by Douglas Ankney
The illicit drug market is ever evolving, with new drugs (called “novel psychoactive substances” or “NPS”) steadily appearing to avoid detection and legal consequences. Between January 2018 and December 2023, NPS Discovery from the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education identified over 250 NPS in forensic ...
by Douglas Ankney
s of February 2024, the National Registry of Exonerations (“NRE”) at the University of Michigan has registered 3,475 postconviction DNA and non-DNA exonerations since 1989—an average of 100 per year. Of those 3,475 exonerations, 438 (13%) were due to wrongful convictions (mostly for homicide and rape) ...
by Douglas Ankney
Rudy Carey became addicted to drugs after his father died. A string of poor decisions led him to serving three years in prison for striking a police officer during a traffic stop. Upon release, Carey remained committed to keeping his life on the right track. He attended ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, held that a defendant convicted in 1985 of lewd and lascivious acts, California Penal Code § 288(a), is entitled to removal from the sex offender registry notwithstanding the fact that if convicted under current law he would be required ...
by Douglas Ankney
In a series of rulings from federal judges, the loophole allowing government agents from Customs and Border Patrol (“CBP”) to search cellphones without a warrant is closing. According to a report from Reason, on July 24, 2024, Judge Nina Morrison from the U.S. District Court for the ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Kansas held that the complete and wrongful denial of criminal defendant John R. Cantu’s constitutional right to testify by removing him from the stand and striking his entire trial testimony constituted structural error and that the Court of Appeals erred in holding that the ...
by Douglas Ankney
Touch DNA—“the invisible biological traces deposited through a person’s skin’s contact with an object or other person”—can be found at crime scenes, but detection presents a challenge for officers attempting to recover it. However, researchers M. Recipon and P. Kanemann reported in forensicmag.com that a newly developed ...
by Douglas Ankney
In a case of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that issues not raised in a prior appeal are not waived in a subsequent appeal following de novo resentencing. The Court also held that a defendant’s position as an “essential member” ...
by Douglas Ankney
In a published precedential ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit adopted the doctrine of abatement ab initio for when a criminal defendant dies during the pendency of a direct appeal from his conviction.
In 2019, Francis M. Reynolds was convicted by jury of ...
by Douglas Ankney
With the passage of House Bill 531 (“HB 531”), Maryland eliminated the $50 parole fee charged to people returning home from prison. HB 531 also ended the $100 fee charged for drug and alcohol testing.
Championed by the nonprofit BUILD and its sister organization Turnaround Tuesday, HB ...
