by Douglas Ankney
Few nightmares can equate with being an innocent person wrongly convicted and incarcerated.
Since innocence projects began appearing in the 1990s, dozens of prisoners in Michigan have been exonerated. In 2017 a record number—14—were exonerated, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. This prompted Michigan Attorney ...
by Douglas Ankney
Simi Valley, California, and a wrongfully convicted man who spent nearly four decades in prison have reached a $21 million settlement.
Craig Coley was convicted of the 1978 murders of Rhonda Wicht and her 4-year-old son Donald. Wicht had been raped. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but ...
by Douglas Ankney
According to an analysis of the National Registry of Exonerations performed by the Death Penalty Information Center, a record 151 exonerations were reported in 2018. Victims of wrongful homicide convictions accounted for 68 exonerations. The overwhelming majority of wrongful convictions were obtained by police/prosecutorial misconduct (107) or ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Wisconsin held that neither Wisconsin Statute (“Wis. Stat”) § (Rule) 809.51 nor principles of equity impose a “prompt and speedy” pleading requirement in a habeas petition. In so doing, the Court overruled State ex rel. Smalley v. Morgan, 565 N.W.2d 805 (Ct. ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that when a testifying officer relates the statement of a non-testifying confidential informant that facially incriminates a defendant, it violates the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him.
Coy Marshall Jones was arrested on May ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that running from police, by itself, does not provide reasonable suspicion to justify stopping and frisking the person.
Sandra Katowitz — an employee of the YWCA in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington — called 911 and ...
by Douglas Ankney
On May 6, 2019, the Supreme Court of Georgia held that the categorical exclusionary rule first announced in Mallory v. State, 409 S.E.2d 839 (Ga. 1991), is no longer the law in Georgia because the rule was abrogated by the “new” evidence code that took ...
by Douglas Ankney
According to a study by the Crime Prevention and Research Center (“CPRC”), citizens with a permit to carry a concealed weapon “are convicted of misdemeanors and felonies at less than a sixth of the rate for police officers.” John R. Lott, Jr., president of CPRC, said.
“With ...
by Douglas Ankney
Following convictions for two counts of rape of a child in 1977, Wayne Chapman was sentenced to prison for a term of 15 to 30 years. But later that same year, Chapman was found to be a sexually dangerous person and committed to the Massachusetts Treatment Center ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of West Virginia announced that the provision of the Juvenile Sentencing Reform Act of 2014 that applies to parole eligibility for persons who committed crimes when they were less than 18 years of age is to be applied retroactively.
Sixteen-year-old Christopher J. sexually abused ...
