by Doug Ankney
Melanie Bailey, a forensic scientist at the University of Surrey, revealed that by using a high-resolution mass spectrometry (“HRMS”) method to detect cocaine in fingerprints, she and her team can now distinguish between fingerprints left by persons who had ingested cocaine and fingerprints left by persons who ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Connecticut ruled that under Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201 (1964), and its progeny, a jailhouse informant can be an agent of the State—even in the absence of any formal agreement between the government and an informant—and use of evidence obtained by ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California’s denial of qualified immunity with respect to officers who coerced a 13-year-old boy to falsely confess to a murder.
A security ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeals of Maryland (“COA”) reversed a judgment of the Court of Special Appeals (“COSA”) that held the trial court’s error in giving an anti-CSI jury instruction was harmless.
A female college student looked out the door of her apartment and saw a man on ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that district courts must, upon motion seeking relief under § 404 of the First Step Act of 2018 (“FSA”), impose new sentences within the statutory maximum terms as amended by the FSA upon eligible defendants. The Court ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that district courts must, upon motion seeking relief under § 404 of the First Step Act of 2018 (“FSA”), impose new sentences within the statutory maximum terms as amended by the FSA upon eligible defendants. The Court ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania clarified the standard for admission of evidence of a third person’s crimes, wrongs, or other acts (“third person guilt”) offered by a criminal defendant seeking to raise reasonable doubt that he was not the perpetrator of the crime charged.
Officer Jeffrey Ference ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the First Step Act’s (“FSA”) amendments to 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) are inapplicable to defendants who were sentenced on or before the enactment date of the FSA even when a defendant’s sentence is later vacated and ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Oregon’s Unauthorized Use of a Weapon, Or. Rev. Stat. § 166.220(1)(a) (“UUW”) was improperly assimilated under the Assimilative Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 13(a) (“ACA”) in the prosecution of Dat Quoc Do.
Do was a passenger ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Arizona held that when a defendant’s due process right to present a complete defense conflicts with a victim’s state constitutional or statutory rights governing privileged mental health records, the victim may be compelled to produce such documents for in-camera review if the defendant ...
