by Douglas Ankney and James Mills
According to a 2023 report from the Prison Policy Initiative, about 1.9 million people are imprisoned in America. More than 500,000 people are released from prison each year in addition to the more than 10 million who cycle through the nation’s jails. Most of ...
by Douglas Ankney
In consolidated appeals, the Court of Appeal of California, Fourth Appellate District, held that the evidence was insufficient to show that a robbery victim was moved a “substantial distance” to support kidnapping convictions and further held that the amendments to California Penal Code § 186.22 enacted by Assembly ...
by Douglas Ankney
In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Minnesota affirmed a Court of Appeals (“COA”) decision holding that a defendant has no duty to retreat when claiming that he used reasonable force in defense of another under Minnesota Statutes § 609.06(1)(3). The Court then announced the ...
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
In Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014), the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the reality that the amount of data people keep on their cellphones is almost beyond measure. The Riley Court ruled that police must comply with the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement—both the “probable cause” and ...
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 ...
