ Arrest Record Insufficient to Support Higher Sentence, by Dale Chappell
27. Fact or Fiction, Television Crime Shows Ignore Racism and Reality, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
28. The Faulty Science of Breathalyzers, by Jayson Hawkins
29. Sixth Circuit: Ohio’s Stringent Post-Conviction Filing Deadline Opens Window for Federal Review Under Trevino, by Anthony Accurso
30. Maryland Court of Appeals Announces, When Requested, Trial Courts Must Ask During Voir Dire Whether Jurors Will Follow Court’s Instructions on Presumption of Innocence, Burden of Proof, and Right Not to Testify, by Douglas Ankney
31. Louisiana Supreme Court: When an Identified Attorney Seeks to Assist a Person in Custody and Police Fail to Inform the Person, Inculpatory Statements Must Be Suppressed, by Douglas Ankney
32. D.C. Circuit: 18 U.S.C. § 1114 Does Not Apply Overseas But § 924(c) Does, by Douglas Ankney
33. Third Circuit: Confrontation Clause Violated When Jury Is Told ‘Other Guy’ Referenced in Non-Testifying Codefendant’s Statement Is the Defendant, by Douglas Ankney
34. Georgia Supreme Court Overrules 50 Years of Jurisprudence and Announces Courts Are to Consider Cumulative Prejudice of Trial Court and Counsel Errors, by Douglas Ankney
35. Ninth Circuit Orders Habeas Relief After California Concedes Conviction Should Be Overturned Due to Defense Counsel’s ‘Virulent Racism’, by Douglas Ankney
36. Michigan Supreme Court: Defendant Entitled to Self-defense Jury Instruction, by David M. Reutter
37. Seventh Circuit Holds Brain Injury May Allow Equitable Tolling to File Late Habeas Petition, by Dale Chappell
38. Life Sentence for Murder Overturned by New DNA Technology, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
39. Expert’s Burn-Pattern Conclusions Flawed, by David M. Reutter
40. New York’s SARA Requirements Force Sex-Offenders into Homelessness Then Hold Them in Prison Due to Their Homelessness, by Kevin Bliss
41. Law Review Article Zeros in on Roadblocks to Plea Bargain Fairness and Effectiveness, by David M. Reutter
42. Kansas Supreme Court: State Failed to Prove Building Was a Dwelling, by Douglas Ankney
43. Maine Supreme Court Declares Blood Draw Statute Unconstitutional, Overruling Cormier, by Douglas Ankney
44. Utah District Court Finds First Step Act Gives Court Authority to Reduce Stacked 55-Year § 924(c) Sentence, by Chad Marks
45. Seventh Circuit Vacates Guilty Pleas Based on Misinformation of Mandatory Minimum, by David M. Reutter
46. More Trainings Are Not the Answer to Police Violence Against Disabled People, by Euree Kim
47. Sixth Circuit Adopts ‘Naked Eye Test’ for Altered Firearm Serial Number Enhancement, by Dale Chappell
48. Connecticut Supreme Court Clarifies Standard of Review for Confrontation Clause Claims; Reverses and Remands for a New Trial, by Douglas Ankney
49. Spirited (But Problematic?) Advocacy for Bernie Madoff to Receive Compassionate Relief, by Professor Douglas A. Berman
50. Iowa Supreme Court: Officer’s Delay of Traffic Stop to Investigate Other Matters Unconstitutional, by David M. Reutter
51. The Rise of Smart Camera Networks, and Why We Should Ban Them, by Michael Kwet

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:

• 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.
• $1.5 Million Settlement Reached for Oregon Prisoner’s Untreated Traumatic Brain Injury, Jan. 15, 2025. Brain Injury, Settlements, Deliberate Indifference.
• 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.