by Kevin Bliss
Law enforcement agencies are being criticized because they routinely refuse to release footage from body cams and police vehicle dashboard cams. They cite ongoing investigations, sensitive information, or exemption under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) as confidential personnel records.
Public rights advocates contend that ...
by Kevin Bliss
The science of neurobiology and neuropsychology used to defend officers in shooting incidents has been described as arbitrary at best. Many experts contend there simply is not enough peer-reviewed material to substantiate it as an exculpatory defense.
Federal judges are to use the Daubert Standard to determine ...
by Kevin Bliss
The U.S. has recently experienced a spate of convictions being overturned because of forensic science misconduct, according to Jessica S. Henry, associate professor, Department of Justice Studies, Montclair State University. It was not the science that was at issue but the “so-called experts” not doing their job ...
by Kevin Bliss
Wisconsin’s constitution establishes that cash bail only be set as a means of ensuring defendants’ appearance at court hearings, but opponents say the system only ensures that the poor remain incarcerated while the rich enjoy freedom.
Defendants who cannot afford bail can remain behind bars for days, ...
by Kevin Bliss
Erie County, New York, wrongfully convicted 11 people under a law that was ruled unconstitutional over 20 years ago — yet is still listed in the state’s penal code and being enforced.
District Attorney John J. Flynn stated that the county never received notification sent out ...
by Kevin Bliss
Texas used civil and criminal asset forfeiture to obtain more than $50 million in cash and property in 2017, according to the Texas Attorney General’s Office. Everything from cash and cars to clothing, art, and other property were seized and sold.
Prosecutors and police claim that asset ...
by Kevin Bliss
The Houston Police Department (“HPD”) conducted a no-knock search at the home of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas early this year. Heroin was allegedly being sold out of the home and the owners reportedly possessed a weapons’ stash. At the end of the raid, Tuttle and Nicholas were dead, ...
by Kevin Bliss
The New York Police Department (“NYPD”) expanded its gang database to include more than 42,000 New Yorkers during a time when gang-related activity is at an all-time low in the city. Placement is secretive with little-known criteria, yet repercussions for being listed are severe and far-reaching. The ...
by Kevin Bliss
Wake Forest University criminal law professor Ronald Wright recently published a research paper, which proves—with statewide evidence—that the peremptory challenge process of jury selection in North Carolina trials is racially biased.
Prosecutors, who are first to use their peremptory challenges, remove about 20 percent of the ...
by Kevin Bliss
Critics contend that bite-mark evidence is an inconclusive forensic science and should be supported by other evidence when used in the prosecution of a defendant for any crime. To date, there have been 31 exonerations from re-examination of cases dependent on bite-mark comparison, according to forensicmag.com.
The ...
