by Douglas Ankney
A team of scientists from China’s Shanghai Normal University in collaboration with scientists from the United Kingdom’s University of Bath have developed a fluorescent spray that reveals fingerprints in seconds without compromising any potential DNA evidence. The dyes used in the spray are manufactured from “Green Fluorescent ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeals of New York held that application of the Sex Offender Registration Act (“SORA”) to Marcus Brown violated his “due process rights by impinging on his liberty interest to be free of the improper designation and registration as a sex offender” because his offenses ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts extended the holding of Diatchenko v. District Attorney for the Suffolk Dist., 1 N.E.3d 270 (Mass. 2013) (sentence of life without parole for first-degree murder committed when defendant was under 18 years of age is unconstitutional), to defendants who are “emerging ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of New Jersey unanimously extended the investigative eyewitness identification safeguards of State v. Henderson, 27 A.3d 872 (N.J. 2011) (articulating a series of variables that can affect the reliability of eyewitness identification evidence and setting forth procedural safeguards), to pretrial preparation sessions and provided ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that an untimely notice of appeal (“NOA”) that provides a reason for the tardiness may serve as a motion to reopen and as a request for certificate of appealability (“COA”).
After Da’Rell Anton Winters’ appeals of his ...
by Douglas Ankney
In a case of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit announced that the categorical approach applies to the tier analysis of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”), 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a).
Michael Ryan Coulson was convicted by court martial of “forcible ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeals of New York declined to adopt a per se rule that a handcuffed person is “in custody” for purposes of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). Nevertheless, the Court held that the handcuffed and un-Mirandized defendant was in custody for purposes of ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the admission of Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) Investigation Form G-166F (“G-166F”) at Nicole Elizabeth Foreman’s trial where the preparer of the G-166F did not testify violated the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the ...
by Douglas Ankney
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and ...
by Douglas Ankney
In late 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Clean Slate Act into law, permitting millions of criminal convictions to be sealed. “With the signing of this law, it adds to our momentum to get people back to work, give them those opportunities,” said Hochul.
Under ...
