by Anthony Accurso
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded for resentencing a case because the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina imposed 26 conditions of supervision as part of its written order, but had made no mention of supervision conditions ...
by Anthony Accurso
The Supreme Court of Idaho clarified the rule of evidence regarding the admissibility of prior false allegations of rape made by victims, announced a three-part test to assess the admissibility of such evidence, and vacated a defendant’s conviction.
Steven Michael Chambers was charged with raping N.S. in ...
In a recent decision dismissing a defendant’s lawsuit against a police officer on the basis of qualified immunity, Judge Carlton Reeves of Mississippi filed a 72-page opinion that challenges the morality of the doctrine of qualified immunity, provides an in-depth history of the doctrine, and concludes with a challenge to ...
by Anthony Accurso
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota’s denial of a defendant’s 28 U.S.C.§ 2255 motion and held counsel should have known the 21 U.S.C. § 851 enhancement should not have applied and then advised ...
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 ...
