by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated the conviction of Bryan Moran because his sister, Alysha, had neither actual nor apparent authority to consent to a search of several closed, opaque, black plastic garbage bags he had placed in Alysha’s storage unit. Bryan had ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of South Carolina granted a new trial to Oscar Fortune after the Court determined Fortune’s due process rights were violated by prejudicial remarks from the prosecutor during closing argument.
At Fortune’s murder trial, evidence was presented that both Fortune and victim Anthony Shields possessed ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that an attorney’s failure to investigate the properties of methylone after the pre-sentence report (“PSR”) stated the drug was analogous to methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (“MDMA” or “ecstasy”) constituted ineffective assistance of counsel.
While Peter Sepling was on bond awaiting ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeals of New York ruled that police officers may be questioned about prior acts of dishonesty, subject to the trial court’s discretion, just like any other witness.
In August 2013, a person fired a single gunshot at a group of teenagers on a street ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Georgia clarified that a criminal defendant need not “admit” anything — in the sense of acknowledging that any facts alleged in the charges against him are true — in order to raise an affirmative defense.
Carlos Richard McClure was found guilty of violating ...
by Douglas Ankney
he Supreme Court of Colorado reversed the conviction of Julian Anastacio Deleon because the trial court failed to give a no-adverse-inference instruction to the jury to explain to them that they could not hold his decision not to testify against him.
Deleon was charged with two counts ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Idaho ruled that when police were unaware of a probationer’s Fourth Amendment waiver until after an unreasonable search was conducted, the police cannot rely on the waiver to sanction the otherwise unreasonable search. The Court also explained why the inevitable discovery doctrine does ...
by Douglas Ankney
At issue in this case is the constitutionality of 730 ILCS 5/5-6-3(a)(8.9), which imposes as a condition of probation on all sex offenders a complete, blanket ban from accessing or using any social networking website. The Supreme Court of Illinois held that the statute is unconstitutionally overbroad. ...
by Douglas Ankney
In a case of apparent first impression within the circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a district court’s decision that set aside a guilty verdict in a case where the jury rendered irreconcilably inconsistent verdicts.
A jury found Janine Plaza Pierce guilty ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court’s conditional grant of a petition for writ of habeas corpus on grounds that the state court violated the petitioner’s right to present a complete defense when it excluded two exculpatory statements.
When Parish Hickman ...
