by Derek Gilna
In an April 2021 state court hearing, Fairfax, Virginia, prosecutors began the process of vacating or dismissing over 400 criminal convictions out of over 900 cases linked to disgraced former cop Jonathan A. Freitag. According to Fairfax County police, Freitag was first probed in July of 2019, ...
by Derek Gilna
In April of 2021, Brooklyn district attorney announced that he will seek the dismissal of over 90 drug convictions obtained as a result of false testimony by New York police officer and narcotics detective, Joseph E. Franco. Franco, who generally worked undercover, made thousands of drug-related arrests, ...
by Derek Gilna
The Firearms Examination Unit (“FEU”) at the D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences (“DFS”) is under criminal investigation by the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”), according to court documents that revealed “very serious … problems associated with DFS management.”
The investigation commenced in January ...
by Derek Gilna
The American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) has peeled back the curtain of secrecy on the FBI’s undisclosed in-house capability of unlocking encrypted cellphones and other electronic devices. The ACLU had unsuccessfully sought information on the agency’s shadowy Electronic Device Analysis Unit (“EDAU”) through multiple Freedom of Information ...
by Derek Gilna
Hundreds of innocent people may have gone to jail based on potentially flawed or falsified test results by San Francisco Office of Chief Medical Examiner (“OCME”) forensic analyst Justin Volk.
This alleged misconduct was uncovered after the August 31, 2020, arrest of Volk for possession of methamphetamine ...
Experts Say Cross-Racial Eyewitness Identification Errors Are Widespread and Contribute to Thousands of Wrongful Convictions
by Derek Gilna
In a time where much of the American criminal justice system is justifiably under intense pressure to eliminate potential racial bias, there is at least one issue that could be resolved without ...
by Derek Gilna
U.S. sanctions have been imposed on two officials in the International Criminal Court(“ICC”) following the ICC’s 2019 decision to reopen an investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan.
On September 2, 2020, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sanctioned Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor, ...
by Derek Gilna
LeBron James, known for his skillful brand of basketball and leadership on the hard court, has been using his platform as one of the best known American athletes to advocate for voting rights for convicted felons.
James, who has made no secret of his opinion of several ...
by Derek Gilna
Arrest statistics and eyewitnesses seem to show that the New York City Police Department is continuing its pattern of making low-level arrests for non-violent crime in low income areas of the city during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had killed 23,592 people in the city as of August ...
by Derek Gilna
Tara Reade, who has accused presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993 when she worked for him as an aide, now faces accusations that she inflated her academic credentials to win certification as a prosecution expert witness on domestic violence in several ...