by David M. Reutter
In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Michigan held “that MCR 6.302(B)(2) requires the trial court, in cases where such advice is relevant, to advise a defendant of its discretionary consecutive-sentencing authority and possible consequences of that authority for defendant’s sentence.”
The Court’s ...
by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Court of South Carolina dismissed the State’s appeal of a guilty plea and affirmed denial of motions to reconsider the sentence for recusal of the trial court.
The Court’s order came in an appeal the State brought in the prosecution of Rick Quinn, Jr. ...
by David M. Reutter
As governments act to contain COVID-19, tracing persons who have come in contact with infected persons is at the forefront of the move to contain the disease’s spread. Tracing people via location surveillance may prove to be an effective tool, but at what cost?
The Electronic ...
by David M. Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the district court’s failure to give a defendant notice that he belonged to a class of persons prohibited from possessing a firearm during his plea colloquy constitutes a structural error that requires his guilty plea ...
by David M. Reutter
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California rejected the plea agreement that required the defendant to waive his right to seek compassionate relief unless he exhausted all administrative rights of appeal for the Bureau of Prisons’ (“BOP”) failure to bring such a motion ...
by David M. Reutter
In affirming the conviction and death sentence of Sean Alonzo Bush, the Supreme Court of Florida announced it is abandoning the different standard for reviewing wholly circumstantial evidence cases.
Bush was convicted of the brutal attack on his estranged wife Nicole Bush. The couple was separated ...
by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Court of Iowa ruled there was no factual basis to support a defendant’s guilty plea to possessing a tool with the intent to use in the unlawful removal of a theft detection device. The Court further ruled that defense counsel was ineffective for allowing ...
by David Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the suppression of evidence seized from a suspected drug dealer’s home as fruit of the poisonous tree.
Jamal Roman was alleged in a search warrant application submitted by DEA Special Agent Scott Smith to be “a known ...
by David M. Reutter
A former Florida sheriff’s deputy was charged with 50 counts related to evidence tampering and discrepancies related to drug arrests made during his 11 months with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.
During his tenure as a deputy from May 2017 to January 2018, Steven O’Leary made ...
by David M. Reutter
Prosecutors are the “most powerful actors in the criminal justice system” proclaims Hawaii House Bill 2749. That bill would follow the lead of Florida, Colorado, and Arizona in increasing transparency into court proceedings.
A Texas A&M Law Review article highlighted the need to increase transparency in ...
