by Christopher Zoukis
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit granted a Pennsylvania state prisoner conditional habeas corpus relief because the jury instructions used to convict him of first-degree murder did not require a finding that he had the specific intent to kill. The March 26, 2018, ...
by Christopher Zoukis
Maryland’s top court, the Court of Appeals, reversed the conviction of a defendant because the trial court failed to entertain and rule on the defendant’s multiple written requests to fire his attorney.
The February 21, 2018 opinion upheld an intermediate court of appeal order that reversed his ...
by Christopher Zoukis
An investigation by the Desert Sun has uncovered an unusual phenomena in two California communities: The cities are taking property owners accused of public nuisance infractions to criminal court with the help of private prosecutors. The law firm providing those services is then billing the property owners ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The Supreme Court of the State of South Dakota reversed a trial court’s decision to reject a binding plea agreement because it had already implicitly accepted the agreement at the change-of-plea hearing. The January 24, 2018, ruling remanded the case back to the lower court for sentencing ...
by Christopher Zoukis
In 1930, the French scientist Edmond Locard published a journal article in which he laid the groundwork for what would become the field of forensic science. Locard said a criminal actor will always leave traces of his or her presence at a crime scene and will always ...
by Christopher Zoukis
A Brooklyn woman and her 16-year-old nephew, who were charged with harassing a police officer and obstruction, then compelled to attend around 20 court appearances over two years before the charges were finally dropped, were awarded $330,000 in damages by a New York jury.
On May ...
A Michigan woman who police arrested twice on charges of filing a false police report of rape was awarded just over $1 million after a federal jury found that the arrests were in retaliation for her criticism of the detective who investigated her rape complaint.
Linda Sonte Everson, a ...
by Christopher Zoukis
A man who was arrested by New York City police officers without probable cause or evidence, then maliciously prosecuted before the charges were dropped, was awarded $190,000 as a result of his federal civil rights lawsuit.
On May 15, 2008, Joshua Marshall was leaving a drugstore ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The family of Jessica Ann Monroe-Mead agreed to a $99,000 settlement with the county of Newaygo, Michigan, and the sheriff to settle a civil rights claim alleging failure to properly respond to and enforce a domestic violence protection order and failing to protect Monroe-Mead from being murdered ...
by Christopher Zoukis
Patrick Ammirati and James Esposito, who were arrested and prosecuted over a speck that wasn’t even a drug after Middletown, New York, police found them suspiciously sitting in a vehicle in a parking lot, agreed to a settlement with the officers.
On January 7, 2009, Ammirati and ...
