by Dale Chappell
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held on October 21, 2020, that there was no probable cause to search cellphones found on someone who was found in close proximity to drugs and guns found in a house where he was a guest.
This case of first impression came ...
by Dale Chappell
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that a district court’s “categorical” ban on using a witness’ recantation (and confession to the crime) as new evidence to show actual innocence was error and sent the case back for a hearing on whether that evidence ...
by Dale Chappell
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held on October 6, 2020, that a savings clause petition was the proper avenue to attack an illegal sentence under a retroactive Supreme Court decision handed down while a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 was on appeal. ...
by Dale Chappell
Coming up on the two-year anniversary of the First Step Act passed in 2018 to undo unfair sentencing practices and ease overcrowding in federal prisons, the numbers show, at best, a modest result for those who have received relief under the Act.
As expected, the largest group ...
by Dale Chappell
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”) released a new report in November 2020 on the variety of ways that law enforcement agencies spy on the general public. Called Real-Time Crime Centers (“RTCC”), police and other agencies can monitor all sorts of data collected from surveillance of citizens.
While ...
by Dale Chappell
Since being introduced in 2012, a technique for separating mixed DNA evidence called STRmix has been used in at least 220,000 cases worldwide.
STRmix is sophisticated forensic software that resolves DNA samples mixed with multiple donors. It allows users to set the number of contributors to the ...
by Dale Chappell
I have to admit, I would be the worst witness in court, because it seems I can’t recall a face I’ve seen even a hundred times. However, there are some people who can see a face just once and recognize it even in grainy security-camera footage. These ...
by Dale Chappell
Just days after the shooting death of Walter Wallace Jr. by Philadelphia Police officers, the city council voted 14-3 to ban the use of “less lethal” munitions by police against demonstrators exercising their First Amendment right to protest.
The ban doesn’t outright forbid use of non-lethal weapons ...
by Dale Chappell
In my first column in this series on federal habeas corpus for state and federal prisoners, we’ll go over time limits for filing in federal court and how those time limits are calculated. The following information is adapted from my book WinningCites: Section 2255, A Handbook for ...
by Dale Chappell
Within weeks, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth and Fifth Circuits opened the doors on two decades-old cases, allowing the possibility for habeas corpus relief based on withheld evidence by prosecutors and law enforcement that likely led to wrongful convictions.
The Fifth Circuit Case
The ...
