by Douglas Ankney
Criminal justice reform advocates often espouse pretrial diversion programs. These programs permit accused citizens to pay a fee and take a class or two in exchange for dismissal of the charges and a clean record.
The prosecutor doesn’t have to spend time or resources prosecuting the charges, ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated the sentence of Andre D. Hatcher, Jr. because the district court relied on an uncharged shooting allegation as a reason for imposing a sentence that was an upward departure from the Sentencing Guidelines range.
In March 2017, ...
by Douglas Ankney
In an enbanc decision, the Supreme Court of Washington reversed and remanded for resentencing where the State failed to prove a defendant’s criminal history beyond a reasonable doubt.
A jury convicted Brandon Cate of burglary, theft, and malicious mischief in Okanogan County Superior Court. Cate testified that ...
by Douglas Ankney
In these consolidated cases, the Supreme Court of Washington overruled State v. Townsend, 15 P.3d 145 (Wash. 2001), and affirmed, albeit on different grounds, the decision of the Court of Appeals reversing the felony-murder convictions of Michael Bienhoff and Karl Pierce.
Before Washington legalized the cultivation and ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s judgment granting habeas relief to Jesse James Andrews because his attorneys failed to present extensive and compelling mitigating evidence at the penalty phase after a jury found him guilty of capital crimes.
A jury ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed the convictions of Matthew Doyle because the trial court failed to charge the jury on the requirement for corroboration of accomplice testimony.
At Doyle’s murder trial, Keith Richardson testified that he picked up Lewis Parks and Doyle in his blue Ford ...
by Douglas Ankney
Division Five of the Second Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal granted Mohammad Mohammad’s petition for writ of habeas corpus and ordered the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) to treat as void and repeal the California Code of Regulations (“Cal. Code Regs.”), title ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Ohio held that the State must raise in the trial court a claim that a defendant lacks standing to contest the admission of seized evidence. If the State fails to raise the claim in the trial court, the State is foreclosed on appeal ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Utah Cold Case Coalition (“Coalition”) announced in November 2019 that it is building Intermountain Forensics — the first nonprofit forensics lab in the United States. The Coalition is headed by Salt Lake attorney Karra Porter and was formed in 2017 to spotlight the 1995 unsolved case ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that selling body armor doesn’t meet the definition for “the use of body armor” as defined in § 3B1.5 of the Sentencing Guidelines.
Ronald John Bankston III pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful possession and one ...
