More from this issue:

1. North Carolina Supreme Court Announces Harbison Applies When Defense Counsel Implies Defendant’s Guilt Without Prior Consent, by Douglas Ankney
2. Revocation Nation: Reincarceration for Technical Parole Violations in the Age of COVID-19, by Jean Trounstine
3. Federal Habeas Corpus: Time Limits for Filing, by Dale Chappell
4. First Circuit Announces Residual Clause of U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2) When Applied Pre-Booker Is Unconstitutional Under Johnson, by Douglas Ankney
5. Why Coroners Often Blame Police Killings on a Made-Up Medical Condition, by Samantha Michaels
6. Cincinnati Police Department Agrees to Audit of Its DNA Database, by Douglas Ankney
7. Fourth and Fifth Circuits Reopen Decades-Old Cases for Habeas Relief Due to Brady Violations, by Dale Chappell
8. Time to Curb Police Unions, by Bill Barton
9. Massachusetts Supreme Court: Brady Requires Disclosure of Exculpatory Material Revealed During Immunized Testimony Before Grand Jury, by Douglas Ankney
10. Eighth Circuit Vacates Sentence After District Judge 
Interfered With Plea Negotiations and Made Disparaging 
Remarks About Federal Judiciary, by Douglas Ankney
11. Mississippi Supreme Court: Cannot Declare Mistrial on All Counts After Jury’s Acquittal on Some Counts, by Anthony Accurso
12. California Court of Appeal Reverses Murder Conviction Because Superior Court Erred by Allowing Deceased’s Out-of-Court Statements Into Evidence, by Douglas Ankney
13. From the Editors
14. New Report Shows More Than Half of Wrongful Convictions Involved Misconduct by Police and Prosecutors, by Dale Chappell
15. Seventh Circuit: Prior Conviction Under Overbroad State Drug Statute May Be Used in Career Criminal Enhancement But Not For Prior Drug Crimes Enhancement, by Matthew Clarke
16. Hawai’i Supreme Court Announces Admissibility of Third-Party Culpability Evidence Is Same Relevancy Test That’s Applied for Other Evidence, Superseding Rabellizsa, by Douglas Ankney
17. Fifth Circuit: Consecutive Sentence for FTA Must Be Part of ‘Total Punishment,’ Not Merely a Stacked Sentence
18. Colorado Supreme Court: Felony DUI Conviction Requires ‘Mandatory Sentencing’ Triggering Right to Preliminary Hearing, by Anthony Accurso
19. Second Circuit: Nondescript Photo of Unidentified Black Male Insufficient Grounds to Conduct Investigatory Stop, by Anthony Accurso
20. Sixth Circuit Vacates First Step Act 
Resentencing Denial Where Court Failed 
to Consider Post-Sentencing Conduct, by Anthony Accurso
21. Federal Judges Beginning to Reject Geofence Warrants, by Anthony Accurso
22. Montana Supreme Court: Renter’s Privacy Not Diminished By Landlord’s Probationary Status, by Anthony Accurso
23. Fifth Circuit: Safety Valve Isn’t Up to the Government, by Dale Chappell
24. Maine Supreme Court: SORNA Ruled Ex Post Facto Punishment for Defendant, by Anthony Accurso
25. Seventh Circuit: Incompetent Advice to Reject Plea Offer Requires Evidentiary Hearing, by David M. Reutter
26. New Hampshire Supreme Court Announces Adoption of Lafler When Reviewing IAC Claims in Plea Bargain Cases, by Douglas Ankney
27. Colorado Supreme Court: Convictions for Murder and Attempted Murder Violate Double Jeopardy, by Douglas Ankney
28. Third Circuit Announces Resentencing Under First Step Act Requires Use of § 3553(a) Factors, by Dale Chappell
29. Kansas Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Where Trial Court Refused to Give Self-Defense Instruction, by Douglas Ankney
30. Ninth Circuit: California Conviction Under § 261.5(c) Not Predicate Offense For § 2252(b)(1) Enhancement, by Anthony Accurso
31. COVID-19 Has Profound Effect on Breadth and Scope of Law Enforcement Agencies, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
32. Sixth Circuit Vacates Sentence Where Upward Variance Based on Criminal History Had Little Bearing on Instant Offense, by Douglas Ankney
33. Washington Supreme Court Announces Prohibition Against Blanket Shackling Policies at Pretrial Proceedings, by Anthony Accurso
34. Second Circuit Announces Compassionate Release Motion by Prisoner Not Constrained by Outdated Guideline § 1B1.13, Application Note 1(D), by Dale Chappell
35. Colorado Supreme Court Holds Successfully Completed Deferred Judgment Does Not Count as Conviction Barring Relief From Sex Offender Registration, by Matthew Clarke
36. $12 Million Settlement Against Louisville, Kentucky, by Edward Lyon
37. Review Board Has No Power Over NYPD, by Kevin Bliss
38. Shielding Police Identities: A Law That Cuts Both Ways, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
39. Exodus of a Baker’s Dozen, by Edward Lyon
40. PBA Cards and the Problem with Police Discretion, by Jayson Hawkins
41. Proliferation of Police Drones Feeds Big Brother’s Need for Big Data, by Anthony Accurso
42. For-Profit Lexipol Takes Over Writing Departmental Policy for Public Safety, by Kevin Bliss
43. Thirty-Fourth Conviction Based on Bite Mark Forensics Overturned, by Kevin Bliss
44. Guilt by Google, by Jayson Hawkins
45. Technology and Police Reform, by Anthony Accurso
46. Would the Real Officer Friendly Please Stand Up?, by Casey Bastian
47. Government Enforcers Are Still Cops, by Jayson Hawkins
48. News in Brief

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:

• Tenth Circuit: Plea Not Knowing and Voluntary Where Plea Counsel Materially Misrepresented Defendant’s Right to Impartial Jury Selected Through Racially Nondiscriminatory Means, May 15, 2024. Juries - Fair and Impartial, Impartial Jury, Fair Cross Section Requirement, Consequences of Plea, Misleading Advice/Statements to Defendant, Knowingly and Voluntarily Made.
• Maine Supreme Court: Defense Counsel Ineffective for Opening Door to Otherwise Inadmissible Evidence of Bad Character, April 15, 2024. Parental rights, Counsel - Effective Assistance of, Strickland Standard, Failure to Preserve Challenge, Failure to Consult/Investigate/Raise, Battered Child/Spouse Evidence, Character/Reputation/Propensity, Bad Acts Evidence.
• Third Circuit: Defense Counsel Ineffective Under Strickland Where Counsel Sat Silent After Judge Threatened to Charge Witness With Perjury Unless Testimony Changed, Feb. 15, 2024. AEDPA, False Statements/Perjury, Strickland Standard, Strickland v. Washington, Failure to Object/Late Objections.
• Study Finds Public Defenders’ Heavy Workloads Prevent Effective Representation, Amendments to 50-Year-Old Guidelines Recommended, Feb. 15, 2024. Public Defenders, Strickland Standard, Per se ineffectiveness.
• Fifth Circuit Affirms Habeas Relief Granted to Capital Defendant Where Counsel Failed to Impeach State’s Pivotal Wit-ness with Available Forensic Evidence, Jan. 15, 2024. AEDPA, Effective Assistance of Counsel, Counsel - Effective Assistance of, Strickland Standard, Identification Documents/Evidence, Failure to Consult/Investigate/Raise, Trial Strategy, Strickland v. Washington.
• U.S. Supreme Court Apparently Prioritizes Ideology Over Guilt or Innocence, Jan. 15, 2024. AEDPA, Procedural Default/Error, Proving Cause, Capital Cases, Procedural Error, Effective Assistance of Counsel, Counsel - Right to, Counsel - Effective Assistance of, Strickland Standard, Per se ineffectiveness, Right to Counsel.
• Massachusetts Supreme Court: Defense Counsel’s Overt Bias Against Own Client Constitutes Actual Conflict of Interest Requiring New Trial Without Need to Prove Prejudice, Dec. 15, 2023. Counsel - Constructive denial of, Strickland Standard, Conflict of Interest, Disqualification of Counsel.
• First Circuit: Appellate Counsel’s Failure to Raise Brady Claim on Direct Appeal Constituted Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Under Strickland, § 2255 Motion Granted, March 15, 2022. Brady Violations, Strickland Standard.
• "Kentucky Supreme Court: Hearing on Defense Counsel’s Fitness Is Critical Stage at Which Defendant Has Right to Be Present With Conflict-Free Counsel", March 15, 2021. Strickland Standard, Conflict of Interest.
• North Carolina Supreme Court Announces Harbison Applies When Defense Counsel Implies Defendant’s Guilt Without Prior Consent, Nov. 25, 2020. Counsel - Effective Assistance of, Strickland Standard, Per se ineffectiveness.