by Jacob Barrett
In a case of first impression in Washington, the Supreme Court of Washington clarified its seizure analysis by expressly holding that race and ethnicity are relevant factors in determining whether a person has been seized.
In April 2019, Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Rickerson was on patrol ...
by Jacob Barrett
In a case of first impression in the
circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that District Courts adjudicating a prisoner-initiated motion for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i) are not bound by the Sentencing Commission’s current policy statement in U.S. Sentencing ...
by Jacob Barrett
In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Louisiana held double jeopardy bars the reinstatement and retrial of a defendant on a higher charge when he has been lawfully convicted of a lesser included offense, even though the conviction was later vacated, and further held ...
by Jacob Barrett
A study by the Death Penalty Information Center (“DPIC”) found more than 550 death penalty reversals and exonerations were the result of extensive prosecutorial misconduct. DPIC reviewed and identified cases since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned existing death penalty laws in 1972. That amounted to over 5.6% ...
by Jacob Barrett
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) to remove Jonathan Aguirre-Zuniga for a conviction for dealing methamphetamine under Indiana code § 35-48-4-1.1, holding it did not qualify as an aggravated felony for the purpose of ...
by Jacob Barrett
There is no universal requirementin forensic science to be an accredited laboratory, and instead of accrediting an entire lab, many accreditation vendors allow labs to choose which sections to accredit, e.g., just DNA or firearms. That is a problem, says Brian Gestring, forensic scientist and consultant.
Gestring ...
by Jacob Barrett and Dale Chappell
The general public’s familiarity with the government’s use of informants in criminal proceedings is largely confined to movies and TV documentaries. Yet, every year, the government negotiates tens of thousands of deals “off the record,” which are subject to few restrictions and have little ...
by Jacob Barrett
In June 2021, Denver, Colorado, launched its Support Team Assistance Response (“STAR”) program that consists of a two-person crisis response team, a medic and a clinician, who are called to provide crisis care, rather than arrest offenders.
A report published in the Science Advances journal by Stanford’s ...
by Jacob Barrett
The National Science Foundation (“NSF”) awarded University of Arkansas Professor James Lampinen, and a team of researchers, just under$670,000 to study the relationship between eyewitness confidence and accuracy across a range of variables using virtual reality.
Professor Lampinen and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Oklahoma State University ...
by Jacob Barrett
In a case of first impression in Missouri, the Supreme Court of Missouri held a circuit court violated Rodney A. Smith’s constitutional right to confrontation under both the U.S. Constitution and Missouri Constitution by permitting two-way live video feed testimony at trial of an adult, non-victim ...
