by Anthony Accurso
In a decision issued on July 17, 2020, the Supreme Court of Kansas struck the residual clause of the state’s statute prohibiting possession of a knife by a convicted felon due to its definition being unconstitutionally vague.
Christopher M. Harris was a convicted felon on post-release supervision ...
by Anthony Accurso
The Court of Appeals of Maryland held that the odor of marijuana emanating from a person alone does not provide police with probable cause to support an arrest and warrantless search incident to the arrest.
Rasherd Lewis was in a convenience store in Baltimore City on February ...
by Anthony Accurso
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) for production of child pornography cannot be sustained where the defendant only engaged in sexually explicit conduct near a minor when the images were produced.
Prior to ...
by Anthony Accurso
The Supreme Court of Wisconsin held that the Court of Appeals erred when it affirmed the denial of a suppression motion because officers were not acting in their role as “community caretakers” when they inventoried a defendant’s vehicle for towing following a traffic stop.
Alfonso Lorenzo Brooks ...
by Anthony Accurso
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit clarified that the term “different location” in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines commentary definition of “abduction” requires more movement than from a sales floor of a business to the back breakroom for the related robbery enhancement to apply.
Tramain ...
by Anthony Accurso
In a decision issued July 22, 2020, the Supreme Court of Minnesota ruled that Minnesota Statutes Section 609.27, subd. 1(4) (2018) (“the coercion statute”) is overbroad on its face, violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and must be struck in its entirety.
John Joseph Jorgenson ...
by Anthony Accurso
The Supreme Court of the State of Colorado reversed its earlier precedent and announced a new set of rules for determining when a defendant should be granted presentence confinement credit (“PSCC”).
Derick Wayne Russell was in community confinement following unrelated convictions in Jefferson County and Douglas County, ...
by Anthony Accurso
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle ruled that the FBI conducted an illegal search of a defendant’s phone by powering it on to inspect the lock screen, resulting in suppression of information obtained from the search.
Joseph Sam was arrested pursuant ...
by Anthony Accurso
A June 24, 2020, article in The New York Times by Kashmir Hill recounts the wrongful imprisonment of a Detroit man due to misuse of facial-recognition software.
In January 2020, Robert Julian-Borchak Williams was working at an automotive supply company when he received what he thought was ...
by Anthony Accurso
Minnesota officials have used a variety of digital surveillance tools to track protestors, but now they openly admit to using contact-tracing apps to do so.
According to Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington, officials in the state have been using contact-tracing to map protestor affiliations and movements. ...
