by Dale Chappell
The Supreme Court of Ohio held that applying a harsher version of the state’s sexually violent predator law (“SVP”) retroactively to criminal conduct that occurred prior to that newer version violates the Ex Post Facto Clause of U.S. Constitution.
In 2017, Albert Townsend was indicted on numerous ...
by Dale Chappell
The Court of Appeal of California, Fourth Appellate District, held that the lack of adequate notice of a time limit to challenge an erroneous placement on parole violates due process.
The error occurred when Bryant Ruiz was released from prison and the California Department of Corrections and ...
by Dale Chappell
Because the law ambiguously provides that a court must impose the “maximum term” for a prison sentence for someone convicted as a “habitual criminal,” the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, applying the rule of lenity, held that the lack of any language excluding probation thus allows a court ...
by Dale Chappell
Criminal cases are often riddled with errors. Judges err, prosecutors err, and of course defense lawyers are far from perfect. But when it comes to federal habeas corpus, not all errors are worth raising. Perhaps the most challenging part to federal habeas corpus may be identifying claims ...
by Dale Chappell
In a case broadening the scope of relief for crack cocaine offenders under the First Step Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held on December 7, 2020, that all three provisions under 21 U.S.C. § 841 dealing with crack cocaine were “modified” by ...
by Dale Chappell
Voters across the nation let their votes speak loud and clear on what they wanted this past Election Day: More reform-minded prosecutors and more oversight and accountability of the police.
In Los Angeles County, George Gascon beat Jackie Lacey for district attorney, after Lacey was criticized by ...
by Dale Chappell
The Supreme Court of Ohio held that a condition requiring a man to “avoid impregnating a woman” while on probation for failing to pay child support was not sufficiently related to the offense and required overturning the condition.
It was undisputed that London Chapman fathered 11 children ...
by Dale Chappell
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that merely gesturing with a hand that a defendant possessed a gun during a robbery and ordering bystanders into a room was not enough to warrant two enhancements under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (“USSG”).
The two issues ...
by Dale Chappell
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery is not a valid offense to allow a conviction for use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). The Court joined the ...
by Dale Chappell
Ever since SCOTUS decided in Rehaif v. United States, 134 S. Ct. 2191 (2019), that the government must prove as an element that a person had to know that he was a previously convicted felon to convict under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), the felon-in-possession of a ...