by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that the smell of marijuana, by itself, no longer creates probable cause to justify a warrantless search of a vehicle during a traffic stop.
After observing a vehicle fail to come to a complete stop at a stop sign, Pennsylvania State ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Idaho announced, “that henceforth, testimony from drug recognition expert requires the state to comply with the expert witness disclosure requirements set forth in Idaho Criminal Rule 16(b)(7).”
Timothy Dacey was arrested on suspicion of Driving under the Influence (“DUI”), but a subsequent breath ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeal of California, Third Appellate District, affirmed the finding of a superior court in a § 1170.95 proceeding that the trial court’s dismissal of a charge for insufficient evidence under the facts of this case is the equivalent of an acquittal. (Note: All statutory ...
by Douglas Ankney
A first-of-its-kind study by the University of Cincinnati (“UC”) revealed that de-escalation training of police officers produces impressive results in making police encounters safer for the public. The study, appearing in Criminology & Public Policy (the flagship publication of the American Society of Criminology), was in collaboration ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeals of Maryland affirmed a decision of the Court of Special Appeals (“CSA”) that held a defendant’s acceptance of a jury as empaneled did not waive his earlier objection to a trial court’s denial of the defendant’s request to propound a proposed voir dire ...
by Douglas Ankney
Two police officers from Gowanda, New York—Sean Hotnich and Richard Cooper—claimed they got several “key details” wrong in their affidavit supporting a search warrant, as well as in their police report. For example, the police report states that once the two officers entered David Yezek’s kitchen, “patrol ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Minnesota announced that Minn. Stat. § 634.03 (2020) requires a defendant’s confession to be corroborated by independent evidence reasonably tending to prove that the specific offense charged has been committed.
During a police interview, Bryan Morgan Holl confessed to several incidents of sexually ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeal of California, Third Appellate District, reversed a trial court’s denial of a motion for a new trial, ruling that jurors committed misconduct by considering the possible penalties during the guilt phase of Michael Anthony Flores’ trial.
Flores was tried on several charges, including ...
by Douglas Ankney
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that officers from the Narcotics Unit of the Springfield Police Department in Massachusetts engaged “in a pattern or practice of excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution.” The report identified evidence showing officers ...
by Douglas Ankney
According to data obtained by the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (“LASD”) is targeting Latino bicyclists with pretextual stops. Since the bicyclists are on their vehicles—rather than in their vehicles—the stops are analogous to Terry stops (from Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. ...
