by Anthony W. Accurso
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a defendant’s revocation sentences were nullified after the underlying sentence of which they were a part was vacated.
Eddie Lipscomb was convicted in 2008 of being a felon in possession of a firearm under 18 ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overruled the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia’s denial of a defendant’s suppression motion, ruling that police lacked reasonable suspicion to detain him based on the tip that he was acting suspiciously and ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania reversed a defendant’s conviction in which his post-arrest silence was mentioned multiple times at trial, and it was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. In doing so, the Court reiterated that there is a different harmless error standard for pre-arrest versus ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
The Supreme Court of Idaho overturned a district court’s denial of a defendant’s suppression motion, instructing on remand that the court determine whether the primary purpose for which the officers impounded the defendant’s vehicle was to conduct a search for contraband under the Court’s newly adopted ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
Ahead of the possible expiration of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”) on December 31, 2023, an explanation about the FBI’s controversial access to communications collected under this authorization was published by Lawfare, a non-partisan, non-profit multimedia publication.
For context, Section 702 of ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
The Supreme Court of Indiana upheld evidentiary suppression of a defendant’s polygraph results and inculpatory statements made after the test, where the examining officer failed to disclose (until the eve of trial) his determination that the defendant’s mental state made him unsuitable to sit for a ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
A recent report by Julia Love and Davey Allen, writing for Bloomberg, highlights how the default for what passes for police investigative work is simply requesting data from Google for even the pettiest crimes.
Criminal Legal News has reported on the vast amount of data that ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
The Supreme Court of Oregon upheld a Court of Appeals decision ordering a new trial for a defendant who was denied access to counsel when questioned by a jailhouse snitch who was acting as an agent of the State by attempting to elicit incriminating statements.
Lynn ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that, when a defendant has absconded while on supervised release, the clock on their period of supervision continues to run, causing it to expire at the end of its stated term.
James Reginald Talley was convicted ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled defendant’s (a Black man of the Muslim faith) showing that trial counsel harbored bigoted views towards Blacks and Muslims constituted an actual conflict of interest that entitled him to a new trial without the need for a further showing ...
